Essay about Horror and Tragedy in The Congo

In the 1880s, as the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. Carrying out a genocidal plundering of the Congo, he looted its rubber, brutalized its people, and ultimately slashed its population by ten million--all the while shrewdly cultivating his reputation as a great humanitarian. Heroic efforts to expose these crimes eventually led to the first great human rights movement of the twentieth century, in which everyone from Mark Twain to the Archbishop of Canterbury participated. King Leopold's Ghost is the haunting account of a megalomaniac of monstrous proportions, a man as cunning, charming, and cruel as any of the great

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

Formerly known as Zaire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DROC) is located in the center of Africa bordered by nine different countries and one territory. (Lerner, 10) The bordering countries are Central African Republic and Sudan at the northern boarder, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Burundi on the eastern boarder, Zambia and Angola directly South of DROC and Congo on the Western boarder.

Without the Belgians, the Congo became financially unstable and lost whatever instruction and guidance the Belgians thought to give-- whether it be any degree of education, which was then thrust onto the Africans to teach themselves, or political stability. While the political stability was not in the Congo’s favor, it was still more beneficial than the leader the Congo had after Lumumba. The loss of stability led to the Congo being considered lesser than other countries and led to other countries, the United States of America, for example, shunning the Congolese. The financial instability also led to the Congo being unable to communicate effectively with other countries-- the sister countries of Africa or the countries abroad-- because the people of the Congo (or Zaire, as it was called under Mobutu, the outsider that took the place of Lumumba) could not afford to use what little finances they had for anything apart from basic survival necessities. This was alienating in nature, but exile also proved to be enriching as well. The exile brought about the election of Lumumba which in turn proved to produce ideas that would benefit the Congo. Lumumba’s election also resulted in higher morale. When he was killed, the Congolese were still loyal and remembered what could have been under Lumumba. The Congolese passion and loyalty for Lumumba,

Most can agree that the reigning of King Leopold II over congo was a very brutal period in history. From genocides to the cutting of limbs, it truly did not leave a good impression. Over the course of time, many have been so interested in this event that they have written essays, drawn illustrations, and even produced documentaries about this time in history. Two people of this group are Baffour Ankomah, writer of the essay Butcher of Congo, and Linley Sambourne, illustrator of In the Rubber Coils. In Ankomah’s essay, he thoroughly discusses several points that relate to King Leopold, and how vicious he was to the Africans of Congo. Meanwhile in Sambourne’s illustration, she focuses on the vicious, snapping ‘snake’, King Leopold, and how vicious

In the book, “Congo: The Epic History of a People”, by David Van Reybrouck, (2010), stated that, “But violence by Africans against other Africans was not the whole story: it was not only at the base of the pyramid of power that blood flowed. Many Belgians also took part in this. Physical violence was

Aside from the Book’s clear and detailed picture of the colonial era, one of the other basic strengths that form in the text are the images of key players in the Congo-Leopold tale. Although Hochschild extensively covers Leopold, he also gives critical attention to other characters such as Morel and Morton Stanley. Morton was the face of Leopold in Congo, a person that Hochschild exposes his cruelty and rage. Most of Morton’s character is linked to his childhood, more so the inner wounds, he must have lived and experienced. Through the life of Morton, Hochschild successfully depicts the economic explanation of imperialist expansion. Yet, there is also the psychological aspect, such as Morton’s upbringing, which may have also affected Leopold.

Within the next few weeks, the Congo declined quickly. On the tenth day of independence the Force Publique army was irate with the new governments lack of change, and rebelled, asking for “promotions, pay raises, and the removal of white officers” (Dunn, 63). Belgian officers were still commanding the higher positions in the army, and while the Congo may have gained independence, “the Belgians not only ran things economically they also maintained a total grip on the military apparatus” (Van Reybouck, 285). The Congolese soldiers were anger and frustrated, one a Belgian officer, General Janssen, confirmed his soldier’s belief that, “Independence brings change to politicians and to civilians. But for you, nothing will be changed” (Zeilig, 103).

I also consider the ways in which Congo’s various human rights violations are interconnected. I have also found that there is not enough emphasis given by scholars connecting the genocide and civil wars of Rwanda and other countries within the Great Lakes Region overflowing into the Congo. Throughout this paper, I will highlight the importance of the Rwandan genocide and ultimately its impact in the ‘resource curse’ epidemic in the Congo. I also found that power imbalance, poverty, and migration, led to the disorganization, rampant sexual violence, and societal discord within the state as a whole. This paper then delineates the ways in which the DRC had potential to exist as a thriving African country, but ultimately had failings that led to its current

In the past, many incidents of genocide have occurred, like the Armenian genocide or the Rwandan genocide. While these incidents may seem unrelated to current times, similar incidents are starting to occur in many parts of the world and one such place is Congo. Many sources hint that the conflict that occurs in Congo is a genocide because many elements of genocide appear in the conflict like classification or dehumanization. While what they say has some truth in the sense that this conflict contains some element of genocide but, not enough elements are present to make it a genocide. Although many would believe that the conflict in Congo is a genocide, there is evidence of the conflict being a territorial and power dispute because some countries invading Congo want the resources, others want power, and the cause of the conflict in Congo is the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide.

At the beginning of this paper, I posed a number of questions in order to grapple with the paradoxical nature of the Congo. Is the Congo a victim of the spillover effects of violence from the surrounding nations and do most human rights violations in this country occur on its Rwandan border as an after effect of the Rwandan genocide? Are women in the Congo the unlucky beneficiaries of ethnic, material, and social warfare?

This offers us the lesson of protecting our human rights and fighting for what we believe in. The Congo movement helped instill the idea of humanity. This atrocity proved, when the evidence could no longer be ignored, humanity must rise. As Hochschild explains, “And yet the world we live in—its divisions and conflicts, its widening gap between rich and poor, its seemingly inexplicable outbursts of violence—is shaped far less by what we celebrate and mythologize than by the painful events we try to forget.” (294). Hochschild explains the importance of remembering the horrors because they shape the world today. However, the lesson goes beyond the tragedy; the events in Congo wasn’t the last horror and there will likely be more. The movement teaches, our actions 100 years ago will be needed to shape the future too; history helps us understand the

The post-colonial condition of Africa has been unstable at best and bloody at worst. Generally, these nations have been characterized by political militarism or dictatorship as well as economic inequality. Perhaps the nation that best represents these traits is the Democratic Republic of Congo. Once the Congo was released from Belgian control in 1960, it was immediately overcome by political factions resulting in multiple provinces attempting to secede. Joseph Mobutu led the military to unite the country again, and set himself up as the dictator of the Congo. Though the Congo contains plenty of natural resources to build an economy on, its failure to maintain a stable government has caused massive inequalities of wealth favoring the ruling

This paper would not be complete without briefly looking at the history of Congo. Why is this important? A brief history will be the map to

The history and events that happened in the past are important to a country, as it has helped them develop and change who they are in the modern day. The colonization of Africa in the late 1800s-early 1900s are an example of this. The actions and events inflicted on Africa by the European powers have helped shape the continent of modern-day Africa. These events are largely significant to historians and the people of Africa, such as the first genocide of the 20th century, committed by the German powers in now what is modern day Namibia, against the Herero people. This report will discuss and go through some events that happened during the colonization, a brief history of the colonization of Africa and a description on the events that occurred during the Herero/Nama genocide in 1904.