GLOBAL STUDIES: Historical Figures EQ: How do individuals shape the course of world history?

HISTORICAL FIGURE: King Leopold II, King of Belgium

BACKGROUND INFORMARTION: Between 1870 and 1920, European imperialism accelerated due to economic, political, and social forces. This policy resulted in the carving up of areas of Africa and Asia into vast colonial empires. This was true for most of the continent of Africa. As imperialism spread, the colonizer and the colony viewed imperialism differently. DOCUMENT #1 But even before gaining official control of the Congo, King Leopold II began to invest some of his great financial wealth into the region. The Belgian king hired Henry Stanley, a British explorer and journalist, to oversee the building of a road Stanley Pool. Building the road was an expensive and difficult undertaking. The workers, mostly Africans imported from other regions, were driven hard to complete the project. They battled heat and tropical disease as well as a rocky, mountainous landscape. The road was finally completed in 1881. Once finished, steamer ships could land at the coast and then be transported to Stanley Pool via the new road. From there, the river was navigable for the next thousand miles into the interior.

DOCUMENT #2 In 1885, following the Berlin Conference of 1884-5, the Congo Free State was established with Leopold II, King of Belgium, as its benefactor. In order to control the vast wealth of the region, King Leopold would have to get rid of the Arab slave-traders in the Congo. Arab slave-traders had destroyed villages, decimating entire areas along the Congo. The Arab War (1829-3) was fought between the Arab slave-traders and the Force Publique, Leopolds private African army. After heavy casualties on both sides, the Force Publique drove powerful Arab slave-traders out of the Congo. Slavery officially ended in the region. While Leopold portrayed this as a great humanitarian act, his real purpose was to gain control of the natural resources and to acquire more workers.

GLOBAL STUDIES: Historical Figures EQ: How do individuals shape the course of world history?

DOCUMENT #3 The territory was parceled out and governed by Free State officials. These officials were Europeans who had authority over dozens of African villages. One of the officials duties was to collect a certain amount of rubber or ivory from each village, as a tax. Officials used the Force Publique to enforce the tax. Using violence and fear, the Force Publique forced local chiefs supply men as labor. The wives and children of these men were held as hostages until they returned with their quota of rubber. Those men who came up short were beaten or killed. More often, the right hands of these offenders were cut off and returned to Free State officials as proof of punishment.

DOCUMENT #4 The Congo Free State, under Leopolds direct rule, produced an unbelievable amount of death and destruction. It is estimated that up to ten million Congolese died during Leopolds reign due to starvation, disease, overwork, and murder. The atrocities that took place under Leopolds Free State went little reported. Even after missionaries drew attention to the area, it still took years for anything to change. Travel to, and within the Congo, was difficult. Moreover, communications between Africa and Europe were reliant on coastal telegraph stations. Leopold was able to maintain the lie that the Congo was a model-state because there were few people to check into his statements. Finally, in 1908, the Congo Free State became the Belgian Congo. Immediately following the transfer, Leopold burned all records pertaining to his

GLOBAL STUDIES: Historical Figures EQ: How do individuals shape the course of world history?

African colony. He made a vast fortune from this faraway land and had overseen one of the most deadly colonial systems the world has ever seen. Leopold II never once stepped foot in the Congo.

DOCUMENT #5 In response to the forced labor system, the Congolese rebelled by ambushing army units, fleeing their villages to hide in the wilderness, and setting the rubber vine forests on fire. The Force Publique, however, crushed the rebellion. They burned villages, cut off the heads of uncooperative chiefs, and slaughtered the women and children of men refusing to work. Moreover, the Force Publique officers sent their soldiers into the forest to find and kill rebels hiding there. To prove they had succeeded, soldiers were ordered to cut off and bring back the right hand of every rebel they killed. Often, however, soldiers cut off the hands of living persons, even children, to satisfy the quota set by their officers. This terror campaign succeeded in getting workers back to collecting rubber. As a result, Leopold's profits soared. By the end of the nineteenth century, the Congo was the only African colony turning a profit. In order to keep up the appearance of his benefactor status, Leopold kept a set of bogus financial records that showed a much smaller profit than was actually earned.

GLOBAL STUDIES: Historical Figures EQ: How do individuals shape the course of world history?

DOCUMENT #6 The Belgian government eliminated the worst abuses against the native people of the Congo. But the land along with its rubber and mineral resources remained firmly under European control. Belgium did little to improve the well being of the people or to involve them in administering the colony. The Belgian government was not excited about taking over the expenses and hassle of controlling an African colony. They were adamant that the Congo support itself. Just like Leopold, they were not interested in investing in the country or its people, only in extracting the maximum wealth for the minimum cost.

GLOBAL STUDIES: Historical Figures EQ: How do individuals shape the course of world history?

The Belgians did invest some money in public works (hospitals, schools, roads); consequently, the standard of living was the highest in central Africa. Nevertheless, the Congo was a very stratified society. Overall, the Congolese fared little better than they had under Leopolds reign. Most schools were run by missionaries and were designed to prepare the students to be pious and obedient colonial citizens, not to think critically. The Belgians did not want the Congolese to challenge the colonial system, so they never encouraged the development of an educated African middle class. By 1958, less than two percent of Congolese elementary students went on to high school, and only seventeen Congolese ever received a college education.

DOCUMENT #7 Because the Congolese had been prohibited from higher education and positions of leadership, they were not prepared for independence. Since the Europeans arrived, the people of the Congo had been enslaved. They had been robbed of their resources; beaten, tortured, and killed by the millions. There had never been any real attempt to create a cohesive society. In 1960, the Belgian Congo was one of the most segregated societies on Earth. Although Congolese were no longer led away in shackles to work some far away plantation, or having their right hands cut off as retribution for unpaid tax, they were still second class citizens in their own country.

DOCUMENT #8 For the first seven years following the Congos independence, the country was in a perpetual state of warfare. By the end of the 1960s, Mobutu Sese Seko finally gained full control of the government. He ruled as a dictator, a tyrant, and a megalomaniac for the next thirty years. During his long reign, there were no free elections and no free press. There was constant repression of

GLOBAL STUDIES: Historical Figures EQ: How do individuals shape the course of world history?

dissent and frequent executions of opposition figures. Despite his lack of freedoms, Mobutu received huge amounts of financial aid from Western nations. Since Mobutu was a professed anti-communist, he was considered an ally. Mobutus policies only contributed to the poor conditions of the nation. By the mid-1970s, the countrys economy, education, and medical systems were in shambles. During the 1980s, AIDS reached epidemic levels. Perhaps the greatest injustice of Mobutus reign was the amount of personal wealth he amassed while the people lived in poverty. It is estimated that Mobutu stole $5-10 billion dollars from the Congo.

DOCUMENT #9 Unfortunately, Africa, especially the Congo, has been extremely unstable since decolonization. Those who have come to power have been corrupt and ruthless dictators who have simply filled the void left by the former colonizers. The Congo has seen little peace in its short history. Colonial rule or strong dictatorship has kept the people in line through violence and intimidation. The brief periods in between have been so unstable that democracy has never had a chance. Fighting over mineral and natural resources has also pitted neighbor against neighbor, with outside interests aligning themselves with whichever tribe seems to promise the greatest benefit to foreign-owned business. These invaders have been Europeans (the Belgians), Arabs, and neighboring Africans (Tutsis rebels fleeing Rwanda), each trying to gain control of the Congos treasures.