The Scramble for the Arctic — Greenland and Beyond 

The latter third of the 19th century saw a vast European “scramble for Africa,” as advances in technology, medicine, and communications allowed European explorers and colonizers to penetrate deeper into the heretofore impenetrable interior of the continent.  

The potential for conflict between competing European powers, as well as perhaps a desire to exploit such conflict, inspired German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to invite European nations, as well as the United States and the Ottoman Empire...