Berlin Conference

Convened in Berlin by the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck, this conference brought together representatives of European powers, the Ottoman Empire and the United States to settle rivalries over claims in Africa, especially around the Congo basin. Its General Act declared freedom of trade on the Congo and Niger rivers and set out the principle that a colonial claim had to be backed by effective occupation of the territory. No African ruler was invited to take part. The meeting also recognized the Congo Free State under King Leopold II of Belgium, whose rule later became notorious for its brutality. Though it did not itself divide the continent, it set the rules for the rapid European partition of Africa that followed over the next two decades.

Open on the timeline