King Leopold II Of Belgium Colonized The Congo

It is widely debated why exactly King Leopold decided to conquer the Congo, but the general consensus seems to be that it was out of the belief that “the highlands of the Congo may be as rich in gold as the mountains of the western slope of the American Continent” (Stead). In the mid-1870s, the King hired Henry Stanley, who was familiar with many parts of Africa, to help him go about conquering. During the following years Stanley stayed in Africa, talking various tribes into signing over their lands and rights. After this was completed the King officially took over the Congo, renaming it the Congo Free State. This was especially ironic because all natives of the country were either forced to give up

My main focus on the History of the Congo was King Leopold and his total takeover of the country without ever once stepping foot in the region himself. King Leopold of Belgium who was nicknamed “The Butcher of Congo” slaughtered around ten million Africans in the Congo region between his rule over the country from 1885-1908. Léopold was the king of Belgium for forty-four years until his death in 1909. His rule over the Congo started with the scramble for Africa during the Berlin conference in 1884-1885. European countries like France, Great Britain, and Germany started looking towards Africa because they felt like they were preordained to expand their culture abroad but the underlining reason was because to profit off of the abundance of untouched natural resources Africa possessed. They all set up a meeting to discuss how Africa would be split up. Note at these meetings no Africans that actually were inhabitants of the region were present. At the end of the Berlin conference, European countries had claimed almost ninety percent of African territory. Britain had the most stakes in

The rule of King Leopold II instilled disturbing methods of ruling. He enslaved the people of The democratic republic of Congo (Congolese) to gather him resources that would only benefit him. He was willing to do whatever it took to gain resources, even if it meant enslaving the people. “ King Leopold II nearly enslaved many of the Congolese people in order to gain wealth, and to bring power” (Citation) imperialism had a negative impact on the country, it had a long lasting impacts on the country because he depleted them of their resources which means they don't have much to export as a country now. King Leopold II used the people as slaves to gather their resources due to the danger of the work, which resulted in many casualties and injuries. He wanted to rule the country as he wanted rather than what was right for the people. He lied to the Belgian government in order to gain power of the country, by saying that his

Today, the Congo is an undeveloped, poor, and corrupt country. The life expectancy is around 43 years due to the lack of protection and unhealthy living conditions. According to The World Bank, around 64 percent of the whole population is living in poverty. In fact, it is the seventh poorest country in the world, just below Madagascar, as well as being the third least developed country under Cape Verde (Nations Online). This is because “The Republic of the Congo still struggles with their economy due to its historical inability to form on its own” (Mckinley). After the Congo was finally able to gain independence from Belgium, they were unable to keep strong markets. This inevitably led to an increase of poverty. Additionally, a country’s GDP (gross domestic product) per capita can determine how well a country is doing economically. The GDP per capita is calculated by dividing total gross domestic product by the total population in the country. Today, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has a GDP per capita of 484.21 USD. This is relatively low compared to other countries; for example, the United States of America’s GDP per capita is around 53,041.98 USD (World Bank). After Belgium granted the Congolese independence, years of being under Belgian control resulted in an inhibition to develop. The African country “were not yet ready for independence”(Scheyven). Their monarchy was inexperienced, which caused an

In 1959, Congolese nationalism evidently appeared due to the revolts against Belgian colonial rule. Weeks after Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960, there was a prominent struggle for power regarding a constitutional and bureaucratic crisis where Congo became an instrument in the Cold War due to the intervention of the superpowers, United States and Soviet Union. Prior to the independence, president Joseph Kasavubu and prime minister, Patrice Lumumba were elected, the country had little to no governance and was in a crisis of authentic legitimacy. Laws were essentially thrust upon the people with the hopes of restoring the Congolese state.

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

During the colonization of the Congo, during King Leopold the 2nd reign, the Congo was exploited, king Leopold took rubber, ivory, cobalt, diamonds, gold, copper, and oil. To get all of these resources from the Congo, he went into Congolese villages and captured all the children and women, he then forced the men to work all day and night collecting resources, and they thought that if they worked hard enough they would get their family back, if any of the people in the village tried to oppose king Leopold and his wrath, he would amputate their hands.

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.

King Leopold exploited the Congo for everything it had. One thing Leopold II did was allow violence to take place. Richard Burton said that King Leopold’s soldiers, which included Belgian soldiers and the force Publique who were African, “Shot the Africans as if they were monkeys.” This is part of ideological imperialism as the Europeans felt that Africans were savages and they were superior to them. They also mutilated, whipped, killed, and raped Africans if they misbehaved, rebelled, didn’t meet their daily quotas of ivory and rubber, or was too sick or weak to work. Europeans would also do these things sometimes for no reason at all in the middle of the village to set an example. About half of the Congolese died and even more of them had scars or were missing limbs. Villages were also

Colonial rule in the Congo started in 1908 when King Leopold II of Belgium had the government support colonial expansion, known as Imperialism, in the unexplored Congo Basin. King Leopold II colonized Congo himself, with support from many other Western Countries, making the Congo Free State. The Congo Free State is recognition for a personal colony, in this case Belgium colonizing the Congo in 1885. However, violence from free state officials on native cologonese peoples put a large amount of diplomatic pressure on Belgium to take control of the country. This was done by King Leopold also in 1908 when he created the Belgian Congo officially and lawfully. Rule by Belgians in the Congo was based on the “colonial trinity” of state, missionary

Starting from the European colonization period, Congo has constantly been plagued with foreign interference, namely by external countries and multinational corporations looking to gain wealth. They have demolished the “magnificent African cake” systematically throughout the years, starting primarily from Leopold’s Congo Free state, which he ruled single handedly, to the modern day Democratic Republic of Congo. Leopold began his regime by holding conferences regarding Africa, and formed organizations that he claimed would aid Africa. Not only did Leopold abuse the abundance of natural resources out of greed, he also destroyed the economy, political system, and the people for generations to come. Leopold’s framework of a Congo whose resources and people are exploited for the leaders self-gain would carry on through the years to the modern day.

The violent and forced rule of the Congo is a horrific time in African history. The time period beginning with Henry Morton Stanley's first exploration to the Congo, and King Leopold's desire of this area, had been a nightmare for the people of the Congo. The civilizing mission to the Congo not only resulted in the killing of thousands of people but also the destruction of a culture. The two articles, 'Belgian Colonialism in the Congo', and the letter by George Washington Williams, are just two views from this time. Both articles depict very different opinions of what is going on in the Congo and also what should be allowed to go on there. These articles show the very different opinions of someone who has never gone and someone who has

The colonization of the Congo strongly affected the social life of the Congolese. First Leopold had people enslaved who would collect rubber. Other were forced to be soldiers. The force publique, the name given to these soldiers, killed many of their own people. “When the soldiers were sent to make us cut rubber there were so many killed we got tiered of burying” –A Congolese person reviewed by casement. This quote shows not only how the people of Congo were forced to work, but also how the force publique soldiers were forced to kill fellow natives. Enslavement like that has people think they are not socially acceptable. The people of the Congo would have viewed themselves as less then human.

“As of mid-2014, there were more than 2.8 million internally displaced persons and refugees. This violence and turmoil it creates has severely affected the agricultural livelihoods of the poor, reducing their capacity to produce and trade. As of 2006, more than 70 percent of the Congolese population lived below the poverty threshold of $1.25 a day” (Peace Direct, 2016).

The Congo War, a massive destruction to their country, is genocide. One reason it is, in fact, genocide is due to the amount of murders occurring. “But so far the brutal war in eastern Congo has not only lasted longer than the Holocaust but also appears to have claimed more lives [than the Holocaust],” (Kristof 1). This shows that although unpopular and unknown to most, the Congo War devastates further than what it seems like at first. The everyday struggle people go through to stay alive is relative, bloodier, and more