In 1884, as several nations were beginning to colonize Africa, the European powers, at the invitation of Otto Van Bismark, sat down in the Berlin conference to divide up the continent. Some nations got what they wanted, and some got nothing. However, this would begin a massive colonization speedrun known as the Scramble for Africa.
Great Britain:
What Great Britain wanted in Africa
What Great Britain actually got in Africa
The representatives of Great Britain wanted to make a colony land bridge stretching from Cairo to Cape Town. However, this interfered in several nations ambitions to make a colony land bridge horizontally, such as France, Germany and Portugal, and caused tensions between those nations. Portugal and Germany backed down, as they could not fight against Britain, although Germany did get Tanzania. However, France kept their claims, until the Fashoda Incident in 1898, where French troops were caught in British Sudan. The incident almost sparked war between the two nations, until it was resolved, and began the Anglo French alliance. The British also wanted to get parts of Eastern Congo, to secure their resources, but Congo was eventually given to Belgium. The British managed to buy Somaliland from local tribes, but for little use; it was only to make sure nobody else would get it, and to get a spot on the Horn of Africa.
The British also had colonies in West Africa. They had some of the coast of Sierra Leone, and expanded inland. They planed to keep expanding to the Niger River, but France got their first. They also got land surrounding the Gambia River, and present day Nigeria.
Eventually, after World War 1, the British realized their dream of connecting their claims across the continent, as they got Tanzania and Namibia from the defeated Germans.
France:
What the French wanted in Africa
What the French actually got in Africa
The French wanted to make another continuous land bridge across Africa, but this time from East to West. Despite Britain’s warnings, French continued trying to make their transcontinental land bridge until the Fashoda incident, the last British-French conflict, and began the British French alliance. Also, France wanted the Congo, but because Germany also wanted the Congo, the Congo was given to Belgium. France also wanted West Africa, and already had Algeria since the 1830’s. With that, the rest of Central Africa was partitioned. Also, France took Madagascar and Morocco was partitioned with Spain. Because Italy got Eritrea and Somalia, France just got Djibouti on the East African Coast
In 1918, France got Cameroon from Germany. After the Decolonization of Africa, France continued to do Neocolinization, but is struggling due to recent Pro Russian Coups.
Germany:
What Germany wanted in Africa
What Germany actually got in Africa
Germany had only recently united, but they still wanted colonies to show that they were truly a power on the world stage. First, they wanted to make a land bridge from present day Cameroon to present day Tanzania, and acquire all the vast resources in the Congo. However, because nobody could agree who should get the Congo, Germany had to scrap their ideas for a “Great African Empire.” However, they did get Cameroon. Also, with the collapse of Zanzibar, they also got Tanzania. Finally, they acquired South West Africa(Namibia), which was the only of the German colonies that Germans actually populated in large numbers, leading to the Diamond mine town of Kolmanskop, and a Namibian politician named Adolf Hitler(I am not kidding)! Finally, they got Togoland(Togo) in West Africa.
After World War 1, the Germans lost all of their colonies to the British and French. They would not have the chance to enter Africa again until World War 2, when they fought with the Italians.
Portugal:
What Portugal wanted in Africa
What Portugal actually got in Africa
Originally, because of the Treaty of Tordesillas, Portugal claimed all of Africa. However, nobody was going to accept this, so Portugal presented the more limited Pink Map, which would have been a horizontal line across Southern Africa, to connect it’s previous colonies in Angola and Mozambique. However, this conflicted with the interests of Britain, and they had to settle for just getting all of Mozambique and Angola.
After World War 2, despite the rest of the European powers leaving Africa, Portugal remained defiant, stating that these territories were more provinces then colonies. However, in 1961, communist uprisings began across the Portuguese colonial empire, beginning the Portuguese colonial war. In 1974, after the Carnation revolution, Portugal left their African colonies for good in 1975.
Italy:
What Italy wanted in Africa
What Italy actually got in Africa
Italy, like Germany, also recently united, and wanted to show that they were a great power. They long had ambitions in Libya and Tunisia, and conquered Libya from the Ottomans in 1912 during the Italo-Turkish War. However, France beat them to Tunisia.
When the Suez Canal opened, Italy gained territory in modern day Ethiopia, and also took Somalia. They planned on taking Ethiopia to form a massive colony, Italian East Africa, but after defeat in the First Italo-Ethiopian War in 1895, they had to give that up.
In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia again, and succeeded. Also, during World War 2, they invaded Egypt, and attempted to invade Tunisia, but also failed, and their colonies in East Africa were taken by the allies.
Spain:
What Spain wanted in Africa
What Spain actually got in Africa
Despite the Treaty of Tordesillas, Spain still tried to colonize in Africa, but their colonization was much more limited. They wanted territory along the coast of West Africa, and some territory further inland. Oddly enough, these territories wouldn’t be administered by Spain, but by the Rio De La Plata, one of their colonies in South America, making it a colony of a colony. However, Spain didn’t do much about these claims, and just got Equatorial Guinea. Spain also partitioned Morocco with France, getting the northern tip and Western Sahara.
Later Spanish Claims
During World War 2, when the Germans tried to convince Spain to join the Axis, Francisco Franco, the dictator of Spain, claimed these areas in exchange for help. Germany refused, and Spain stayed neutral in World War 2.
Belgium:
What Belgium wanted in Africa
What Belgium actually got in Africa
Because nobody could agree on who could get the Congo, King Leopold the Second of Belgium suggested that he should have it, so the European powers gave it to Leopold, who made it his own personal property, the largest piece of personal property ever. After World War 1, Belgium also gained Rwanda Burundi(Rwanda and Burundi). Belgium also wanted some territory in Guinea, but they never got around to getting it
The events that transpired in the Congo Free State were horrible, as Africans were enslaved to get rubber and ivory, and if one did not meet their quotas, their hand would be chopped off! After the rest of Europe realized what was going on, Leopold finally gave Congo to the Belgian government. Belgium left the Congo in 1960.
However, there were other nations that had territorial ambitions in Africa…
Austria Hungary:
Austrian ambitions in Africa
Austria Hungary actually tried to buy Western Sahara from Spain, and conquer Morocco, but that never happened because nobody in Austria Hungary wanted to, and thought it was a stupid idea.
Some parties in Austria Hungary did want some territory in East Africa, to gain access to the Indian Ocean, but the Hungarian half of the empire deliberately stopped them, because they opposed overseas colonies.
Austria did make a tiny colony in Maputo, and planned to expand, but it was taken over by the Portuguese, and the colony contracted Malaria.
Russia:
Russian ambitions in Africa
Despite being further away from Africa, unlike everyone else, Russia had some colonial ambitions of their own, as, when they expanded into Siberia, they colonized Alaska, and even got as far as California and Hawaii.
In the 1700’s, Russia tried getting Madagascar, but failed due to no knowledge of the region. However, Russia did establish a small colony in Djibouti, and tried to take large swaths of East Africa, by getting good relations with the Orthodox Christian Ethiopians, but got kicked out by the French.
Netherlands:
Dutch ambitions in Africa
The Netherlands originally had territory in South Africa, which was settled with a lot of Dutch people, who later became the Afrikaners, where there is a still large population in South Africa today. However, they lost that region to the British, but they definitely wanted to get it back. They also had some trading posts, so if they became colonies, they would look something like that.
Sweden:
Swedish ambitions in Africa
Sweden had some colonies along the coast of Ghana, and had some ambitions to extend further into Ghana, but this was before the Berlin Conference. However, it was taken by the British when they colonized Ghana. They also claimed the entire Congo, which they definitely never got.
Denmark:
Danish ambitions in Africa
Denmark had a colony right next to Sweden, and planed to expand a little further. However, these territories were sold to the British Empire
Ottoman Empire:
Ottoman ambitions in Africa
Although the Ottoman Empire was becoming more like the oppressed African states, it had territorial ambitions in Africa. At the time of the Berlin conference, the only Ottoman territory left in Africa was Tripolitania, which is now northern Libya. However, they sought to get their previous territories, such as Egypt and Sudan, which had been semi-independent until the British took over. On top of that, Algeria and Tunisia had been taken by the French, and the Ottomans planned on taking those back. Finally, they wanted Morocco, even though the Ottomans never controlled it.
In 1912, the Ottoman Empire finally lost Libya to the Italians, after defeat in the Italo-Turkish war.
United States:
The United States, although being invited to the Berlin Conference, didn’t have any colonial ambitions in Africa. The country Liberia, however, had been established by the descendants of slaves, and tried to attract freed slaves there. However, not that many people came, and the African Americans began enslaving the Native Africans(What?).
After the Berlin conference, the representatives started to bustle out. Some got more then they ever wanted, and some got nothing. However, no matter what, this conference changed the world as it began the Scramble for Africa.