The Portuguese, aware of French and Belgian…

The Portuguese, aware of French and Belgian activities on the lower Congo River in 1883, occupy Cabinda and Massabi north of the Congo River, towns that Portugal has long claimed.

In the same year, Portugal annexes the region of the old Kongo Kingdom.

Seeking to uphold these claims against French and Belgian advances in the Congo River Basin, Portugal negotiates a treaty with Britain in 1884; the other European powers, however, reject it.

Portugal's subsequent demands for an international conference on the Congo fall on deaf ears until German chancellor Otto von Bismarck seizes on the idea as an opportunity to diminish French and British power.