The Congo Crisis

The impact of King Leopold II’s reign sent shock waves overseas. Despite his worldwide campaign to paint himself as Congo’s savior, King Leopold

The Second Congo War began in 1998, one year after the end of the First Congo War. The First Congo War installed Laurence Desire Kabila as President and brought the Alliance des forces democratiques pour la liberation du Congo-Zaire (ADFL) to power. During the First Congo War, an alliance between Rwanda and Uganda helped to overthrow Joseph Desire- Mobutu, the dictator of Zaire, now known as The Democratic Republic of the Congo. Both the conflict in Rwanda in 1994 and in Burundi in 1993, coupled with the First Congo War, led up to the current conflict. Involved in the conflict are the states of Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, Namibia, Chad, Burundi, The Sudan, Zimbabwe, and the Congo.

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

For centuries, the Congolese people have lived in a war torn society that just does

It also talks about Patrice Lumumba getting assasinated. It also talks about the diseases the people in the Congo were going through. Some of these diseases are: malaria, and malnutrition. They had scarce food sources. They often die from both of these things.

Since the late 1800’s, almost all of Africa had been under European colonial rule, but this changed drastically in 1960. Sixteen African nations gained their independence that year, including the former Belgian Congo, which became the Democratic Republic of the Congo on June 30. One of the key personalities that made this possible was Patrice Lumumba, who experienced widespread support in gaining independence and became the first Prime Minister of the DROC. However, he lost much of this support once he was in office, and lasted fewer than 200 days. Lumumba’s ability to communicate was a key reason for his success and failure.

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,

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.

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

On January 17th 1961 the former Congolese Prime minister, Patrice Lumumba was assassinated. According to document A “Belgians supported a 30-year timetable to prepare them for independence. Distrusting the Belgians, African nationalists demanded immediate self-government.” After the announcement of the Belgians leaving some citizens wanted this to come much faster, so Belgium said they would give full control within the year. In the following year Lumumba was assassinated by an unknown killed. Due Lumumba's decisions chaos grew in the country and the hatred of the Congo grew to the Belgium and their allies. Lumumba was assassinated for multiple reasons but the largest cause was that he opposed popular opinion and made very powerful people upset with his erratic decisions and accusations.

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

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

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.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been experiencing the same war for over two decades, and there is a strong correlation between the country’s demographic indicator rates and the conflict (World Factbook). Although research has shown that all of the demographic indicator rates are slowly declining, the conflicts inside and bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo are the central causes of the country’s high migration rates, high death rates, high birth and fertility rates, and considerably young population (International Programs).

Peacekeepers have however been used in an offensive military capacity. In 1960, the Congo (the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) became independent from Belgium. For the next five years, the country went through a series of civil wars; known collectively as the Congo Crisis. The United Nations sent peacekeepers over the next four years, at