How did the police treat the indigenous population in the Congo?
In 2018, the combatants began a formal disarmament process following an amnesty agreement. Congo’s indigenous peoples, who are estimated to comprise between 1.2 and 10 per cent of the national population, have historically suffered poverty, marginalization, limited access to services and discrimination.
What was the Congo like before colonization?
Key Points. King Leopold II, who owned the Congo Free State as a private enterprise, systematically exploited the native population for his own commercial benefit, most notably with the production of wild rubber. To enforce the rubber quotas, the colonists cut off the limbs of the natives as a matter of policy.
What was the genocide in the Congo Free State?
Resources. Main minorities and indigenous peoples: The hundreds of ethno-linguistic groups include Kasaians, Banyarwanda, Hunde, Nyanga, Nande, Bangala, Batwa and Bambuti (Adequate statistics are unavailable). Main languages: French (official), Lingala, Kikongo, Tshiluba, Swahili. Main religions: Christianity (mainly Roman Catholicism but also ...
Why was there so much violence between the natives of Congo?
Apr 22, 2022 · France soon took inspiration from Belgian King Leopold II's lucrative looting of the Congo Free State (today's Democratic Republic of Congo) across the river and granted concessions to private companies in their new colony. The companies committed numerous atrocities against the indigenous population and made wide use of forced, unpaid labour.
Who colonized the Congo and brutally treated the people living there?
What was life like in the Congo Free State?
What happened to the natives in Congo?
In 2003, the United Nations confirmed that the indigenous rainforest people of the DRC have suffered rape, killing or being eaten. One of the most notable instances is the Effacer le tableau, an operation that the Movement for the Liberation of Congo led.Dec 4, 2020
Why was the Congo Free State so violent?
How did Belgium treat Congo Free State?
How was Congo treated under Belgium?
What happened to the Congo Free state in 1908?
How did Leopold gain control of the Congo?
What finally ended Leopold's control and brutality over the Congo?
When was the Congo Free state genocide?
Why was Congo colonized?
Who controlled the Congo Free State?
Key Points. The Congo Free State was a corporate state privately controlled by Leopold II of Belgium through his Association internationale africaine, a non-governmental organization supposedly dedicated to humanitarian purposes. Under Leopold II’ s administration, the Congo Free State became the site of one of the most infamous international ...
What was the Congo Free State?
Under Leopold II’s administration, the Congo Free State became one of the greatest international scandals of the early-20th century. The report of the British Consul Roger Casement led to the arrest and punishment of white officials who were responsible for killings during a rubber-collecting expedition in 1903.
Why was Leopold II's reign in the Congo an international scandal?
Leopold II’s reign in the Congo became an international scandal due to large-scale mistreatment of the indigenous peoples, including frequent mutilation and murder of men, women, and children to enforce rubber production quotas.
Who founded the Congo Reform Association?
The association was founded in March 1904 by Dr. Henry Grattan Guinness, Edmund Dene Morel, and Roger Casement.
When did Belgium take over the Congo?
Yielding to international pressure, the parliament of Belgium annexed the Congo Free State and took over its administration on November 15, 1908, as the colony of the Belgian Congo.
Why is Congo rubber called red rubber?
Rubber revenue went directly to King Leopold II, who paid the Free State for the high costs of exploitation. Because of the human rights abuses suffered under King Leopold II’s rule, Congo rubber was eventually nicknamed “red rubber,” in reference to the blood of the Africans killed during production.
What did Leopold do to the Congo?
To monopolize the resources of the entire Congo Free State, Leopold issued three decrees in 1891 and 1892 that reduced the native population to serfs. These forced the natives to deliver all ivory and rubber, harvested or found, to state officers, thus nearly completing Leopold’s monopoly of the ivory and rubber trade.
What was the first change in the Congo Free State?
The first change was the introduction of the concept of terres vacantes, "vacant" land, which was any land that did not contain a habitation or a cultivated garden plot. All of this land (i.e., most of the country) was therefore deemed to belong to the state. Servants of the state (namely any men in Leopold's employ) were encouraged to exploit it.
What was the Congo question?
In November 1884, Otto von Bismarck convened a 14-nation conference to submit the Congo question to international control and to finalize the colonial partitioning of the African continent. Most major powers (including Austria-Hungary, Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, the United Kingdom, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and the United States) attended the Berlin Conference, and drafted an international code governing the way that European countries should behave as they acquired African territory. The conference officially recognized the International Congo Association, and specified that it should have no connection with Belgium or any other country, but would be under the personal control of King Leopold, i.e., personal union .
Who owned the Congo?
It was privately owned by Leopold II of Belgium (not by the government of Belgium, of which he was the constitutional monarch ).
When did the Congo become a free state?
On 29 May 1885, after the closure of the Berlin Conference, the king announced that he planned to name his possessions "the Congo Free State", an appellation which was not yet used at the Berlin Conference and which officially replaced "International Association of the Congo" on 1 August 1885.
Who explored the Congo River?
Early European exploration. Diogo Cão traveled around the mouth of the Congo River in 1482, leading Portugal to claim the region as England did with River Victoria. Until the middle of the 19th century, the Congo was at the heart of independent Africa, as European colonialists seldom entered the interior.
What were the three departments of the Congo Free State?
He appointed the heads of the three departments of state: interior, foreign affairs and finances. Each was headed by an administrator-general ( administrateur-général ), later a secretary-general ( secrétaire-général ), who was obligated to enact the policies of the sovereign or else resign. Below the secretaries-general were a series of bureaucrats of decreasing rank: directors general ( directeurs généraux ), directors ( directeurs ), chefs de divisions (division chiefs) and chefs de bureaux (bureau chiefs). The departments were headquartered in Brussels.
When did Belgium annex the Congo?
Proclamation from Inspector-general Ghislain to the population of the Congo, announcing the annexation of the territory by Belgium in 1908 .
What happened in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
Updated June 2018. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), over three decades of neglect and abuse under former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko left a weak state geared towards predation and extraction of profit from the nation’s prodigious natural wealth rather than care of its citizens.
What country is Congo in?
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a vast country of great geographical diversity. It borders Angola and Zambia in the south, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda in the east, Sudan and the Central African Republic in the north, and the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) in the west.
What happened to the Hutu refugees in 1994?
The current situation has been shaped to a large extent by events in the Great Lakes: after the Rwandan genocide in 1994, Hutu extremist perpetrators were among hundreds of thousands of Hutu refugees who fled to eastern DRC to escape the advance of the Uganda-based Tutsi force which assumed power in Rwanda.
Who was the king of Belgium in 1881?
In 1881 King Leopold II of Belgium organized a unique variety of colonialism in what is now Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), vesting himself with sole ownership of the entire territory and following such brutal and exploitative policies as to cause, even then, an international outcry.
When did the LRA attack?
The elusive Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), an insurgency group that originated in northern Uganda in the 1980s, attacked dozens of villages and towns, mostly between December 2008 and January 2009, in the far north-east.
How long was Katanga in jail?
Katanga was convicted in 2014 and sentenced to twelve years in prison. Moreover, in March 2016, former DRC Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Central African Republic.
What is the ICC?
The International Criminal Court (ICC) based in The Hague has jurisdiction over crimes committed in the DRC since July 2002, following the ratification of the Rome Statute of the Court by the DRC on 11 April 2002. Since then, it has prosecuted a number of leaders implicated in war crimes.
What was the Congo Free State War?
The Congo Free State propaganda war (1884–1912) occurred at the height of European imperialism. Demand for goods drove European imperialism, and the European stake in Asia was confined largely to trading stations and strategic outposts necessary to protect trade. The advent of industrialization, however, dramatically increased European demand for raw materials which were scarce in Europe. The severe Long Depression of the 1870s provoked a scramble to develop new markets for European industrial products and financial services. European nations became determined to exploit the natural resources of Africa and develop new markets there.
Why did King Leopold allow the missionaries to travel to the Congo?
Leopold welcomed the missionaries into the colony, given that their presence would help legitimize his rule to the outside world. The missionaries travelled to the Congo to evangelize, to fight polygamy, and to create a fear of sin in Africans. But the Congolese would run and hide at the mere sight of a European.
Who was the Swedish Baptist missionary who spoke of the Congo's atrocities?
Swedish Baptist missionary E. V. Sjöblom spoke of the atrocities to all who would listen. In 1896 he published in the Swedish press a detailed article on the Congo's rubber industry, and this was reprinted elsewhere. He spoke about the brutality of the Force Publique at a public meeting attended by the press. Congo State officials counterattacked with newspaper articles, letters, and comments from Leopold in the Belgian and British press, and quickly silenced Sjöblom. The missionary never spoke up again.
Who wrote the Congo Horrors?
In 1903 Morel wrote his first pamphlet, The Congo Horrors, which reached a larger general public than before. He emphasized the religious implications, free trade abuses, and accused Leopold. "It has come to my conclusion that the murders and profiteering of the Congo are a result of neglect to civilize, and King Leopold is the proprietor." This pamphlet caught the eye of prominent officials in the British government such as Sir Charles Dilke and Roger Casement .
What did Leopold propose to the British?
Leopold "conceived the idea of a Congo Free State , with himself as the Sovereign ruler." The name suggested individual, economic, and religious freedoms. Leopold began a publicity campaign in Britain, drawing attention to Portugal 's record of slavery to distract critics. He offered to drive slave traders from the Congo basin. He also secretly told British merchant houses that if he had formal control of the Congo, he would give Britain the same " most-favored-nation " status Portugal offered. At the same time, Leopold promised Otto von Bismarck he would not give any one nation special status, and that German traders would be as welcome as any other.
What did the Force Publique do to the slaves?
They also enforced Leopold's law forbidding the sale of rubber and ivory to foreign nations. The FP's methods included mutilation, village destruction, killings, and mass murder to motivate the slaves and locals to higher outputs. Cutting off right hands and daily slave whippings were most common.
Did Leopold want a private report?
Leopold released press statements about the commission hoping to quell the public uproar. However, Leopold wanted a private, not a published, report. The commission returned with the most evidence of abuse yet – interviews with over a hundred natives and numerous missionaries, documents from the Force Publique detailing deaths and mutilations inflicted, and documents from the Congo State administration proving that Leopold profited more than he reported.
What was the Congo Free State?
The Congo Free State as it existed under Leopold II is largely known to history for its brutal exploitation of the native Congolese population and the mass death that resulted. Under Leopold II there were virtually no laws or restrictions protecting the native Congolese and their lands. The peoples of the Congo River basin were forced to work as porters, miners, rubber-tappers, woodcutters, and railway builders for European interests. Because there was little oversight and no form of organized government control, Europeans were free to adopt brutal policies of kidnapping, mutilation, robbery, and murder to extract desired labor and resources from the local population.
How many people died in the Congo Free State?
While the death toll in the Congo Free State can never be truly known due to a lack of accurate records, historians have offered estimates as high as ten million dead between 1885 and 1908.
What is the Belgian Congo?
Andrew has a PhD and masters degree in world history. The Belgian Congo is often cited as one of the most brutal and exploitative colonial regimes in modern history. It stands as an extreme example of the cruelty of European rule in Africa for the sake of economic gain.
Who ruled the Congo?
The Congo Free State was ruled by King Leopold II after the Berlin Conference of 1884.
What was the African continent overrun by?
In the last decades of the 19th century, the largely uncharted African continent was overrun by a sudden wave of European imperialist expansion. Driven by nationalist pride, imperial ambitions, and the hope of acquiring vast new economic resources, the leading nations of Europe each sought to claim a piece of the African ''cake'' for themselves.
Who was the king of Belgium in 1885?
The Berlin Conference of 1884 through 1885 formalized many of the major powers' claims in Africa and granted the coveted Congo River basin to King Leopold II of Belgium. Initially called the Congo Free State, the colony remained a personal possession of King Leopold II from 1885 until 1908 when it was taken over by the Belgian government ...
What was the purpose of the colonial army?
A colonial army called the force publique (public force) was created largely from local African people and a handful of Belgian officers in order to marshal labor, quell revolts, and enforce the collection of rubber and ivory.
What was the purpose of the Congo Free State?
The horrors of the Congo Free State had a purpose—they were meant to scare people into working. The Belgians didn’t just want to slaughter Africans wholesale. They wanted to make the Africans work without paying them for it. The Belgians used psychological terror as a way to motivate the Congolese.
Who was the explorer that helped establish the Congo Free State?
King Leopold II hired a British explorer, Henry Morton Stanley, to help him establish the Congo Free State. Stanley had already explored and mapped most of the Congo River and had experience with the people who lived there.
Who took control of the Congo?
From 1885 to 1908, Belgian King Leopold II took control of the Congo. He turned the nation into a moneymaking machine by farming ivory and rubber and building a fortune on the labor of the people who lived there.
How many people died in the Congo Free State?
Leopold’s harsh policies to keep people working turned into a brutal reign of mutilations and terror that led to the deaths of an estimated 10 million people in a few short years. Life in the Congo Free State was a waking nightmare, the likes of which the world had never seen.
Who was the king of the Congo?
King Leopold II hired a British explorer, Henry Morton Stanley, to help him establish the Congo Free State. Stanley had already explored and mapped most of the Congo River and had experience with the people who lived there. Stanley wasn’t evil; he entered the country with no intention other than to explore.
Why did King Leopold start bleeding the Congo?
When King Leopold got the legal right to take control of the Congo, he started bleeding it dry for profits. Stanley had reported temples of ivory, and people had found caches of rubber there. So Leopold was determined to make it profitable. He turned two-thirds of the country into his own private land.
Did King Leopold II enter Congo?
King Leopold II didn’t enter the Congo as an invading army; he went in as a charity. He founded a group that was originally called the International African Association. They were a humanitarian organization that promised to make life better in Africa, and they received donations from around the world.
What is the Congo Free State?
Congo Free State, French État Indépendant du Congo, former state in Africa that occupied almost all of the Congo River basin, coextensive with the modern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
When was the Congo Free State created?
It was created in the 1880s as the private holding of a group of European investors headed by Leopold II, king of the Belgians.
When was the Congo River discovered?
The king’s attention was drawn to the region during Henry (later Sir Henry) Morton Stanley ’s exploration of the Congo River in 1874–77.
When did the Congo become independent?
By 1884 the Association Internationale du Congo had signed treaties with 450 independent African entities and, on that basis, asserted its right to govern all the territory concerned as an independent state.
What is an encyclopedia editor?
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. ...
Background
- Early European exploration
Diogo Cão traveled around the mouth of the Congo River in 1482, leading Portugal to claim the region as England did with River Victoria. Until the middle of the 19th century, the Congo was at the heart of independent Africa, as European colonialists seldom entered the interior. Along wit… - Stanley's exploration
In 1876 Leopold II of Belgium hosted a geographic conference in Brussels, inviting famous explorers, philanthropists, and members of geographic societies to stir up interest in a "humanitarian" endeavor for Europeans to take in central Africa to "improve" and "civilize" the live…
Government
- Leopold used the title 'Sovereign of the Congo Free State' as ruler of the Congo Free State. He appointed the heads of the three departments of state: interior, foreign affairs and finances. Each was headed by an administrator-general (administrateur-général), later a secretary-general (secrétaire-général), who was obligated to enact the policies of the sovereign or else resign. Bel…
Leopold's Rule
- Leopold no longer needed the façade of the association, and replaced it with an appointed cabinet of Belgians who would do his bidding. To the temporary new capital of Boma, he sent a governor-general and a chief of police. The vast Congo Basinwas split up into 14 administrative districts, each district into zones, each zone into sectors, and each sector into posts. From the district co…
Economy During Leopold's Rule
- While the war against African powers was ending, the quest for income was increasing, fueled by the aire policy. By 1890, Leopold was facing considerable financial difficulty. District officials' salaries were reduced to a bare minimum, and made up with a commission payment based on the profit that their area returned to Leopold. After widespread criticism, this "primes system" was s…
Humanitarian Disaster
- Mutilation
Failure to meet the rubber collection quotas was punishable by death. Meanwhile, the Force Publique were required to provide the hand of their victims as proof when they had shot and killed someone, as it was believed that they would otherwise use the munitions (imported from Europ… - Death toll
A reduction of the population of the Congo is noted by all who have compared the country at the beginning of Leopold's control with the beginning of Belgian state rule in 1908, but estimates of the death toll vary considerably. Estimates of some contemporary observers suggest that the po…
International Criticism
- Leopold ran up high debts with his Congo investments before the beginning of the worldwide rubber boom in the 1890s. Prices increased throughout the decade as industries discovered new uses for rubber in tires, hoses, tubing, insulation for telegraphand telephone cables and wiring. By the late-1890s, wild rubber had far surpassed ivory as the main source of revenue from the Cong…
Belgian Annexation of The Congo Free State as The Belgian Congo
- Leopold II offered to reform his Congo Free State regime, but international opinion supported an end to the king's rule, and no nation was willing to accept this responsibility. Belgium was the obvious European candidate to annex the Congo Free State. For two years, it debated the question and held new elections on the issue. Yielding to international pressure, the parliament of Belgiu…
Legacy
- The Order of the Crown, originally created in 1897, rewarded heroic deeds and service achieved while serving in the Congo Free State. The Order was made a decoration of the Belgian state with the abolition of the Congo Free State in 1908 and is still awarded today. Between 1886 and 1908 the Free State issued a number of postage stamps. These typically showed scenes of wildlife, la…
See Also
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. {{...
- Forbath, Peter, The River Congo, 1977. Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-122490-1
- Hochschild, Adam, King Leopold's Ghost, Pan (1999). ISBN 0-330-49233-0.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. {{...
- Forbath, Peter, The River Congo, 1977. Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-122490-1
- Hochschild, Adam, King Leopold's Ghost, Pan (1999). ISBN 0-330-49233-0.
- Pakenham, Thomas, The scramble for Africa, Abacus. (1991) ISBN 0-349-10449-2.
