Before the mid-19th century, European intervention in much of tropical Africa was extremely difficult because of the disease gradient. The combination of malaria and yellow fever commonly killed off half of European troops stationed in West Africa each year. It was the reverse of the conquest of the Americas, where introduced diseases wiped out 50 million indigenous Americans, opening the land to settlement and greatly reducing the ability to resist. This was much less of a problem in temperate southern Africa, accounting for the Dutch being able to set up a colony there in the 17th century.

In addition, in much of West Africa, a pest called the tsetse fly carried a disease that quickly killed off horses and mules, making cavalry impossible and meaning that all expeditions had supplies carried either by boat or on the backs of bearers because carts, wagons, and pack animals were not feasible. This affected the Togoland and Cameroon regions, where Germany would ultimately attempt to develop two colonies. Neither the disease gradient nor equine disease much affected Southwest or East Africa, the other two regions of German colonial interest. In Southwest Africa (now Namibia), there was a thin population of nomadic tribal peoples on horseback, herding cattle, goats, and sheep. In East Africa, the region that became a German colony was claimed by the Arab sultan of Zanzibar, with much larger population and very diverse peoples.

The tools of empire developed quickly in the 19th century. Rifled muskets, such as those used in the U.S. Civil War, greatly increased the range of weapons, and they were followed by rapid-fire breechloaders with a much longer kill range. Machine guns at first were primitive, like the American Gatling Gun, but quickly developed immense firepower. Rapid fire field artillery was developed, particularly by the Krupp firm in Germany.