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The 19 century m'zuŋ u scramble for Africa
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"Veni, Vidi, Vici"
February 1885, the Congo Free State, an area 76 times larger than Belgium, was
established under Leopold II's personal rule and private army, the Force Publique. "
"Leopold II of Belgium" 69
Wikipedia
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Chancellor Bismarck
“ Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg (born von Bismarck-
Schönhausen; German: Otto Eduard Leopold Fürst von Bismarck, Herzog zu Lauenburg; 1
April 1815 – 30 July 1898), known as Otto von Bismarck, was a conservative German
statesman who masterminded the unification of Germany in 1871 and served as its first
chancellor until 1890, in which capacity he dominated European affairs for two decades.
***
Bismarck's most important legacy is the unification of Germany. Germany had existed as
a collection of hundreds of separate principalities and Free Cities since the formation of
the Holy Roman Empire.
***
Following unification, Germany became one of the most powerful nations in Europe.
Bismarck's astute, cautious, and pragmatic foreign policies allowed Germany to
peacefully retain the powerful position into which he had brought it, while maintaining
amiable diplomacy with almost all European nations.
***
Bismarck had opposed colonial acquisitions, arguing that the burden of obtaining,
maintaining, and defending such possessions would outweigh any potential benefit. He
felt that colonies did not pay for themselves, that the German formal bureaucratic
system would not work well in the easy-going tropics, and that the diplomatic disputes
colonies brought would distract Germany from its central interest, Europe itself.
***
However, in 1883–84, he suddenly reversed himself and overnight built a colonial empire
in Africa and the South Pacific.
***
Other European nations, led by Britain and France, were acquiring colonies in a rapid
fashion (see New Imperialism). Bismarck therefore made the decision to join the
Scramble for Africa. Germany's new colonies included Togoland (now Togo and part of
Ghana), German Kamerun (now Cameroon and part of Nigeria), German East Africa (now
