Precolonial African Politics and Government — Living While Black: Themes in African American Thought and Experience West African empires and kingdomsClick image for larger viewSource University of Sankore Between 1905 and 1906Click image for larger viewSource Precolonial Africa had many different forms of politics and government and such a variety of politics and government was closely related to the level of economic organization and production. Village-style government with a council of elders and/or village chiefs predominated in hunting and gathering and small agricultural societies. Slaves were present in numerous precolonial African societies. The point herein is that most enslave Africans came from organized, agriculturally advanced societies; they were not from low-technology hunter-gather societies. Map of Africa 1914Click image for larger viewSource Map of Africa 1920Click image for larger view
Europe & Africa in the 19th Century By the mid-19th century, Europe had undergone major changes that affected their beliefs about themselves. In his book A Generation of Materialism, 1871-1900 (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1941), Carlton J. H. Hayes listed the following major developments in Europe: the French Revolution introduced the idea of the nation-state as an organizing concept for politics, and the Napoleonic Wars showed the strength of the nation-state the rise of Liberalism supported a belief in progress and change the Industrial Revolution changed how people worked and acquired goods, the number of goods in circulation, and economic relationship between industrialized and non-industrialized regions of the world art and religion adapted to the new emphasis on materialism new techniques for communication and organization gave rise to the concept of "the masses" as a political and economic force Other technological changes affected the timing and process of imperialism.
Migrant crisis: Migration to Europe explained in seven charts Image copyright Getty Images More than a million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe in 2015, sparking a crisis as countries struggled to cope with the influx, and creating division in the EU over how best to deal with resettling people. The vast majority arrived by sea but some migrants have made their way over land, principally via Turkey and Albania. Winter has not stemmed the flow of people - with 135,711 people reaching Europe by sea since the start of 2016, according to the UNHCR. 1. Which countries are migrants from? The conflict in Syria continues to be by far the biggest driver of migration. 2. Although not all of those arriving in Europe choose to claim asylum, many do. But far more people have arrived in the country - German officials said more than a million had been counted in Germany's "EASY" system for counting and distributing people before they make asylum claims. 3. This compares with 280,000 arrivals by land and sea for the whole of 2014. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Berlin Conference | Open Borders: The Case Co-blogger Nathan Smith’s plea for someone to write a history of borders got me thinking about Africa and how its borders were drawn. The Berlin Conference of 1884-85 formalized what has come to be known as the “Scramble for Africa“, a process through which contemporary African borders were drawn. And as many researchers have shown, Africa’s borders were largely drawn in an arbitrary manner with little regard for the interests of the people who would later fall under the jurisdiction of those same borders. The key consideration of European leaders [in drawing up Africa’s borders] was to preserve the “status quo” preventing conflict among Europeans for Africa (as the memories of the European wars of the 18th-19th century were still alive). A direct effect of the Scramble for Africa was the partitioning of ethnic groups, many of which had existed as unitary “nation-states” for many of years. Quantifying the effects of the Scramble for Africa requires identifying the partitioned groups.
The Ancient World As Seen By Afrocentrists - Butterflies and Wheels Introduction At some schools and universities in the USA today students are learning a version of ancient history that is strikingly different from what is being taught to their counterparts in Europe.[1] This new narrative cannot be reconciled with the traditional account, which is still being taught in the vast majority of schools and universities. Advocates of the revisionist version ("the Afrocentric narrative") claim that because of their inherent prejudice against Africans and peoples of African descent, the traditionalists have ignored a significant body of evidence. Advocates of the traditional version of ancient history insist that their version ("the Eurocentric narrative") offers the best available account of the known facts. Thus in the debate between the two groups there is more is at stake than historical accuracy. Here then are summaries of the two narratives: The Afrocentric Narrative 1. 2. 3. The Eurocentric Narrative 1. 2. 3. Discussion 1. 2. 3. Conclusion Endnotes 1. 2. 3.
1750-1914 - Imperialism in Africa Between 1450 and 1750 Europeans traded with Africa, but they set up very few colonies. By 1850, only a few colonies existed along African coastlines, such as Algeria (French), the Cape Colony (Great Britain,) and Angola (Portugal). Instead, free African states continued, and after the end of the slave trade in the early 1800s, a lively exchange took place between Europeans and African states, such as the Sokoto Caliphate in western Africa and Egypt and Ethiopia in northeast Africa. In the latter half of the 19th century, dramatic changes occurred, as Europeans began to explore Africa's interior, and by 1914, virtually the entire continent was colonized by one or the other of the competing European countries. The Berlin Conference of 1884-5, in an effort to avoid war, allowed European diplomats to draw lines on maps and carve Africa into colonies.
Ronald Reagan Speech 'Tear Down this Wall' Chancellor Kohl, Governing Mayor Diepgen, ladies and gentlemen: Twenty-four years ago, President John F. Kennedy visited Berlin, speaking to the people of this city and the world at the City Hall. Well, since then two other presidents have come, each in his turn, to Berlin.
The Partition of Africa Image Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline ofArt History, Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Partition of Africa began in earnest with the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, and was the cause of most of Africa’s borders today. The task of this conference was to ensure that each European country that claimed possession over a part of Africa must bring civilization, in the form of Christianity, and trade to each region that it would occupy. The conference only dealt with territories yet to be acquired in Africa. Although most of these African colonies were controlled by nations, the Berlin Conference allowed King Leopold II of Belgium to become the sole owner of the vast area that is today the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. By 1914, 90% of Africa had been divided between seven European countries with only Liberia and Ethiopia remaining independent nations. Sources:Steig Förster, Wolfgang J.
Precolonial African Economies — Living While Black: Themes in African American Thought and Experience Precolonial means before the heyday of massive European colonization which occupied much of Africa after the 1870s. While some precolonial African societies were hunting-gathering economies, other societies had agricultural-based economies. Whether hunting-gathering or agricultural economies, in most cases precolonial Africans carried out their agricultural work and production collectively or communally in which ideally all able-bodied adults participated. Depending on location, precolonial Africans engaged in crafts-level (not industrial-level) hand-tool manufacturing. Most precolonial African economies were mainly subsistence-oriented with trade routes and markets for the exchange of surplus goods for commodities that cannot be produced locally. Pre-colonial African empires and kingdomsClick image for a larger view Ancient and medieval African empires and kingdomsClick image for a larger view
Weimar Republic documents This collection of Weimar Republic documents and extracts was compiled by Alpha History authors. The date given in parentheses is the date of the source, rather than the period or events the source describes. These sources are updated and expanded regularly. If you would like to suggest, request or contribute a Weimar Republic-related document, please contact Alpha History. Beginnings of the republic The Kaiser reflects on his abdication (1922)Socialists appeal to the people of Schleswig-Holstein (November 1918)Philipp Scheidemann proclaims the German republic (November 1918)Declaration to the German people by the new SPD government (November 1918)Hugo Preuss supports Weimar democracy (November 1918)‘The German republic shall thrive!’ The German Revolution Rosa Luxemburg condemns Ebert and the SPD government (1918)Karl Leibknecht proclaims the Free Socialist Republic of Germany (November 1918)Groener on the Ebert-Groener Pact of November 1918 (1957) The Treaty of Versailles The golden years
Graphic: Out of Africa – Did the Colonial Powers ever Really Leave? Africa may have achieved independence, but the old colonial ties are still important as France’s decision to send troops to Mali to fight Islamist extremists shows. The old colonial powers in Africa may no longer be the rulers, but they still exert influence and have strong economic and political links. David McDonald, professor of the Global Development Studies at Queen’s University, says, “The French and the English were much more strategic in terms of recognizing that they wanted to maintain neo-colonial linkages with their former colonies. So it was shedding the direct authoritarian power at the barrel of a gun and replacing that with independence, but an independence that was, and is still to some extent, extremely dependent on the political and economic will of the former colonial masters.” – The National Post’s Rubab Abid and Richard Johnson look at the former colonies and former colonial powers who still dabble inside the continent they once owned.
1933 | Hitler Archive - Adolf Hitler Biography in Pictures 22 january 1933Adolf Hitler in Berlin at the grave of Horst Wessel in the Nikolaifriedhof 22 january 1933Adolf Hitler in Berlin at the ceremony for Horst Wessel in the Nikolaifriedhof with Joseph Goebbels and Prinz Auwi (the Kaiser’s son) 30 january 1933Adolf Hitler leaves Berlin's Hotel Kaiserhof after his appointment as chancellor 30 january 1933Adolf Hitler's cabinet just after being named chancellor of Germany 30 january 1933Adolf Hitler's cabinet in Berlin just after Adolf Hitler has been named chancellor 30 january 1933Hitler with Franz von Papen and Alfred Hugenberg in Berlin's chancellery 30 january 1933Wilhelm Frick, Hermann Göring, and Hitler on the day he was named Chancellor of Germany 30 january 1933Adolf Hitler at the window of the chancellery after he was named chancellor of Germany 1 february 1933Hitler makes his first radio broadcast as German Chancellor in front of a radio microphone 11 february 1933Adolf Hitler speaks for the opening of the international motor show in Berlin