France colonized a large portion of Africa beginning in the late 1800s. By 1914, France occupied over 212,600 square miles in North, West, and Central Africa, comparable in size to the United States. France established direct rule over its colonies and used the colonies primarily for extracting natural resources to benefit France. While some positive impacts included improved infrastructure, healthcare, and education, the colonial system also negatively impacted Africans through exploitation of resources and people, erosion of culture, and artificial borders that later fueled conflicts.

1. Iason Paschalidis-Gerostergiou
S4475852
Africa: Before and after colonization
Introduction
Mackinder made an uncritical and later heavily criticized colonial map of the
world, representing the colonial powers of that time. He presented his geographical
pivot of history in 1904 where he speaks of a pivot area, the heartland, the world
island and the lands of inner and outer crescents. These categories represent parts of
the world with a level of geographical importance. In his map (figure 1) he focuses on
the ‗heartland‘ because, according to his theory, whoever rules this land, can rule the
world.
Figure 1: Mackinder‘s geographical pivot
Source:https://ericrossacademic.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/3001-mackinders-natural-seats-
of-power-1904.jpg
All colonial empires based their colonial expansion on controlling geopolitical
strategic areas in order to gain greater influence and by extension, more power. In this

2. map essay, the writer analyzes the influence of France on colonial Africa, what
changed through the course of time and what is the current situation. ‗Border
making‘, also known as ‗bordering‘ is caused by the process of securing and
governing of the ‗own‘ economic welfare and identity (van Houtum & van Naerssen,
2002). Borders are social constructions and separate the ‗us‘ from ‗them‘. According
to Popescu (2012) borders are a medium for humans to mediate between the familiar
here and the unfamiliar of there. Borders are not fixed, in fact, they are transitory;
they will always keep changing in space and time. In addition, bordering as a means
of ordering is a power strategy used to inscribe differences in space, who is an insider
and who is an outsider (Popescu, 2012). The distinction between the ‗us‘ and ‗them‘
is crucial in the political construction of identities (Campbell, 1992). Strong dominant
powers can use the process of ‗otherness‘ to exclude and marginalize other groups
(Sibley, 1995). Thus, borders have the power to shape our lives, sense of identity and
the way we think about our neighbors. After the decolonization of Africa there is an
obvious change in the existing borders, as the influence of the colonial powers fades
away, while the need for the creation of secure borders among the African countries
grows larger.
Colonization of Africa
A number of European countries, including Britain, France, Germany,
Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Belgium, occupied Africa. At the Berlin Conference in
1884–1885, they made arrangements to determine ―spheres of interests‖ and minimize
conflicts in the process of taking over the continent. With modern technology, the
aggressive colonial powers were able to rule over many African nations. In the early
part of the twentieth century, seven colonial empires and systems were created. When
Germany lost World War I, it lost its African colonies, thereby reducing the number
of empires and systems to six. Some systems involved a direct form of government
with European officials in power who were aided by a large number of African
subordinates. Where traditional kings and chiefs were co-opted, a system of ―indirect
rule‖ operated. Irrespective of the political systems of the colonies, the objective was
the same: Africa would serve the economic interests of Europe. Colonial rule was
exploitative and racist. This period witnessed a number of changes, both positive and
negative. African nations were reduced to about fifty colonies with new boundaries
that did not necessarily respect the interests of Africans. Previous rulers lost their
powers. European officers were able to finance the various colonial administrations
with money from taxation and dues on trade. Western education, thanks to the
missionaries, spread in many areas. ―African land and labor were used to produce
export crops, minerals were exploited by foreign companies, big foreign firms
controlled trade, and low prices were paid for African products‖ (Austin, 2010).
Everywhere, the goal was to transfer wealth from Africa to Europe. Although Europe
had passed through an industrial revolution, Africa did not see many gains in terms of
the transfer of technology or industries (Falola, 2002).

3. Just as almost all of Africa was colonized by Europe in the late 19th
century,
so too the colonial legacy is placed at the root of most explanations for Africa‘s
contemporary woes. Being colonized means that total imperial control is implied, and
also that cultural destruction and colonial subjects are caught between subjugation and
resistance. This essay analyzes two main ideas. One is to look at different categories
of Africans – workers – in the formative years of nuanced understanding on how
being colonized had or not an impact on their lives. The other idea traces the
historians‘ struggle to better grasp the state of ‗being colonized‘ as a more distant and
balanced view of the colonial era is being developed (Zachernuk, 2014).
Figure 2: Colonial Africa in late 1800s
Source:http://cdn1.globalissues.org/i/countries/ColonialAfrica.gif

4. Reasons that have led to Imperialism and colonization
In order to remain a strong country, Imperialists believed that it was necessary
to have a strong industrial economy, to have a steady supply of raw materials for the
industrial economy and finally to have a strong military to protect economic interest.
Europeans believed that they were better than the people they colonized/ruled so this
perspective made it proper for them to rule other people. There was also a great
importance to spread Christianity in other parts of the worlds and also invest in
modern inventions and technology as they believed that by doing so they would
improve other people‘s lives. Finally, Imperialists wanted to take advantage of cheap
labor and the African market for manufactured goods that could be sold for high
prices. Imperialist countries in order to gain more power and prestige wanted as much
more territory as possible and in order to maintain these occupied lands believed that
only by a ‗push‘ to civilize Africa with a white man‘s culture their goal would be
achieved. The country that occupied the largest territory in Africa and for a larger
period than the other imperialist countries was France. As we can see in figure 3,
France occupied almost 212.600 square miles by 1914. France was very powerful in
North Africa and later spread into West and Central Africa, resulting in occupying an
area that was as large as the United States.
Figure 3: Colonial Africa in 1914
Source:http://pages.uoregon.edu/kimball/images/frn.MPR.1914.AFR.Hmnd.jpg

5. Positive impacts of Imperialism
This imperialistic perspective to develop Africa led to significant positive
effects as countries like France shared their culture and knowledge with the Africans.
As unified national states were created, medical care, sanitation and nutrition were
improved. In addition, with the use of European technology, the agricultural
production was increased, the transportation and communication facilities were
improved and the educational opportunities were expanded. As Europeans involved
nutrition and medicine, the life span of the indigenous populations was increased and
the introduction of modern transportation and communication systems, such as
telegraphs, telephones and railroads offered to a small minority of Africans to receive
improved education and greater economic opportunities. This has led to the increase
in the number of people aware of the danger they were in and forced them to
industrialize plus, it raised global awareness of the issue that is happening in Africa.
Negative impacts of Imperialism
Every action has its consequences and the colonialism of Africa had also
negative outcomes. The artificial creation of borders by the colonial countries has
encouraged tribal wars and authoritarian regimes. Europeans exploited all natural
resources like minerals, lumber, rubber and human rights, they downgraded
traditional African culture in favor of westernization, they enslaved natives and
exploited all produced crops so the rapidly growing African population was
malnourished and suffered from famine. European domination led to the erosion of
traditional African Values and destroyed many existing social relationships. African
people were treated as inferior to the Europeans (ethnocentrism), so they were forced
to work long hours for little pay. Disrespect for tribal, ethnic, or cultural boundaries
by the colonial countries has led to ongoing clashes in many African countries (tribal
warfare).
French colonization of Africa
The French used Direct rules in Africa. New imperialism was clearly used in a
great part of Africa (most of the colonies had as their official language French or
English and a great percentage of the population were converted to Christians. The
study of France‘s relations with its former colonies in West Africa, from the colonial
period to the end of the millennium and beyond has traditionally been dominated by
two approaches. The first of these treats the decolonization in French West Africa as a
planned and reasonably smooth process, successfully managed by France‘s governing
elites and African political leaders who wished to maintain links with France. The
second approach focuses on the post-colonial period which has been characterized by
a narrative of French manipulation and neocolonialism (Chafer, 2017).

6. “These approaches give pride of place to the role of individuals in the
decolonization process. Although their importance cannot be denied,
French decolonization in West Africa was, in fact, a highly constrained
process that cannot be understood in isolation from wider
decolonization processes unfolding across the globe, notably but not
(Chafer, 2017).
exclusively, in other parts of the French colonial empire”
Shaped by the particular history of French colonization in West Africa, the
new international context after the Second World War that was dominated by the two
new superpowers, the United States and the USSR, and the perceived need to
maintain empire at all costs to restore French grandeur on the world stage; it was a
process in which a multiplicity of French and African actors were involved who often
had limited room for maneuver. Both traditional imperial historiography and the
newer field of African studies have underestimated the cultural and ideological
dimension of modern French colonialism. Most discussions of French imperialism
have tended to dwell either on the economic motivations for acquiring colonies or the
nationalist, political and military reasons leading to overseas expansion. Despite of
the existence of numerous references to France‘s ―mission civilatrice‖ in case studies
of colonial West African history, African historians have not systematically
investigated its content. Modern African historiography has been more concerned
with recovering the African experience of colonial rule than with analyzing French
rationalizations of empire, or the relation between colonial policy and the policy of
metropolitan France (Conklin, 1997).

7. Figure 4: Land Occupation in 1945
Source:http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Colonialism-1945-
Map.jpg
Decolonization of Africa
Africans responded in various ways to the partition and colonial rule. When
conquest became a reality, early forms of cooperation or nationalism sought the
means to humanize the colonial systems. A number of kings and chiefs who seeked
benefits from the imperialists followed a strategy of accommodation with the colonial
officers. For those, such as traders, who sought gains from the new export economy,
creating retail stores was a way of making money. Those with education could serve
in subordinate positions and make small salaries. Revolution was the choice of those
who had little to gain from the system or who wanted improved opportunities. The
experience of colonial domination and exploitation united many Africans, as if they
now had a common destiny. Nationalism became a source of identity— to unite
colonized peoples against colonial rule and to build a set of cultural and political
values to create a common future (Falola, 2002).
Africa‘s independence moved historians to search a domain which could be
defined as unambiguously African and resistant to imperialism. In the historiography

8. of Subaltern Studies, the clarity of such categories is questioned, but they keep
coming back in the very concept of the subaltern and reveal people as acting ―on their
own‖. Recent generations of African scholars have witnessed – and often been part of
– a moment, perhaps not to be repeated, of considerable mobility and category
jumping, reflecting the sudden expansion of education systems in the 1950s, the post-
World War II export boom, the precipitous Africanization of the civil service and the
rapid development by African rulers of clientage networks and distributional politics
(Cooper, 2013). Nonetheless, studies within the resistance framework conclusively
showed that colonial conquests and heavy-warfare within decentralized polities was
as important as the fielding of armies by African states, that women as well as men
engaged in acts of resistance and that individual actions, like moving away from the
tax collector or labor recruiter, ignoring orders, speaking insolently and criticizing the
claims of missionaries, doctors and educators, complemented collective actions
(Cooper, 2013).
Figure 5: Dates of independence of African countries
Source:http://i.imgur.com/VyisjoJ.png

9. Figure 6: Political Status of Africa in 1960 and in 2010
Source: https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/84/143284-004-E4440AE8.jpg
Conclusion
The relationship between Africa and Europe did not end with the
independence of African nations. As power was being transferred to Africans, the
European powers were putting in place a series of policies to protect themselves and
to secure a transition from the exercise of power based on direct control to the indirect
exercise of power known as neocolonialism. Colonial legacies became a feature of the
contemporary era. Independence did not permit Africans to take full control of their
countries, but the new leaders had to face challenges such as underdevelopment,
political instability, and dependence on the former colonial masters. Postcolonial
Africa has witnessed profound changes and great casualties. A history of
contradicting facts has begun to unravel: the colonial powers left, but their legacies
remain. Africans are now in power, but many leaders abuse their power. Development
occupies an important place in government policies, but the continent gets poorer and
while the state continues to function, political institutions decay. ―Until African
countries solve their economic and political problems, many of their citizens will
continue to regard the struggle for independence as incomplete‖ (Falola, 2002).

10. References
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Development Policy
Campbell, D. (1992), ―Writing security: United States foreign policy and the politics of
identity‖, U of Minnesota Press
Chafer, T. (2017), ―Decolonization in French West Africa‖, Oxford Research
Encyclopedia of African History
Conklin, A. (1997), ―A mission to civilize‖, Stanford University Press
Cooper, F. (2013), ―Conflict and Connection: Rethinking Colonial African History‖,
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Falola, T. (2002), ―The end of colonial rule: nationalism and decolonization‖,
Carolina Academic Press
Mackinder, Halford J. (1904/1998) ―The geographical pivot of history‖,
The Geographical Journal, 170, 4, 298-‐321
Popescu, G. (2011), ―Bordering and ordering the twenty-first century: Understanding
borders‖, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
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Zachernuk, P. (2014), ―The Making of Colonial Africa (c. 1850-1930)‖