Colonization of Africa is a historically formed process, the purpose of which was the development, conquest, and use by the colonizers (European countries) of the entire territory of the continent. It is worth noting that colonization in Africa began before anyone else. However, it could not be fully completed in the 16th or 17th centuries due to various circumstances (Shillington 1989). Spain and Portugal were among the first to try to colonize the continent. All this was quite successful, and later the Roman Empire began participating in this process. Later, Germany, France, Great Britain, and Belgium joined the game. Such a long and intense period of colonialism could not pass without traces and consequences. Among them were both positive and negative, which in different ways, influenced the modern development of the continent and individual states.
Before the European imperialist invasion, the country was a vast continent without borders. Disappointing to me is the fact that colonization also influenced the formation of modern Africa: “British rule promoted a non-ranking system of ethnic stratification, while the legacy of the centralized French style approached a ranked system” (Blanton et al. 2001, para 1). However, after colonization by Europeans, Africa was divided into the countries it is today, each country with its colonial authority, which instilled its laws and language in indigenous Africans. Disregarding tribal traditions and cultural and linguistic differences, Europeans practically created open prisons for African tribes.
The fact that the Greeks and Romans had input into the early history of Africa is surprising to me. The Roman emperor, born in an African city, Septimius Severus, undoubtedly influenced the country’s development: he accompanied the security of Roman Africa by driving away warlike nomadic tribes (Asante and Shaza 2010). Many factors influenced and still influence Africa, especially the rule of the Greeks. The colony of Cyrene, founded by the Greeks in Africa, was one of the richest trading nations of the ancient world.
References
Asante, Molefi Kete, and Shaza Ismail. “Rediscovering the “Lost” Roman Caesar: Septimius Severus the African and Eurocentric Historiography.”Journal of Black studies 40, no. 4 (2010): 606-618.
Blanton, Robert, T. David Mason, and Brian Athow. “Colonial style and post-colonial ethnic conflict in Africa.”Journal of Peace Research 38, no. 4 (2001): 473-491.
Shillington, Kevin. History of Africa. London: Macmillan, 1989.