Trade flourished and markets expanded resulting in increased prosperity in the late nineteenth century. In many parts of the world, the expansion of trade and a closer relationship with the world economy also meant a loss of freedoms and livelihoods. European conquests in the late nineteenth-century produced many painful economic, social and ecological changes through which the colonised societies were brought into the world economy. Rival European powers in Africa drew up the borders demarcating their respective territories. In 1885 the big European powers met in Berlin to complete the carving up of Africa between them. Britain and France made vast additions to their overseas territories in the late nineteenth century. Belgium and Germany became new colonial powers. The US also became a colonial power in the late 1890s by taking over some colonies earlier held by Spain. The impact of colonialism on the economy and livelihoods of colonised people was destructive.