The Berlin Conference was organized in 1884 in an effort to avoid conflicts between major European powers all scrambling for African colonies. Fourteen countries, none of which represented Africa, divided the continent over a three month period. They created arbitrary borders which ignored the history of African society. Ethnic groups and existing trade routes found themselves split among multiple countries if they happened to straddle a border between separately owned colonial powers. The member of the conference made traditional African rulers sign treaties of compliance, under force if necessary.
The results of these arbitrary borders, borders that only existed on paper, have bled into modern times. An example is the Rwandan Genocide. By forcing both tribes to exist within the same borders the Berlin Conference laid the groundwork for a power struggle between the two groups. This is an extreme example but an important one to understand the struggles some African countries must face as they try to modernize and join the rest of the developed world.
