dividing up africa among european countries was the goal of the
Scramble for Africa The Berlin Conference of 1884, which regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa, is usually referred to as the starting point of the scramble for Africa.[2] Consequent to the political and economic rivalries among the European empires in the last quarter of the 19th century, the partitioning, or splitting up of Africa was how the Europeans avoided warring amongst themselves over Africa.[3] The later years of the 19th century saw the transition from "informal imperialism" (hegemony), by military influence and economic dominance, to direct rule, bringing about colonial imperialism.[4]