The scramble for Africa took place between 1880 and 1914. During this period, Africa found itself divided between several European countries. In essence, Africa was like a freshly baked pie and everyone wanted a slice. Several factors were at the origin of this major land grab: nationalism, imperialism and, to say the least, pure greed! The British were the most dominant entity in the rush and their primary interests in the early days were to acquire and protect the sea routes to India. Following the Congress of Vienna, they acquired the area of ​​South Africa known as the Cape Colony. Soon after, gold and diamond were discovered north of this area, which turned their interests north. This made it necessary to build a new railway. One of the obstacles they faced was the Dutch settlers known as the Boers, who did not agree with British rule and had been there long before them. The railway would pass through some of their colonies and ultimately lead to the Boer Wars. France also had its hand in the cookie jar. Their interests were primarily in Northwest Africa and their motivations and commercial products were slightly different. After being defeated by Prussia, France felt the need to redeem itself, and acquiring parts of Africa to expand trade seemed like a great idea. They already had trading posts in this region since the days when slaves were transported to America and their main interests were the trade in timber and palm oil. France later controlled the island of Madagascar off the coast of South Africa, giving them a much-needed presence in the Indian Ocean. Germany came on the scene late in the match and almost missed. They were... middle of paper ... are just a few of these benefits, but unlike Africa, there wasn't much bad to contrast the good in these countries following their feats,A feeble argument can be made for the good that colonial expansion brought to Africa; education was improved, trade increased, infant mortality rate decreased, infrastructure was improved and religion and western influence were introduced, the latter two are very debatable as to the benefits, but these improvements , whatever their magnitude, will always be overshadowed by the suffering, torture, death and destruction caused by this colonization. Works Cited (1.) Koenig, Shulamith. “PDHRE: Slavery Convention.” Popular movement for human rights education. People's Movement for Human Rights Education (PDHRE) / New York Office. November 27. 2011