The Belgian Congo and King Leopold

By: Emmanuel, Selena, Nikita, and Keri

Where is the Belgian Congo?

The Belgian Congo is a large area located in Central Africa. It was controlled by King Leopold II of Belgium.

What is the Belgian Congo?

The Belgian Congo was ruled by Belgium from 1980 to 1960, when they finally gained independence.

There was a lot of political and social instability when it first gained its independence

In 1964 the name was then changed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Establishment of a transitional government in 2003

It was established by the Belgian parliament to replace the previous, privately owned Congo Free State, after international outrage over abuses there brought pressure for supervision and accountability. The official Belgian attitude was paternalism: Africans were to be cared for and trained as if they were children.

Geographical Features

The Belgian Congo is a little less than one-fourth the size of the United States

The Congo River Basin covers almost 390,000 square miles

Mountainous terraces in the north and west and tropical rainforests in the west

Volcanoes and lakes in the Kivu region (area that the Congo River flows through)

Control over the Belgian Congo

From the 1870s to the 1920s, the Belgian Congo was controlled by King Leopold II

The official Belgian attitude was paternalism: Africans were to be cared for and trained as if they were children. They had no role in legislation, but traditional rulers were used as agents to collect taxes and recruit labor; uncooperative rulers were deposed.

Today there is a semi-presidential system of government where a prime minister and president rule together

The current president is Joseph Kabila and the prime minister is Augustin Matata Ponyo

Who lives there?

There are over 200 ethnic groups that currently live in the Congo and a majority of them are Bantu

There is an estimated over 67 million people living there

The main religion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Christianity

Image of different existing ethnic groups in Africa.

What are the people like?

In the late 19th century, the people living in the Congo ranged from organized kingdoms to small bands of hunter-gatherers

Land was normally held communally

Christianity is the main religion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Present day name)

Wild fruit, mushrooms, and honey are some of the things people gather

The capital, Kinshasa, is located on the Congo River about 320 miles (515 km) from its mouth the largest city in central Africa, it serves as the country’s official administrative, economic, and cultural centre.

What are the people like?

The Congolese also hunt and fish

People in the Congo are known for their art. (masks, wooden statues, textiles, and woven art)

M23 Rebellion: in April 2012 700 Tutsi soldiers went against the Democratic Republic of the Congo government. This rebellion is still going on today.

The official language of the Congo is French even though there are around 242 languages spoken in the country

Who was King Leopold II?

He was the king of Belgium from 1865-1909

He said that he was helping the natives who he claimed “hardly knew how to get their daily food”

1878-1884: Leopold formed organizations to influence and eventually establish Belgian sovereignty in the Congo Basin.

His primary objective was to exploit the ivory market in Central Africa by establishing a secure trade route between the Upper and Lower Congo. The region was reported to be rich in other commodities as well, such as material resources.

Leopold promised improved futures for the people in the Congo territory but ended up reducing the rights of the Congolese

Who is King Leopold II?

Leopold established the Force Publique to campaign against the Arab slave trade in the Upper Congo, protect his economic interests, and suppress uprisings with the Congo Free State. But Leopold had been actually encouraging the slave trade among Arabs in the Upper Congo in return for slaves to fill the ranks of the Force Publique

The traditional economy of the Congo basin was destroyed and a labor tax was enforced on Leopold’s Congolese subjects requiring local chiefs to supply men to collect rubber and other resources. It essentially obligated natives to supply these products without payment.

King Leopold II never visited the Congo himself

What was it like?

Leopold forced all the natives in the Congo to bring all the ivory and rubber they could find back to State officers

Leopold’s agents held the wives and children of these men hostage until they returned with their rubber quota

Failure or refusal to supply enough rubber resulted in villages being burnt down, children murdered, or their hands cut off

From 1885 to 1908, it is estimated that the Congolese native population decreased by about ten million people.

Congolese often ran away to live in the wilderness or rebelled by setting rubber vines on fire

Heart of Darkness References

“It had become a place of darkness. But there was in it one river especially, a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths on the land.”

“A continuous noise of the rapids above hovered over this scene of inhabited devastation. A lot of people, mostly black and naked, moved about like ants.”

“Six black men advanced in a file, toiling up the path. They walked erect and slow, balancing small baskets full of earth on their heads, and the clink kept time with their footsteps. Black rags were wound round their loins, and the short ends behind waggled to and fro like tails”

Heart of Darkness References

The results of King Leopold II’s actions and consequences of rules can be seen in the beginning of the boat where Marlow gets off to see “criminals” being treated poorly.

“I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain… but these men could by no stretch of imagination be called enemies. They were called criminals, and the outraged law…”

“They were dying slowly-it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now-nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom.”

Bibliography

Belgian Congo. Map/Still. Britannica Online for Kids. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. <http://kids.britannica.com/elementary/art-130051>

“Congo Free State, 1885-1908.” Belgian Congo. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2013

“Geography and Map of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” Geography and Map of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. N.p., 1 Nov. 2005. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.

“Geography of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Apr. 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2013

History of East Africa. New York: Facts On File, 2003. Print

“M23 Rebellion.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Apr. 2013. Web. 21 Apr 2013.