Why were European nations able to conquer Africa?

Answer 1

European powers were able to conquer Africa swiftly in the late 19th century because the Slave trade had done so much to undermine the economic growth of Africa, and that which it did not destroy was neutralised. The Slave trade caused political instability and weakened African states. Some estimates of the total population kidnapped from Africa are as high as 200 million, all being the young and able bodied. Whole cities, especially in coastal regions, were emptied as their inhabitants tried to escape slavers by fleeing into the African interior.

Answer 2

Africa was not yet colonized so they did not have a good government. Europe had a strong military, on top of that, they had a good government and were easily able to walk in to Africa and take control of it.

Answer 3

The European countries were able to colonize African countries rapidly because there were rivalries between African leaders. These kings and chiefs were competing with each other to be the richest and most powerful within their tribes. During these rivalries, European leaders would take advantage of the situation and persuaded some leaders to be on their side to fight against other leaders. Natural disasters also played a big role in the rapid and easy colonization of Africa. In 1895, a serious drought reached many regions in Africa which were caused by a sudden decline in rainfall. Hardly any crops were produced, and the food shortage which followed caused the death of many people and animals. The little crops that were produced were destroyed by a plague of locusts. In addition to this plague, the cattle plague broke out during the 1890s which killed cattle, sheep, and goats. This led to even more deaths of animals and people, and due to their physical and mental weakness, they were unable to fight against European powers.

European powers could easily take control of any source of land by using force and violence. They accomplished this by using more powerful weapons and had the advantage of the newly invented machine gun called the Maxim gun which was invented in the 1880s. This gun could fire eleven bullets per second and outdid the weapons that the African forces had. African armies did not manage to get hold of European weapons because it was not sold to them. Thus Africans were at a military disadvantage. An outbreak of new diseases made an appearance during the late 1890s and the first one was a range of smallpox epidemics. The Europeans who were already in Africa had developed immunity to these diseases due to past experiences of these outbreaks in Europe. The indigenous African population had no immunity or resistance to these diseases and thus weakened the African population. A large number of the African population thus died out or became too weak to fight back.

Answer 4

They were alot stronger then all the other countries because of the Industrial Revolution

Answer 5

For the most part they didn't - most of what European countries did in Africa was wind up training a generation of professional politicians.

Answer 6

Having a well organised army definitely helped,