Berlin Conference (nov 15, 1884 – feb 26, 1885)
Description:
The Berlin Conference was a series of negotiations in which the major European nations met to decide all questions connected with the Congo River basin in Central Africa. The conference, proposed by Portugal in pursuance of its special claim to control of the Congo estuary, was necessitated by the jealousy and suspicion with which the great European powers viewed one another’s attempts at colonial expansion in Africa. The general act of the Conference of Berlin declared the Congo River basin to be neutral; guaranteed freedom for trade and shipping for all states in the basin; forbade slave trading; and rejected Portugal’s claims to the Congo River estuary—thereby making possible the founding of the independent Congo Free State, to which Great Britain, France, and Germany had already agreed in principle.Added to timeline:
Date:
nov 15, 1884
feb 26, 1885
~ 3 months and 12 days