Question

Now look again at the "Africa Under Foreign Rule" map. Make a prediction about what potential conflicts might occur during the European "Scramble for Africa." Explain two examples of potential conflicts in your answer. (Your examples may be from a European or African point of view—or one of each.)

Answer 1

Prediction (general): As European powers rush to claim territory shown on the map, overlapping claims, competing strategic routes, and competition for resources will produce both diplomatic crises between European states and armed conflicts between colonizers and African polities who try to defend their land.

Two specific examples

1) Britain vs. France over the Nile/Sudan region (European point of view)
- Why conflict is likely: The map shows British-held Egypt and north–south routes linking Cairo to the interior and French expansion from West Africa toward the east. Both sides want control of the upper Nile and the Sudan because the Nile is vital to Egypt’s security and to Britain’s route to India; France wants a continuous west–east corridor across the Sahel.
- How it could play out: British and French expeditions meet in the same contested area (for example near Fashoda). Each side could send troops and gunboats to assert a claim. That standoff could escalate into a military confrontation or a serious diplomatic crisis forcing European governments to choose whether to risk war or negotiate boundaries and spheres of influence.
- Likely consequences: a tense standoff, hard bargaining over colonial borders, and possibly formal agreements that redraw maps—if diplomacy fails, local skirmishes or a larger European clash.

2) Italy’s attempt to seize territory from an independent African state (African point of view — Ethiopia)
- Why conflict is likely: The map shows European possessions on the Red Sea coast (Italian-held Eritrea) abutting independent Ethiopia. Italy wants to expand inland to build an empire; Ethiopia wants to preserve sovereignty.
- How it could play out: Italian incursions or border claims provoke organized Ethiopian resistance under local leaders. Ethiopia, having centralized authority and access to modern weapons, mounts a defensive campaign to expel or defeat Italian forces.
- Likely consequences: a pitched battle for control (historically this happened at Adwa in 1896), heavy casualties, and the possibility that Ethiopian resistance either forces the European power to withdraw or, if the invader wins, Ethiopia’s loss of independence and incorporation into a colony. Either outcome shapes regional power and inspires other African resistance movements.

Brief wrap-up: On the map, wherever different colonial possessions meet or where colonies abut still-independent African states, expect clashes—either between European rivals jockeying for borders and strategic routes or between colonizers and African peoples defending sovereignty.