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Abolition of the Slave Trade
A longer article on the History of the Slave TradeSlave trade and BritainIn 1807 the British Parliament passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, under which captains of slave ships could be stiffly fined for each slave transported. This was later superseded by the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act, which freed all slaves in the British Empire. Abolition was then extended to the rest of Europe. -
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Scramble for Africa
Referred to as the Race for Africa/Partition of Africa, this period of time covers the period of tiem over which most of Africa was covered by direct rule: Colonialism, of the European powers. -
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Construction of the Suez Canal
Strategic Importance of the Suez CanalThe Canal took 10 years to excavate, and had over 30,000 people working on it at any one time. Over 1.5 million people contributed to the project, which was opposed byt the British throughout its construction. One of the grounds of opposal was the use of forced labour, slavery, and over 120,000 people are estimated to have died from disease, malnutrition and fatigue over this period. The UK came to own large shares in the canal, by lending large sums to the Khedive of Egypt who sold them in 1875 -
British Occupation of Egypt
Anglo-Egyptian TreatyBritish Occupation of EgyptDuring British occupation and later control, Egypt developed into a regional commercial and trading destination. Immigrants from less stable parts of the region including Greeks, Jews and Armenians, began to flow into Egypt. The number of foreigners in the country rose from 10,000 in the 1840s to around 90,000 in the 1880s, and more than 1.5 million by the 1930s -
Berlin Conference
Summary of the ConferenceArticle on the long term effects of the Berlin Conference
The occupation of Egypt, and the acquisition of the Congo were the first major moves in what came to be a precipitous scramble for African territory. In 1884, Otto von Bismarck convened the 1884–1885 Berlin Conference to discuss the Africa problem, resulting in the division of Africa to 50 Countries. -
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Colonisation of Africa Complete
National Geographic Liberia ProfileNational Geographic Ethiopia ProfileEthiopian HistoryLiberian History SummaryAll African countries, with the exception of Ethiopia and Liberia (the free state created for freed and re-patriated African Slaves).
These countries provide a useful comparison to those that were colonised. Ethiopia is the oldest republic in Africa, & was occupied by Mussolini during WW2, but has otherwise resisted colonisation -
WW1
Africa WW1 FactsWW1
African Troops played a significant role with the Allies in WW1, with over 2 million African people involved. -
British Empire Exhibition
Empire Exhibition FilmEmpire ExhibitionWikipedia on the British Empire Exhibition"to stimulate trade, strengthen bonds that bind mother Country to her Sister States and Daughters, to bring into closer contact the one with each other, to enable all who owe allegiance to the British flag to meet on common ground and learn to know each other" -
End of WW2
The official end to WW2 meant the Allies needed to rebuild and refocus, and marked the start of mass liberation of many former colonies, who started to protest and lobby to become independent. -
Ownership of the Suez Canal
<The Convention of Constantinople in 1888 declared the canal a neutral zone under the protection of the British, who had occupied Egypt and Sudan at the request of Khedive Tewfiq to suppress the Urabi Revolt against his rule. They were later to defend the strategically important passage against a major Ottoman attack in 1915, during the First World War.[51] Under the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, the United Kingdom insisted on retaining control over the canal. In 1951 Egypt repudiated the treaty -
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Decolonisation of Africa
Starting with Libya and most recently South Sudan in July 2011. -
Suez Crisis
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Libya granted independence
A history of Libya
Libya's independence was early, in 1956 but the King was overthrown by Gaddafi in 1969 and Sharia law installed. A history worth understanding in the current climate. -
Oil Crisis
The Yom Kippur WarA summary of the Oil CrisisOil prices quadruple as a response of the OAPEC countries following US resupply of Israeli troops during the 6/10/1972-25/10/1973 war. This forced up the price of exports, and had a significant impact on African exports and developing economies -
Rwanda Genocide
UN Human Rights CouncilA review of the Rwandan Genocide
The massacre of over 800 000 people in one of the worst Genocides in history. This conflict has spilled over into the neighbouring DRC. -
Darfur
Background to the Sudan/Darfur Crisis
There is a movie in the Library which graphically demostrates the current crisis, but this has seen over 2.7 million people displaced, and 300 000 killed in a modern genocide. -
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Website covering Colonialism
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East Africa Crisis 2011
Guardian centre for Horn of Africa CrisisGuardian Blog on the current crisisThe Current African Crisis
An interactive resource on the current crisis can be found here
