What decisions were made at the Berlin Conference How are the boundaries drawn during the Berlin Conference to blame for the political unrest in modern Africa?

Login

ArticleAdditional Info

HomeWorld HistoryGlobal Exploration

Berlin West Africa Conference

European history

Cite Share More

WRITTEN BY

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree

See Article History

Alternative Title: Berlin Conference

Berlin West Africa Conference, a series of negotiations (Nov. 15, 1884–Feb. 26, 1885) at Berlin, in which the major European nations met to decide all questions connected with the Congo River basin in Central Africa.





Berlin West Africa Conference

QUICK FACTS

DATE

November 15, 1884 - February 26, 1885

LOCATION

Berlin

Germany

PARTICIPANTS

France

Germany

Portugal

United Kingdom

RELATED TOPICS

Western colonialism

Congo Free State

Portugal

The conference, proposed by Portugal in pursuance of its special claim to control of the Congo estuary, was necessitated by the jealousy and suspicion with which the great European powers viewed one another’s attempts at colonial expansion in Africa. The general act of the Conference of Berlin declared the Congo River basin to be neutral (a fact that in no way deterred the Allies from extending the war into that area in World War I); guaranteed freedom for trade and shipping for all states in the basin; forbade slave trading; and rejected Portugal’s claims to the Congo River estuary—thereby making possible the founding of the independent Congo Free State, to which Great Britain, France, and Germany had already agreed in principle.

no statements but ok.

the statement that best describes the idea of manifest destiny that was used in the 19th century would be that "it was fate that the united states would continue to  expand westward," since people thought the us was "destined" to do so. 

when world war i broke out across europe in 1914, president woodrow wilson proclaimed the united states would remain neutral, and many americans supported this policy of nonintervention. however, public opinion about neutrality started to change after the sinking of the british ocean liner lusitania by a german u-boat in 1915; almost 2,000 people perished, including 128 americans. along with news of the zimmerman telegram threatening an alliance between germany and mexico, wilson asked congress for a declaration of war against germany. the u.s. officially entered the conflict on april 6, 1917.