Berlin Conference (Regnum Bueno)

The Berlin Conference of 1884–85, also known as the Congo Conference or West Africa Conference, regulated the colonization 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 World powers, which eliminated or overrode most existing forms of African autonomy and self-governance.

Consequences
The conference provided an opportunity to channel latent European hostilities towards one another outward, provide new areas for helping the European powers expand in the face of rising American, Russian, and Japanese interests, and form constructive dialogue for limiting future hostilities.

For Africans, colonialism was introduced across nearly all the continent. When African independence was regained after World War II, it was in the form of fragmented states.