R101884

After Leopold II of Belgium successfully took hold of Congo, other European nations became fearful that he would soon extend his control over the whole continent. The Berlin Conference was the international conference in Berlin, arranged by Otto von Bismarck in 1884, that called for basic rules in colonizing Africa. The conference began the rule that no single European power could claim Africa and European occupation of African land had to be based on successful occupation that was recognized by the other states. The Berlin Conference soon led to the “Scramble of Africa”, and European powers soon divided the entire African continent into bits and pieces. Hunger for African land intensified racist feelings toward other non-European cultures. McKay, John P. __History of Western society__. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003.