The Rise and Fall of the British Empire

In the last years of the 18th century, Great Britain had begun its transformation from an economy based on agrarian farming to one of industrial manufacturing. In 1870, a year before the formation of the German Empire, only 10% of the African continent was under European control. By 1914 that number had risen to nearly 90%. The scramble for Africa traces its origins to explorer Henry Morton Stanley's expedition in Congo River Basin.