The Impact Of Belgian Colonization Of The Congo

During the late 19th to early 20th century, King Leopold II impacted the African Continent and the larger International community more than any other European monarch. Firstly, King Leopold II sinisterly orchestrated a colonization operation that is comparative to a genocidal regime. Secondly, King Leopold II’s actions in the Congo led unified condemnation across oceans from a broad range of socioeconomic statues. Lastly, the opposition forces against King Leopold II’s colonization of Congo helped pave the way for future justice on the continent as well as internationally. Ultimately, this Europe created the competitive environment that promoted King Leopold II’s quest for colonization.

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

Rubber was one of the main reasons why Europe, and especially Belgium, established colonies in Africa. So while rubber is a very useful resource, it also caused an extreme atrocities in places like the Congo. Had Leopold II not created rubber colonies, anywhere from one to fifteen million lives could have been spared, and the region could be better developed as a whole. While unfortunate, this is the only real negative effect of rubber. Modern life would be impossible without rubber. Today, we use rubber in almost everything, from belts in machines, to wheels and pressure seals. Most modern machines rely on rubber; without it we would lose most automation, as well as cheap transportation and shipping. Looking to the future, rubber plays a vital

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

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,

The definition of Economic Liberalism is the idea of approaching the market with private property, limited government intervention and the encouragement that a free market will be driven by supply and demand fueled by citizens that desire to succeed…. This is the complete opposite approach Leopold took in the Congo. In a free market, there is the notion that it will succeed because the people want to work for their own success. In the Congo, Stanley, Leopold’s consultant doing the groundwork, refers to the locals as lazy and needing guidance while he promotes “the gospel of enterprise,” (68) known today as free enterprise. Almost as if going along with Modernization Theory, he continues to say that they are too idle and the issue is Africans themselves, they are barbaric and clothesless. In a treaty created between the Belgians and the locals through Stanley, they decide the payment for the forced

The Belgians imperialized Congo to exploit their natural resources to make a profit. King Leopold II of Belgium imperialized Congo with his army, known as the “The Forced Publique” in 1885, despite Leopold having never gone to the Congo himself. Belgian’s imperialism was set with the goal in mind of exploiting Congo’s enormous supply of ivory. By the 1890’s King Leopold controlled the vast majority of Belgium. Over time, “the world did not lose its desire for ivory, but by the late 1890’s wild rubber had far surpassed it as the main source of revenue from the Congo.”(159). Leopold did not care about the Congolese or their land, and in fact was so aggressive with using Congo’s rubber plants, and free labor that Alexandre Delcommune, a Congolese business man, predicted that in ten years if Leopold was still in power, “[people]

“To Europeans, Africans were inferior beings: Lazy, uncivilized, little better than animals... In any system of terror, the functionaries must first of all see the victims as less than human, and Victorian ideals about race provided such a foundation” (Hochschild 121). The society in which King Leopold II lived shaped his view that the people of Africa were inferior, that their lives were significant, and this idea began to spread to most of Europe. This allowed the Belgian king to focus on his main purpose of colonizing the Congo: money. Despite his portrayal that his main motivation for colonizing the Congo was not profit, King Leopold was definitely motivated by money, and and because of this motivation he turned a blind eye to what was happening in

What KIng Leopold II was trying to do with the Imperialism was get to the many resources that the Congo had to offer. After the Congo gained its independence back they are still striving to make the Congo a completely free country. They are still on of the least developed countries due to their lack or quality of life, resources, imports and exports, and education. Violence has also become a problem since the Rwandan Genocide that caused many wars. Statistics say the Congo has great potential to be in a good place again, financially and economically. The imperialism, however, sent them into years of a spiral decline that they are rigorously trying to get back up

Leopold sees the trade routes as a way to gain the region. Therefore, he founds a Committee for Studies of the Upper Congo to financially support his conquest of the region. However, he changes the committee name to the IAC to better cover his own ambition for conquest, and he sends Henry Stanley to create the imperial regime (Grant). Harry Johnston, a British leading authority on African Affairs meets Stanley while traveling and documents the great deal of changes in the area since the arrival of Stanley. He draws a picture of what the Congo looks like years ago when he says, “In 1876 the European merchants had penetrated no farther than Boma, where they were all established. There was not a signal trading station higher up the river. No one knew anything of the country” (Document 4). Now, “The merchants of Boma, since Stanley’s advent, have founded fifteen trading stations between Boma and the falls at Vivi. There was not a single missionary on the Congo before 1879. Now there are three flourishing missions” (Document 4). Unfortunately, their dramatic push for trade and railroads costs many African lives that they profess to civilize and

Between the 1880s and 1908, King Leopold II controlled the Congo Free State, using it mainly as a corporate venture rather than a colonial one. However, in 1908, a global outcry condemned his reign after reports erupted of widespread torture and death taking place in the territory’s rubber plantations by his agents. It was reported that those atrocities left millions of the Congolese dead or injured, and so, in 1908, Belgium annexed the territory into its own jurisdiction, creating the colony of the Belgian Congo. The colony hosted hundreds of Christian missionaries in hopes to westernize the Congolese. Nevertheless, the scars from Leopold’s control were far from erased, both physically and mentally, and in the late 1950s, the independence

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

Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. In 1870, the European powers took over the African Congo and enslaved the natives. Moreover, they were forced to work the land, so the Europeans could obtain the products they needed by using a cheap labor force to turn around and sell them at a profit. These products included such commodities as rubber, diamonds and coffee (A New World Order: Imperialism and World War I). Unfortunately, the people of the Congo were beaten, over worked, raped, and even killed by the European powers if they did not do their job correctly or if they refused to do their task entirely. Eventually,

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 Republic of Congo’s government will continue to weaken and will not be able to work successfully. To strengthen the economy you must first have balance in the political development and democracy, which in fact is organized by policies modeled by The World Bank (International Monetary Fund 6).