26 February 1885
The Berlin Conference Agreement
On 26 February 1885, European powers signed the General Act of the Berlin Conference on West Africa — partitioning the continent with resources as the parameter. Africans were not at the table. Global Gateway Watch reads Brussels 2022 against that original act.
Read the General Act
The full text of the General Act of the Berlin Conference (1885) is available as a PDF. It remains the clearest documentary record of how Europe first drew Africa into lines of extraction.
General Act of the Berlin Conference on West Africa (PDF)Hosted by San Diego State University / Loveman collection.