Portugal suggested the idea of an international conference that could settle the territorial disputes that arose from European activities in the Congo region. The Berlin Conference was held in Berlin between November 15, 1874 and November 26, 1875, under the leadership of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Although controlling the slave trade and promoting humanitarian idealism were promoted as the focus of the conference, the conference only passed empty resolutions about the ending of slave trade and providing for the welfare of Africa. In truth, the result of the Conference was a method of dividing the continent of Africa between the European powers.
