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BELGIAN CONGO. Initial Occupation. 1885 The Berlin Conference approves King Leopold ’ s claim to “ The Congo Free State ” as his personal colony until 1908. International investors supported his claim to Congo.
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Initial Occupation • 1885 The Berlin Conference approves King Leopold’s claim to “The Congo Free State” as his personal colony until 1908. • International investors supported his claim to Congo. • He established rule with his personal army and he also expected the Belgian army to assist. Info Source: ("Congo Free State,"). Picture: hbw2000.com
Benefits To The Imperial Power • Ivory and rubber were the main exports. Both were collected through a system of slave labor controlled by Leopold’s agents. • The forest elephant population was depleted and the focused changed to rubber collection • Pneumatic tires drastically increases the demand for rubber. Picture: vietnambusiness.asia Info Source: ("Congo- the Brutal," n.d.).
Belgian Congo • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcF9fmTzqkg
Treatment Of Indigenous People • 8-10 million people died as a result of Leopold’s policies. • They were enslaved • Families were kidnapped to force people to produce rubber. • Cut off peoples hands if they did not produce enough rubber. Info Source: ("Congo- the Brutal," n.d.). Picture: en.wikipedia.org
Belgian Congo Money Picture: coins.ha.com
The Congo Free State Map Picture: gutenberg.org
Belgian Congo Map Picture: Culturegrams.com
The Democratic Republic of Congo Picture:lonelyplanet.com
Indigenous perspective • King Leopold II and his army took over power in Congo. • King Leopold II and the Force Publique terrorized the Congolese by kidnapping the families of the workers and cutting off hands if they didn’t produce enough rubber • In 1908 Congo was taken from Leopold and turned into a Conley ruled but the Belgians • The worst abuses were eliminated because the Belgians still wanted the copper, oil, diamonds and other minerals • (Congo). http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2010/07/passing-of-patrice-lumumba.html
Benefits and modernization • The Belgian modernized the colony • The Belgians built railroads and automobiles • They brought over electricity and telephones • ("Encyclopedia Britannica,“). http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/59224/Belgian-Congo
Cultural imperialism • The Belgians forced many different Congo tribes to live together • The Belgians set up Belgian style schools • The Congolese lost their native language and way of religion • The Belgians brought a new system of law • (Everything Culture," ). http://sfbayview.com/2011/50-years-after-lumumba-the-burden-of-history/
Resistance and independence movements • Congo rebelled from beginning • The first Congolese party started in 1958 whose name was Congo nation movement • In 1959 riots broke out and Congo people demanded independence • Congo became an independent republic on June 30, 1960 • ("Encyclopedia Britannica," ). http://www.rnw.nl/africa/article/belgian-reign-terror-casts-shadow-over-congolese-anniversary-0
The Democratic Republic of Congo Red for people's blood Yellow for prosperity Blue for hope Star for unity (“Democratic republic of Congo”). http://flagspot.net/flags/cd.html
Consequences on the Imperial Power • Belgium gained wealth from the rubber in ivory they exported. • King Leopold was criticized for exploiting and enslaving the Africans. • Edward Morrel wrote about the horrible situation in the Belgian Congo. • Belgium’s treatment of the African people is an example of European Social Darwinism (Congo Free State, 2011) en.wikipedia.org
Consequences on the Occupied Region • When the Belgians left the country was unstable • The Congo lost a lot of its resources • Most people live in poverty • Government corruption has caused civil wars picture:mydailyclarity.com (Democratic Republic of the Congo, n.d.).
Modern Status Congo Belgium • GDP-$37,900 per year • Literacy rate-99% • HDI-.867 (rank 18) • GDP-$300 per year • Literacy rate-67.2% • HDI-.239 (rank 168) seputarforex.com (The World Factbook, n.d.).
Compensation • when people realized the Belgians were treating the Congolese horribly the international community forced King Leopold to end his rule and give control of the country to Belgium • Most of the worst abuses stopped: kidnapping of families, mutilation, and slavery. • Belgium apologized for killing the Congolese president Lumumba. (Lumumba Apology: Congo's, n.d.) blackhistoryheroes.blogspot.com
Mobutu • took control of Congo in 1965 • -made all political parties illegal because they were causing problems in the country • 1967 he made one political party mandatory it was called the (MPR) Popular Movement of the Revolution. • Made Congo a policy of Africanisation country, he made a new flag, new national anthem, and changed the name of the country to Zaire. • Mobutu also changed the capital name from Leopoldville to Kinshasa. • The people of Congo even had to get African names, if they didn’t have one. • He bribed any of his rivals with money to keep them happy. • Nationalized foreign owned business and made Western investors leave (Zaire). • 1990 had to unban the rule against political parties and then in 1997 he was over powered and fled the • country with his family. • Congo was in debt billions of dollars by the 1980’s because of him but he didn’t care because he was billions of dollars wealthier • ( Mobutu of Zaire, 2005-2011) fxcuisine.com
BIBLIOGRAPHY • Congo Free State. (2011). Retrieved February 14, 2011, from In Encyclopædia Britannica website: http://school.eb.com/eb/article-9025854 • Democratic Republic of the Congo. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2011, from http://school.eb.com/eb/article-9443169?query=democratic%20republic%20of%20congo&ct= • International Human Development Indicators. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2011, from UN website: http:’’hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/ profiles/Bel.html • Lumumba Apology: Congo’s mixed feelings . (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2011, from BBC website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1805546.stm • The World Factbook. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2011, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cg.html • Congo. (n.d.). Retrieved 2011, from Encyclopædia Britannica database. • Encyclopædia Britannica. (n.d.). Belgian Congo . Retrieved from http://school.eb.com/eb/article-9015197 • everything culture. (n.d.). Democratic Republic of the Congo . Retrieved 2011, from http://www.everyculture.com