The Berlin Conference of 1884-85 was convened to:

Answer Details

The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, also known as the Congo Conference or West Africa Conference, was convened by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Its primary purpose was to regulate European colonisation and trade in Africa by establishing rules for the partition of the continent among European powers.

By the 1880s, several European nations were competing for territory and influence in Africa, creating tensions that threatened to lead to conflict among them. The conference brought together representatives from 14 European nations (plus the United States), and its outcome was the General Act of the Berlin Conference, which laid down the ground rules for how European powers could claim and occupy African territory. Critically, no African leaders were invited or consulted.

The conference did not aim to establish African independence; it did the opposite by formalising colonial control. While the abolition of the slave trade was discussed as a subsidiary topic, it was not the central purpose. The conference also did not seek to create African states; rather, it drew arbitrary boundaries that divided existing African communities and kingdoms to serve European interests.

The correct answer is that the conference was convened to divide Africa peacefully among European powers, preventing European wars over colonial claims while ignoring the interests and sovereignty of African peoples.