The scramble for Africa took place in the period between 1880 and 1914. During this period Africa found itself divided and divided between several European countries . In essence, Africa was like a freshly baked cake and everyone wanted a slice. Several factors were the cause of this great land theft: nationalism, imperialism and, to say the least, pure greed! The British were the dominant entity in the race and their main interests in the beginning were to acquire and secure the sea routes to India. Following the Congress of Vienna they acquired the area of ​​South Africa known as the Cape Colony. Shortly thereafter gold and diamonds were found north of this area and this shifted their interests northwards. This caused the need for a new railway. One obstacle they faced was Dutch settlers known as Boers who did not agree with British rule and had already been there long before them. The railway would pass through some of their colonies and eventually 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 trading commodities 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 slave times, when slaves were transported to America and their main interests were trading in timber and palm oil. France later controlled the island of Madagascar off the coast of South Africa and this gave them a much needed presence in the Indian Ocean. Germany came into the picture late in the game and almost missed. They were... half of the paper... they are just some of these benefits, but unlike Africa, there wasn't much bad as opposed to good in these countries as a result of their exploits,A weak argument can be made about 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 questionable as to benefit, but these improvements no matter how large or small 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