Rubber: Why Europe And Especially Belgium, Established Colonies In The Congo

Ever heard the saying big bank take little bank ? That’s basically what imperialism is. Imperialism is a policy which a strong nation take complete control over other countries . This is exactly what the Europeans did in several different parts of Africa . Not only did the Europeans divided and colonized Africa but they took everything away ,from their culture to their independence. Why take all this away ? It’s simple , the Europeans nations was competing against each other and they thought they were superior. They noticed Africa had many raw materials and resources they could use and benefit from. The driving force for imperialism in Africa was economics , competition , and politics.

About 200 million years ago there was one big continent called Pangaea. They believed that, this landmass began to separate. They believed that the Atlantic Ocean formed, dividing Africa and Eurasia from the Americas. Over the next several million years plants and animals changed and made to separate biological worlds. It wasn’t until Christopher Columbus and his crew sailed to the Americas in October 1492, they started interacting with each other.

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

August 3, 1993 The Arusha Accords are agreed upon, opening government positions to both Hutu and Tutsi.

Morel was one of the bigger people that helped end King Leopold's reign over the Congo. He was employed by Elder Dumpster to supervise the arrival and departure of ships coming to or from the Congo. Just like Sheppard and Williams he saw the atrocities that Leopold was doing to the territory. He did dabble with freelance writing which he then used to write about what he saw. Elder Dempster did try keep him quiet, but Morel decided to devote his life to exposing Leopold’s plans.

European Imperialism heavily impacted the African continent through culturally, economic, and political ideas. This era of history is heavily drenched in the aspect of ethnocentrism, which is the belief that one’s own culture is superior that of another. The Europeans colonized Africa believing that they could bring civilization, but they were often ignorant of Africa’s very complex societies. The European powers divided up the continent of Africa among themselves, without any consent from the people who actually lived there. The tribal stratification was changed to a caste system where racial, ethnic, and religious differences were of utmost importance, as delegated by European rule. The structure and business of the African economy was

The European powers that were in much need for resources during the 1500s through 1800s were Great Britain, France and Germany. During 1500 and 1800 Africa seemed like an impossible feat to conquer because of malaria but this wouldn’t stop the persistence of the leaders of France and Great Britain. The idea of exploring and conquering new land meant more to these leaders because of the motivation to keep their national security strong and keep their economy stronger. These countries would use their remaining resources to look for more disposable ones so that their empires could grow considerably. Great Britain would be dug in the

Although in some imperialism improved the lives of the native people in the Belgian Congo by providing modern infrastructure such as schools and hospitals, to a great extent imperialism made life worse because of its effect on nationalism and traditions as well as, the physical and emotional strain it inflicted in the Belgian Congo. However, imperialism helped the native Congolians by providing modern forms of infrastructure. Before the discovery of the African Congo, life in Africa was subpar. Lifespans were much shorter, literacy and research were foreign concepts, and transportation was a mere fantasy.

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,

Industrialization and Imperialism were the two main reasons conflict occurred around the globe. No matter if it was industrialization of Europe or the lack there of in China. Imperialism would cause issues for places like Germany and China in completely different ways. Both imperialism and industrialization had positives and negatives, a lot was based off where you were located on the globe, how strong was your empire, and who were your allies. Both go hand in hand with each other as they would cause tension between empires and within them as well. Both would play a major part in the rise and demise of some of the biggest empires.

The history of imperialism in Europe is vast, but none more so than the conquering of Africa from military involvement to resources in a country to the use of missionaries to gain trust with natives. The Europeans used military force to conquer land for the resources that could not be obtained in their country. The military was used to enslave the natives to mine the resources, such as gold, diamonds, rubber, and ivory, for the rich at home when the missionaries attempts to gain trust. The missionaries came claiming to want to teach them, but instead they destroyed the unique culture of the area. A combination of these caused an uproar from the natives and the end of imperialism in the area. The history of these also affects how life

At the age of Imperialism taking over or colonizing lands was a habit for strong empires or nations and example of these colonized nations is Congo which mast of the European countries had their eyes on it. Imperialism is a policy of extending a country's power and influence through colonization, use of military force (Dicionary). It started in the 1870s when many of the European countries started to colonize lands far from Europe mainly in Africa. There were very strong Empires or imperial governments at this period of time like the British, German, and the Belgium governments. Every Empire had its reasons and hustifications for colonizing and taking over any lands, but the common reason is the natural resources or economy.

There were various motivations for establishing colonies in the New World. From the perspective of the settlers, one could conclude there were two primary motivations, religious freedom, and wealth. Depending upon one’s status in the colonial times, one could consider wealth as having an abundance of land and natural resources, not necessarily power or an abundance of gold per say. Therefore, the poor, rich, and middle class had their own expectations of “wealth” and religious freedom that motivated establishing the colonies. Similarly, the European powers that were sending supplies and funding the colonial establishments were driven to expand their wealth and impose their religious principles.

Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Algeria came under increasing pressure from Western powers, which paved the way for a 132-year French occupation. In 1830, the French monarchy, seeking to distract its discontented subjects, decided to invade Algeria. Abd al-Qadir, a devout Sufi religious and political leader, became a symbol of Algerian independence, as he organized an effective resistance that lasted until 1847. Under French rule, local Algerian economies were disrupted, and Islamic institutions, schools, and charitable foundations were dismantled by the French government as part of a “civilizing” mission. Additionally, to become full French citizens, Algerian Muslims had to renounce Islamic religious law and live under the French

Polymers effect every ones life almost every day allowing us to make many valuable items that can help make our lives easier including plastic, PVC, and shellac there are also natural polymers that we benefit from such as rubber and amber. Polymers are truly a great and very beneficial item to everyone for they are tough, durable, and cheap but they are also recyclable which can be very beneficial to our environment and societal needs. The only negative effect is when it is not properly disposed but this is really the users fault not the actual item its self