The Berlin conference did not change the way that Africa was carved up. It simply changed the bluntness of the knife.

Africa was a nation that had not been greatly admired by many of the European kingdoms and empires. Only a few had colonised Africa and even then only in small amounts. So what was it that sent any one who wanted to be a power to be reckoned with run of to grab a piece of the Dark Continent? Bismarck was always known to be a clever man. His work at uniting Germany was impressive. It was Bismarck that set off this conference. He quite probably had very good reasons for calling such a conference. In his opening speech he said that one of his main objectives was to bring an end to slavery and the trade of slaves. This gave the impression that Bismarck wanted to...