The Berlin Conference also "Congo Conference" (German: Kongokonferenz) or Berlin West Africa Conference (German: Westafrika-Konferenz) of 1884–85 regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period, and coincided with Germany's sudden emergence as an imperial power. Called for by Portugal and organized by Otto von Bismarck, first Chancellor of Germany, its outcome, the General Act of the Berlin Conference, can be seen as the formalization of the Scramble for Africa. The conference ushered in a period of heightened colonial activity by European powers, while simultaneously eliminating most existing forms of African autonomy and self-governance.
Read more about Berlin Conference: Early History of The Conference, Conference, General Act, Agenda, Consequences
Famous quotes containing the words berlin and/or conference:
“From the mountains to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home sweet home!”
—Irving Berlin (18881989)
“The peace conference must not adjourn without the establishment of some ordered system of international government, backed by power enough to give authority to its decrees. ... Unless a league something like this results at our peace conference, we shall merely drop back into armed hostility and international anarchy. The war will have been fought in vain ...”
—Virginia Crocheron Gildersleeve (18771965)