Patrice Lumumba

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

Once Léopold and Stanley came together to discuss their ideas of imperialism in the Congo, Leopold decided they needed some way to seize the land to make it his. Leopold sent Stanley down to the land, and discussed a written agreement which explained how Leopold would take over the land to prevent the Arabs from abducting the congolese as slaves. The Congolese could not understand very well, as their main language was French, but nevertheless agreed to the compliance (AWPHRocklin Belgian Congo. Web). Leopold then went on to controlling the land and forced the congolese to do

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

He sought to have “full control over Congo’s [natural] resources in order to utilize them to improve living conditions” in the Congo (Nzongola-Ntalaja, par. 5). It was for these reasons, Lumumba was elected as the first Prime Minister of Congo. Unfortunately, the inexperienced newly formed government of the Congo could not unify its people. Civil unrest followed along with the Congolese army revolting (Kuklick, 144). It was at the beginning of this unrest, the Underdowns, like many Belgians, fled the Congo. It was this same unrest that caused most missionaries, like the Prices, to be recalled

him to attempt to bring change upon the Congolese people and society, but he did nothing

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,

Once she understood the U.S.’s true participation, guilt for her country consumed her, ashamed that she had never known what was going on at the time and ashamed for what had happened. While the rest of the world played the events like that of a chess game (Kingsolver 317), with Lumumba and the rest of the Congolese as their pawns, the Congo was helpless to do

Many Africans were put into the work force, leading up to a wage labour force in the Congo twice as large as any other African colony. On June 30th, 1960, the Congo achieved independence, becoming the Republic of Congo- Léopoldville. Patrice Lumumba was voted as president. The country was very unstable; regional tribal leaders held far more power than the central government and democracy began to break down. Lumumba asked the USSR for assistance. The United States viewed their presence as an attempt to take advantage of the situation and gain proxy state in the area. The US looked to replace Lumumba, and on September 14th, 1960, the government was overthrown and Lumumba was arrested. “Lumumba was taken to Thysville prison, then flown to Katanga Province, and finally beaten so savagely they couldn’t return the body to his widow without international embarrassment” (Kingsolver 323). However, poor relations with the groups in the Congo, the involvement of Belgium in the Congo affairs, and intervention of parties of the Cold War led to five years of political crisis and war from 1960-1965, ending with power seized by Joseph-Désiré Mobutu. “I rad the page they’d folded back: Soviet Plan Moves Forward in Congo.” It said Khrushchev wanted to take over the Belgian Congo and deprive the innocent savages of becoming a free society, as part of his plan for world domination” (Kingsolver 161). In the 1970’s, the warring tribes of Angola had agreed to a peace plan, putting

As a response de Brazza called for the French government to ratify the treaty. The ratification of this treaty increased the presence of Europe’s scramble for Africa, and this threatened Leopold’s goal regarding the Congo. Leopold now faced a dilemma because the Leopold’s Congo was not recognized as a formal state and this meant Leopold, “would have no legal right to expel the Arabs, the French, or anyone else, and these raiders would soon reach Stanley Pool” (Jeal, 275). New foreign influence in the Congo would hinder his goal of owning the Congo, but it would also expose his actions in the Congo were not based on Livingstonian ideals. Under great pressure to maintain control of the Congo Leopold offered the French a deal that would satisfy them while keeping them away from the Congo. “He had offered France first option on AIC’s territories, exercisable in the event of his financial collapse” (Jeal, 280). This deal erased the French’s fear that the British may end up with control of the Congo because is the AIC fell the French would assume control. Along with this France also backed of their missions to the Congo because they did not want to do anything to threaten the AIC. In the end the French agreed to recognize the AIC as a state due to the ‘first option’ plan, which was a big step towards Leopold’s long term goal for the Congo. Leopold manipulated Stanley in a different way in this situation by not telling him of the deal he made with the French. He did this in order to inhibit Stanley’s opinions which did not match with Leopold’s plan for keeping control of the Congo. However, an international conference between the European powers to determine the fate of the Congo was in the near future and Stanley’s knowledge of the Congo would

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.

Imperialism helped the Belgians discriminate, segregate, brutally torture, and even kill the Congolese in genocidal proportions worse than the Holocaust, for economic benefit. Imperialism is what let the Belgians easily seized all control of the Congolese’ supply of ivory, rubber, and minerals for economic power and benefit. Because the Congolese did not want to be controlled the Belgians inflicted brutal control over the people, then after that they started killing them in inhumane ways. The Congolese’ also lost most of their own culture, but when the Belgians invaded their country and took over they did bring religion and education. Overall the Belgians destroyed the Congo because of their greed, and their past is still remembered today.

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.”

“After his coup in 1965, Mobutu remained on the CIA’s payroll for some time and received regular briefings from Larry Devlin, the CIA station chief in Leopoldville. On successive visits to Washington, he was accorded star status, promised support and constantly flattered” (“The Great Plunderer” 294). The United States treated Mobutu as a friend of the nation even though he was a corrupt, oppressive dictator. The change Lumumba wanted to create was traded for a “stable” but corrupt government that left Mobutu extremely wealthy and the people of Zaire extremely poor. The corrupt government only added chaos to an already anarchic

This is a tale of horror and tragedy in the Congo, beginning with the brutal and exploitative regime of King Leopold II of Belgium, and culminating with the downfall of one of Africa’s most influential figures, Patrice Lumumba. The Congo is but one example of the greater phenomenon of European occupation of Africa. The legacy of this period gives rise to persistent problems in the Congo and throughout Africa. Understanding the roots and causes of this event, as focused through the lense of the Congo, is the subject of this paper.