The History Navies and Colonies
fter The Berlin Conference of 1875, the scramble for colonies is kicked into
high gear. The conference set down the rules of settling the borders of African
colonies, but allowed for the wholesale abuse of independent states around the
globe. Each of the nation, with the power to do so, sought out states which
they could subjugate. No nation was willing to stand for the principle of
self sovereignty for these nations except when it was in their own interest to
do so. Former claims of exploration, debts owed, protection of expatriate
populations were all used as pretexts to grab formerly independent states and subject them
to the will of the colonizer. Among the goals of the imperial nations were
the securing raw materials or markets, potential navel bases and coaling stations.
The value of petroleum soon became obvious and this too soon became a prize
for the imperialist powers to seize. The limitations on the European militaries
imposed by the Berlin conference initially caused considerable consternation among
the continental powers, despite the prohibition of war on the continent. These
limitation were worked around by the provision within the treaty to allow for the
training of troops destine for overseas service.
Each nation soon found itself training an every greater number of troops to maintain a number of men under arms locally to deter its neighbor form the consideration of taking advantage of the treaty bound limitations on their continental forces. Additionally, a rush to develop new weapons to amplify the potency of the allowed regular army became a popular means to deter possible aggression. Soon an "arms race" was on to develop the next new weapons system. This influx of funding into scientific and engineering fields stimulated many new discoveries which would add both to the nations military and their economy as a whole. Mechanized forces, never envisioned at the time of The Berlin Conference, soon were seen as a mandatory part of any nation that wished to maintain their security. Under the requirements of the treaty, the trainees, once used to maintain men under arms locally, were to be shipped out to the colonies, where no limits on the troop numbers applied. The need for each nation to maintain a capacity to move these troop across the seas and keep their colonial troops properly supplied required that each expand their military navies and merchant marine.
