The Scramble for Africa, also known as the Race for Africa, was the proliferation of conflicting European claims to African territory during the New Imperialism period, between the 1880s and World War I.
The latter half of the 19th century, starting in about the year 1880, saw the transition from the "informal" imperialism of control through military influence and economic dominance to that of direct rule." Attempts to mediate imperial competition, such as the Berlin Conference (1884 - 1885) between Britain, France and Germany, failed to establish definitively the competing powers' claims. These disputes over Africa were among the central factors precipitating World War I.citation needed]