Imperialism In The Congo Research Paper

Admitted in the Memoir of Ndansi Kumalo, “Well, the white men have brought us some good things. For a start, they brought us European implements - plows; we can buy European clothes, which are an advance. The government has arranged for education and through that, when our children grow up, they may rise in status.” The Europeans admittedly brought many great things to the Natives of the countries they conquered; better technology, education, and overall help were given to the natives. In the beginning, Europeans tried as much as they could to prop up the natives to a better, civilised stature. However, as their power and grasp on the region increased, as did their greed. According to Richard Harding Davis in Leopold, The Janitor from the Congo and the Coasts of Africa, “The Charges brought against Leopold II, as King of the Congo, are three: (1) That he has made slaves of the twenty million blacks he promised to protect. (2) That, in spite of his promise to keep the Congo open to trade, he has closed it to all nations. (3) That the revenues of the country and all of its trade has retained to himself.” Such imperialism allowed far away kings to exploit their populaces of Native Africans as if they were just toys to the crown. Leaders would force their powerless and technologically underdeveloped subjects into fruitless

What is imperialism? According to Britannica, imperialism is a state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas. Belgium taking over the Congo is an example of this. The Congo was a peaceful country, located in the heart of Africa, consisting of warm sunny days and beautiful Lake Malebo. The people were free, and happy. This was before the hell started… King Léopold II was the reason for this to happen. Léopold found the Congo and immediately fell in love with all the resources that flourished there. Léopold then went on to colonizing the Congo and taking it in for his own. He colonized the

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

Imperialism was a negative event that happened to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country was first impressed by the Belgian king, King Leopold II. He ruled the land not as a colony but as his own. He treated the Congolese as slaves to gather him resources to help make him more wealthy. Imperialism was the worst thing that happened to the Democratic Republic of Congo, King Leopold II enslaved the people, and stripped the land of resources, punished them which ultimately lead to the Belgian government stripping him of Power

King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild explains the lead up to and the establishment of the Congo Free State under Belgium. Hochschild does so through many accounts of the life going on inside the Congo during the exploration of the Africa and the beginning of an established government in the Congo. The death toll during Leopold’s reign could have reached over 10 million before the Belgium government would take the Congo away from the out of control Leopold. This could make the Leopold’s Congo one of the worst genocides in human history. Unfortunately there was no basis for recording the murders by Leopold’s officers, so we will never know the exact figure of the death toll.

The resources were King Leopold's main reason to colonize the Congo. He knew that if he could obtain that rich land, he could receive a large sum of money at the expense of ethics. To achieve this, he sent an explorer named Henry Stanley to make his power known (BBC). Mercenaries executed this plan for Leopold. Imperialism is the way King Leopold II took over the Congo and subdued all the people that lived there. Imperialism is the domination over a society by economic or cultural means (Discovery Education). In some cases, imperialism still exists today. Cultural and economic imperialism exists today. Economic imperialism is imperialism for money. For example, one company buys its resources from Country A for a low amount. Country A then begins to believe that it should be receiving more money for all the work that it does. The company then leaves Country A to buy from Country B for the same price. Country B doesn’t complain and the company doesn’t have to spend any more money. Though, it’s not a win-win for everyone. Country A then begins to beg for the company to come back and buy resources from them. This is because the company took away something Country A

Sub point 1: Problem 2: Another huge problem is their lack of education. In another website called Education in Democratic Republic of the Congo, updated on April 19, 2017 by the USAID, 3.5 million children of primary school age are not enrolled in school. This issue is also largely affecting their health issue as well, because people have no knowledge of how to prevent diseases from spreading into their bodies, such as malaria as mentioned earlier. For most of us, who had K-12 education without any restrictions, these problems might be totally unimaginable.

The beginning of this imperialism started with king Leopold of Belgium. For several years he had been secretly sending his representatives to the Congo region to sign treaties and purchase land from the local tribes, when it finally came to light what he was doing, he had already acquired 900,000 acres, later known as The Belgian Congo. This land was not for his country, but for his own personal use. Leopold cared nothing about the land or the native people, his goal was to exploit the land and people at all cost and that is exactly what he did. Millions of native Africans were forced into slave labor for Leopold’s needs and the land was stripped of all its natural recourses. The slaves were treated horribly and many millions were slaughtered or died from the horrific conditions forced upon them. Although the exact number is not known it is estimated to be in the tens of millions.

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,

creates a lack of understanding between the social groups in the Congo and their own

At these moments, life in the Congo is a living nightmare. The eastern provinces of the Congo see violence every day. Women are getting raped at alarming rates. Children are constantly abused and forced to become child soldiers. There are no sources of medicine or even clean water. Anyone can get murdered at any time, and no one is even safe in their own homes.

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

King Leopold II ruled the Congo from 1885 to 1908. “He ruled the Congo less as a colony but more as his own personal priority. He treated the native Congolese nearly as slaves and used the wealth of the Congo to grow his own personal wealth.” (http://drcimperialism.weebly.com/life-under-imperialist-power.html). Under his rule the people of the Congo were treated horribly. The Congolese experienced a humanitarian disaster consisting of enslavement, exploitation, and even extermination. Moreover, by the end of this era it was estimated that the population was cut in half. “Eventually international outrage forced Leopold to turn over his personal colony to the Belgian government.” (Esler 572) Nonetheless, during the years of Leopold’s rule imperialism thrived.

The people of Congo have had a rough time throughout history. After World War II Congo had a civil war which began immediately after Congo became independent in 1960 and ended 1965. It was called The Congo War. The Congo Crisis was a proxy war, America was on one side and the Soviet Union was on the other. The war killed around 100,000 people in total. Later another civil war caused by two Ethnic groups which started in the 1993 and ended 1994, this was known as The Second Congo War : which was followed by another war that was continuation of the two Ethnic groups fight and It lasted 5 June 1997 and continuing until December 1999.

The DRC has experienced a long history of political and economic subjugation. The colonial rule under Belgium was marked with extensive violence and extreme exploitation of resources. This created a situation in which few Congolese had higher education or the necessary skills to run a modern government or an effective economy. Furthermore, the Congo’s traditional socioeconomic structures were disrupted long before the end of the colonial era. After the country finally gained independence, the state was unable to maintain political or economic stability.