Pivotal catalyst: the seven years’ war and Anglo-French scramble for West Africa up to 1900

Abstract

The Seven Years' War which was fought between Britain and France mainly as a result of struggle for territory in North America had immense impacts on West Africa. This article explores the place of West Africa in the Seven Years' War and the impact of the war on the sub-region from 1763 to the end ofthe nineteenth century. Although West Africa was not a major theater of conflict during the war, it, nevertheless, featured in the strategic calculations of Britain and France, partly because of its geographical location along the Atlantic coast and its importance as a gateway, in addition to the region's immense economic potentials. The defeat of France and loss of territory after the war made her tofocus more attention on West Africa. It is concluded that the Seven Years' War set the tone for the scramblefor Africa by European powers in the nineteenth century..