European Colonial Rule in Africa

By 1900 European empires controlled most of Africa, although Liberia and Ethiopia remained outside the general pattern of colonial rule. British, French, Belgian, Portuguese, German, Italian and Spanish administrations differed greatly, but across the continent colonial states imposed new borders, taxation, labour demands and legal hierarchies while expanding railways, ports, mines and export agriculture.

The First World War changed the map of colonial Africa as Germany lost its colonies and former German territories were redistributed under League of Nations mandates. During the interwar years African political organisations, workers, veterans, religious movements and local rulers challenged or negotiated colonial authority in different ways, while European governments continued to treat the continent as a source of strategic territory and raw materials.

For historical fiction this context is broad enough for early twentieth-century African adventures whose real-world frame is colonial rule but whose local settings may be invented. In the Tarzan novels, lost cities and fictional peoples should not be mistaken for historical African societies; the context describes the surrounding period of imperial administration, travel and expedition culture.