   thumb|the conference of berlin the berlin conference of 1884â85, also known as the congo conference () or west africa conference (westafrika-konferenz),"berlin west africa conference", encyclopaedia britannica. regulated european colonisation and trade in africa during the new imperialism period, and coincided with germany's sudden emergence as an imperial power. called for by portugal and organized by otto von bismarck, first chancellor of germany, its outcome, the general act of the berlin conference, can be seen as the formalization of the scramble for africa. the conference ushered in a period of heightened colonial activity by european powers, which eliminated or overrode most existing forms of african autonomy and self-governance. ==early history of the berlin conference==  before the conference, european diplomacy treated african indigenous people in the same manner as the new world natives, forming trading relationships with tribal chiefs. by the mid-19th century, europeans considered africa to be disputed territory ripe for exploration, trade, and settlement by their colonists. with the exception of trading posts along the coasts, the continent was essentially ignored. in 1878, king leopold ii of belgium, who had previously founded the international african society in 1876, invited henry morton stanley to join him in researching and "civilizing" the continent. in 1878, the international congo society was also formed, with more economic goals, but still closely related to the former society. lÃ©opold secretly bought off the foreign investors in the congo society, which was turned to imperialistic goals, with the african society serving primarily as a philanthropic front. from 1878 to 1885, stanley returned to the congo, not as a reporter but as an envoy from lÃ©opold with the secret mission to organize what would become known as the [[congo free stat
1884_conferences 1884_in_Africa 1884_in_Germany 1884_in_international_relations 1885_in_Africa 1885_in_Germany 1885_in_international_relations 19th-century_diplomatic_conferences 19th_century_in_Berlin Diplomatic_conferences_in_Germany European_colonisation_in_Africa History_of_Morocco