Belgian Congo, French Congo Belge, former colony (coextensive with the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) in Africa, ruled by Belgium from 1908 until 1960. We have very little evidence of what Africans thought of Stanley. In French, Belgian diplomat Jules A. de Maere d'Aertrycke, A. Schorochoff, P. Vercauteren, A. Vleurinck. J. Polasky, The democratic socialism of Emile Vandevelde, op. The Fomulac (Fondation médicale de l'université de Louvain au Congo), was founded in 1926, with the goal of forming Congolese medical personnel and researchers specialized in tropical medicine. Congolese resistance against colonialism was widespread and took many different forms. Within weeks, the Belgian military and later a United Nations intervention force evacuated the largest part of the more than 80,000 Belgians who were still working and living in the Congo.[90]. The Congo became an independent republic on June 30, 1960. [39] His primary objective was to exploit the lucrative ivory market in Central Africa by establishing a secure trade route between the [89] Despite lack of preparation and an insufficient number of educated elite (there were only a handful of Congolese holding a university degree at that time), the Belgian leaders hoped that things might work out. King Leopold’s Imperialism 743. Mobutu enjoyed the support of the West, and in particular of the United States, because of his strong anti-communist stance. Justifications for colonialism in Africa often invoked as a key argument that of the civilizing influence of the European culture. Even so, language policies and colonial domination often went hand in hand, as evidenced by the preference given to Lingala—a semi-artificial language spread through its common use in the Force Publique—over more local (but also more ancient) indigenous languages such as Lomongo and others. "The Belgian government first of all agreed to assume [Congo's] 110 million francs worth of debt, much of them in the form of bond's Leopold had freely dispensed over the years to [his] favourites", says Hochschild. Cotton production increased from 23,000 tons in 1932 to 127,000 in 1939. From Hathi Trust. In January 1961, he was flown to the rich mining province of Katanga, which by that time had declared a secession from Léopoldville under the leadership of Moïse Tshombe (with active Belgian support). Following the occupation of Belgium by the Germans in May 1940, the Congo declared itself loyal to the Belgian government in exile in London. Additionally, I will Bordered by nine other territories in Central, Southern, and East Africa, the Congo was of fundamental political and economic concern to colonial and Cold War powers, the white-minority regimes of Southern Africa, and African and Asian countries in the UN. During World War I, an initial stand-off between the Force Publique and the German colonial army in German East Africa (Tanganyika) turned into open warfare with a joint Anglo-Belgian invasion of German colonial territory in 1916 and 1917 during the East African Campaign. Jean-Philippe Peemans, "Imperial Hangovers: Belgium – The Economics of Decolonization", Journal of Contemporary History 2, nr., 265–66. White Fathers’ experiences in the Belgian Congo and to understand their motivations, I will examine White Fathers’ personal mission diaries and correspondence, Belgian colonial administration documents, as well as other primary and secondary sources. ... Brosens, G. (2013). The independence of Ghana in 1957 and President De Gaulle's August 1958 visit to Brazzaville, the capital of the French Congo, on the other side of the Congo river to Léopoldville, in which he promised France's African colonies the free choice between a continued association with France or full independence, aroused ambitions in the Congo. (1994). Selected Primate Photographs. ... Summer 1959. The Congo and personal primary sources. Primary Sources. Poor relations between political factions within the Congo, the continued involvement of Belgium in Congolese affairs, and the intervention by major parties (mainly the United States and the Soviet Union) during the Cold War led to a five-year-long period of war and political instability, known as the Congo Crisis, from 1960 to 1965. To this end "deserving" Congolese could apply for a proof of "civil merit", or, one step up, 'immatriculation' (registration), i.e., official evidence of their assimilation with European civilisation. Until the later part of the 19th century, few Europeans had ventured into the Congo Basin. After Henry Morton Stanley had explored the region in a journey that ended in 1878, Leopold courted the explorer and hired him to help his interests in the region.[11]. The colonial state—and any authority exercised by whites in the Congo—was often referred to by the Congolese as bula matari ("break rocks"), one of the names originally given to Stanley. On his first state visit to the Belgian Congo in 1955, King Baudouin was welcomed enthusiastically by cheering crowds of whites and blacks alike, as captured in André Cauvin's documentary film, Bwana Kitoko. Faced with a radicalisation of Congolese demands, the government saw the chances of a gradual and carefully planned transition dwindling rapidly.[88]. How I Found Dr. Livingston - Henry Stanley - 1871 . [53] The necessary work-force was recruited by specialised recruiting firms (Robert Williams & Co, Bourse du Travail Kasaï,..) and was in some cases supported by governmental recruiting offices (Office de Travail-Offitra,..). Primary Source. The highest-ranking representative of the colonial administration residing in the Belgian Congo was the Governor-General. The Belgian intention was to take the relevance from the radicals’ lips by appeasing the people with a moderate puppet government, and erase the calls for independence. This was a catalyst for disturbances arising all over the Congo, mainly instigated by dissatisfied soldiers and radicalized youngsters. The brutal exploitation and arbitrary use of violence, in which some of the concessionary companies had excelled, were curbed. Despite the organisational divergence of the party, Lumumba's leftist faction (now the Mouvement National Congolais-Lumumba) and the MNC collectively had established themselves as by far the most important and influential party in the Belgian Congo. Belgium: Legal and Governmental Documents Belgium: Maps, Newspapers, and Other Collections EuroDocs > History of Belgium: Primary Documents << Significant primary source documents from around the world in multiple languages. Education in Belgian colonies and former colonies. In 1914 they were distributed among four large provinces, with some boundary changes. The Congo Free State operated as a corporate state, privately controlled by Leopold II through a non-governmental organization, the International African Association. The territorial administrator was expected to inspect his territory and to file detailed annual reports with the provincial administration. House bands became popular, and rumba congolies were formed. Congo aan den Yser. The economic boom of the 1920s turned the Belgian Congo into one of the leading copper-ore producers worldwide. Lumumba was handed over to Katangan authorities, who executed him. In French, Belgian diplomat Jules It was estimated that in 2010, more than 4,000 Belgian nationals were resident in the DRC, and the Congolese community in Belgium was at least 16,000 strong. [57] In 1928 King Albert I visited the Congo to inaugurate the so-called 'voie national' that linked the Katanga mining region via rail (up to Port Francqui) and via river transport (from Port Francqui to Léopoldville) to the Atlantic port of Matadi. [32] Executive power rested with the Belgian Minister of Colonial Affairs, assisted by a Colonial Council (Conseil Colonial). Pointedly, Mobutu was not invited to attend the funeral of King Baudouin in 1993, which he considered a grave personal affront. [84] On 13 January, King Baudouin addressed the nation by radio and declared that Belgium would work towards the full independence of the Congo "without delay, but also without irresponsible rashness". [70] The health-care infrastructure expanded steadily throughout the colonial period, with a comparatively high availability of hospital beds relative to the population and with dispensaries set up in the most remote regions. In agriculture, too, the colonial state forced a drastic rationalisation of production. In this authoritative survey of Belgium's 120-year relationship with the vast Central African domain, Guy Vanthemsche makes no attempt to debunk the accusations of cruel exploitation, maladministration, and explosive, ill-conceived decolonization. New rail and steamship lines opened to handle the expanded export traffic. [51] This allowed, in particular, the Belgian Société Générale to build up an economic empire in the Belgian Congo. Low birth rates in the countryside and the depopulation of certain areas were typically attributed to the disruption of traditional community life as a result of forced labour migration and mandatory cultivation. [16] This way, on 15 November 1908 the Belgian Congo became a colony of the Belgian Kingdom. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Imperialism In The Congo - 3) Primary Sources. In 2002 Belgium officially apologised for its role in the assassination of Lumumba; the CIA has long been suspected of complicity, as they suspected Lumumba's politics were too far left. The Belgian parliament exercised legislative authority over the Belgian Congo. They thought provincial elections would take place in December 1959, national elections in 1960 or 1961, after which administrative and political responsibilities would be gradually transferred to the Congolese, in a process presumably to be completed towards the mid-1960s. It put emphasis on house building, energy supply, rural development and health-care infrastructure. by glennw on February 2, 2010. In the end, this work was one of the reasons why the Belgian Government took the Congo away from King Leopold and brought it into their rule. Despite Belgium's surrender, the Congo remained in the conflict on the Allied side, administered by the Belgian government in exile, and provided much-needed raw materials, most notably gold and uranium, to Britain and … The Mouvement populaire de la Révolution (MPR), of which Mobutu was the président-fondateur, firmly established one-party rule. Lannoo Tielt, Inbel, 1986, blz. [67] In 1956 a state university was founded in Elisabethville. Other primary sources include the works of Castelein and Dorman. Mobutu's régime became more radical during the 1970s. There was rapid political development, forced by African aspirations, in the last years of the 1950s, culminating in the Belgian Congo general election, 1960. Kent's, John America, the UN and Decolonisation: Cold War Conflict in the Congo (New York: Routledge, 2010) shows how the UN helped to preserve the existing social and economic order.Carole Collins's article “Fatally Flawed Mediation: Cordier and the Congo Crisis of 1960,” Africa Today 39, no. [86] Increasingly, the colonial administration saw varied forms of resistance, such as refusal to pay taxes. The Congolese population bore the brunt of the "war effort" – for instance, through a reinforcement of the mandatory cultivation policy. The educational system was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church—as was the case for the rest of Belgium at the time—and, in some rare cases, by Protestant churches. (Terrorism: Essential Primary Sources) King Leopold and Belgium treatment of the people of Congo was brutal.
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