Congo Vs Ethiopia

So in taking over the once free state of Congo the King not only gained the natural resources, but in his demented mind he also gained the people or work force to harvest these resources. Some of the long lasting effects of the imperialism on the now Democratic Republic of Congo still linger even today. During the imperialism of Congo the people and Congo itself never really gained financially or culturally anything

The Republic of Congo was colonized by the Belgians under the ruling of King Leopold II. He exploited the natural resources and the natives for his selfish reasons. Nearly half its population were worked to death, whipped, dismembered, executed outright or sent running into the bush to die of starvation and disease in a pitiless quest for first ivory and then rubber. Whereas, India was subjugated to Great Britain. Great Britain was able to exploit India’s natural resources because of the control they had over the country. They made the raw materials like cotton and tea be sold and exported for a cheap price while they make money off of other countries through tariffs. When these two western countries left their colonies their cultures, infrastructure,

In the Congo, many people were affected by Imperialism in many different ways. For some people were shamed, had curfews, and some were often banned from “white” people establishments. Therefore, it was like segregation to the Congolese people. They had religion forced onto them by the Roman Catholic and some Protestant Churches. However, they gained formal education systems and slowly improved their healthcare. The government even sponsored teaching a handful of languages in the schools.

Colonizers brought communication and money to Africa which helped modernize it, the Congo itself was created through European power (Goldman 2-8-16). Soon, Europeans wanted to colonize Africa so they could furnish the raw materials for the Industrial Revolution. oil, ivory, were the main sources of wealth for the colonizers. In the eyes of the Europeans it was their right to take the land from the natives for their resource cultivation, and the Africans were unaware that they were giving away their land and losing control (Goldman 1-27-16). After the colonizers acquired land and continued cultivating it, a new natural resource in the Congo was discovered, rubber. Rubber had many important uses such as tires, hoses, tubes, valves and many other products. Rubber is a sap, and the French word for it means, “the wood that weeps” (Hochschild 160). Rubber became Leopold’s main revenue source. “He kept the Congo’s growing profitability a secret as long as possible”, and he managed to pay back as little of his debts as he possibly could as to kept the fortune to himself (Hochschild 168). He enjoyed spending the profits on public works projects in Belgium, himself, and his mistresses (Hochschild 168). Leopold presided over the wild rubber boom for twenty years, he had an indefensible ownership in the Congo. With this, he broke his pledge to the world that he was opening the Congo to free

In the late 19th century, the Congo was but a peaceful African country – a land rich in farms, rainforests, and hard workers, but by the time the imperialist King Leopold II finally ceded the Congo Free State to Belgium in 1908, the Congo was without 10 million people and those that remained were scarred with terrible memories. Imperialist countries seek to expand their empire or create an empire by taking control of another country for a number of reasons including political, social, cultural, military, and economic dominance. Africa was a coveted continent to be colonized especially by Europeans because of its abundance of natural resources that were highly profitable and in high demand. Belgium was one of those imperialist European countries

The Belgians imperialized Congo to exploit their natural resources to make a profit. King Leopold II of Belgium imperialized Congo with his army, known as the “The Forced Publique” in 1885, despite Leopold having never gone to the Congo himself. Belgian’s imperialism was set with the goal in mind of exploiting Congo’s enormous supply of ivory. By the 1890’s King Leopold controlled the vast majority of Belgium. Over time, “the world did not lose its desire for ivory, but by the late 1890’s wild rubber had far surpassed it as the main source of revenue from the Congo.”(159). Leopold did not care about the Congolese or their land, and in fact was so aggressive with using Congo’s rubber plants, and free labor that Alexandre Delcommune, a Congolese business man, predicted that in ten years if Leopold was still in power, “[people]

Imperialism had a vast impact on the Congo’s economy. The first thing the Belgians wanted was control over the Congo’s economy, so that they could have their supplies of ivory and rubber.

Firstly, the Belgians abused their power in the Congo. The Belgians stole land from the Congolese. This led to a widespread famine, for the Congolese previously used much of this land for hunting and

Riches in central Africa. In what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, there was and still is a plethora of natural resources. Rubber, gold, copper, diamonds and more. That natural wealth has definitely hurt Congo in the past rather than helped. Its resources could have made it one of the wealthiest countries in the world. But yet, this future did not hold true for the Congo. At the turn of the 20th century, King Leopold II began to take notice of the central African country. (National Black United Front). King Leopold II communicated all his ideas and intentions through a speech to European missionaries. (Africa Global Network). In it, his words held the key to all things terrible. Soon, Belgium took over the Congo and began one of the

Congo free state was first established in 1884. The colonial nations of Europe gave Leopold II of Belgium the authority to go and claim the Congo. They said that it would improve the lives of the natives that inhabited the land but that was evidently not the case. As soon as Leopold got over to the Congo, he had forgotten all about these promises. At first the drive for ivory was very prominent but eventually the want for rubber became a lot bigger. The machinery wasn't developed enough to do this so Leopold used what forces he had, manpower. The natives were forced into harvesting and processing rubber. This was a very physically demanding job because they had to climb up the trees to make big slashes into them and then go home and stir the liquid until it was in the right consistency to make the rubber. Each month, if someone didn’t meet the quota that was set out, they would get their hands or feet cut off. There was so many unthinkable things that occurred during this such as forced labour, beating, widespread killing and frequent mutilation. The estimated death toll was between 1 million to 15 million. Just looking at these few examples, the destructiveness of the Congolese people is quite clear. Today, the Congo is still a struggling country. It is very poor, unstable and corrupted because of the various wars and conflicts that happened in the history of the Congo. Because of the

Over the course of human history, many believe that the “Congo Free State”, which lasted from the 1880s to the early 1900s, was one of the worst colonial states in the age of Imperialism and was one of the worst humanitarian disasters over time. Brutal methods of collecting rubber, which led to the deaths of countless Africans along with Europeans, as well as a lack of concern from the Belgian government aside from the King, combined to create the most potent example of the evils of colonialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s. The Congo colonial experience, first as the Congo Free State then later as Belgian Congo, was harmful to that region of Africa both then and now because of the lack of Belgian and International

Africa was not treated as if African people were already living there but as “an expanse of empty space waiting to be filled by the cities constructed through the magic of European industry.” (101) What occurred in the Congo was also happening in neighboring countries by other world leaders but, the Congo had the most rubber. For example, Germany controlled Cameroon and Portugal ruled Angola by the same tactics as Leopold. However, the Congo was exploited the most due to American and British politics about WWI. In the end, “men who carried it out for Leopold were no more murderous than many Europeans elsewhere in Africa.”

Because hardly anyone would dare to explore the somewhat mythical land previous to the ‘Scramble for Africa’, no one knew what to expect of the people there. In 1350, a monk declared “that Africa contained one eyed people who used their feet to cover their heads” (Hochschild 6). In addition to a skewed perception of the mysterious, dark-skinned people, people of power in the Congo did not think very highly of natives. Stanley and many others said that the Africans were “lazy by definition” and that they needed to work (Hochschild 68). Most people took his word for truth. In the United States, people supported the colonization of the Congo, because it resolved the post-Civil War problem in The South. Many Southern officials were convinced that because Africa was the “native home of the negro”, the Congo was the perfect place to send them (Hochschild 79). This belief not only gave Leopold more support, but it widened his reign to the United States. Leopold knew that if people brought to light the atrocities that were occurring, human rights activists- like Morel- would end his ability to control The Congo. Luckily, he had people such as Stanley and the United States Southern officials that did not see the immorality of the injustice that prevailed over the Africans, to support his

Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest

Each culture proposes different characteristics pertaining to the country resided in. China and Kenya are two countries that are on total opposite ends of each other. China is ranked one of the most populated countries in the world, unlike Kenya. Therefore, the population amongst the two countries greatly affects the issues regarding personal space and rules of social behavior. An American manager would need to take immense caution when approaching a person from either of these countries.