African's huge variety of languages and cultures discouraged unity among them. Wars fought between ethnic groups over land, water, and trade rights also prevented a unified stand. Europeans soon learned to play rival groups against each other. The competition between European nations was so fierce that they feared war among themselves. To prevent conflict, 14 European nations met at the Berlin Conference in 1884-85 to lay down rules for the division of Africa. The Europeans nations divided the continent with little regard about how Africans ethnic or linguistic groups were distributed. No African ruler was invited to attend their meetings, yet the Conference sealed Africa's fate.