He was, in fact, so successful in making the Congo profitable that at the Berlin Conference of 1884-85 the French struck a secret deal with Leopold that they would only support his territorial claim if he agreed "never again to employ Stanley in Africa."[2]. It was during the Belgian colonial administration that the foundations for the postcolonial and present-day ethnic tensions and political instability were laid. [6], A sharp reduction of the population of the Congo through excess deaths occurred in the Free State period but estimates of the deaths toll vary considerably. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". On September 5, President Kasavubu dismissed Lumumba as prime minister. By the mid-1950s, an independence movement was underway. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Marginalized Africa: An International Perspective. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. 2023 . ed. ." Sadowski, Yahya. Congo) in Africa, ruled by Belgium from 1908 until 1960. ." Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. Leopold II was absolute ruler of Congo. On the local level, in close contact with the African population, the missionaries played an important role in evangelization, in (primary) education, and in health services. As the result of a widespread and increasingly radical pro-independence movement, the Congo achieved independence, as the Republic of Congo-Lopoldville in 1960. In spite of this legacy of the colonial period, political developments in the Congo and Rwanda (peace agreements, new constitutions, and new elections) show that there is a new hope for the former African colonies of Belgium. It does not store any personal data. Yet, Leopold personally subscribed to what was sometimes called the "progressive" view of imperialism: That it had a moral justification as a civilizing mission. During the 1940s and 1950s, the Congo had extensive urbanization, and the colonial administration began various development programmes aimed at making the territory into a "model colony". But from 1895 on, the Congo Free State, which Leopold ruled as an absolute monarch, was saved from bankruptcy by the growing demand for rubber. In 1955 some of the few Congolese educated-elites organized a resistance to the lack of democracy and the apartheid policies of the Belgian colonial masters. What countries did Spain colonize in Africa? - Study.com Africa: Belgian Colonies | Encyclopedia.com It also had a small concession in China and was a co-administrator of the Tangier International Zone in Morocco. The aristocracy, who were essentially the Tutsi, owned all the land and earned tributes from the farmers, who were mainly Hutu. By 1895 the British press started to expose Leopold IIs atrocities in Congo. As the independence of Rwanda became inevitable in the 1950s, however, the Belgians changed course and started to empower the Hutus by increasing their political and economic muscle and providing them access to modern education. [17] Belgian colonizing efforts in Guatemala ceased in 1854, due to lack of financing and high mortality due to yellow fever and malaria, endemic diseases of the tropical climate. These countries accounted for more than 30% of Africa's population. These three protagonists had an enormous influence in the colony, and assisted each other in their respective ventures, even if their interests did not always coincide and, indeed, sometimes openly conflicted. Under the cloak of humanitarian and scientific interests, he then created successive private organizations, the most important of which was the Association Internationale du Congo (AIC). Lumumba was assassinated within a few months of becoming Prime Minister. The economic system of the kingdom was organized into guilds based on agriculture and handicraft industries. These mandatory identity cards removed the fluidity from the Rwandan stratification (caste) system, thereby confining people permanently as Hutus, Tutsis, and pygmies. The Belgians empowered the Tutsis so much that their exploitation of the Hutu majority reached new heights. Taking advantage of the political conflict between the president and the prime minister, Mobutu encouraged the military to revolt. After Belgium began administering the colony, it generally maintained the policies established by the Germans, including indirect rule via local Tutsi rulers, and a policy of ethnic identity cards (later retained in the Republic of Rwanda). During World War I, Britain captured the German holdings, which became a British mandate (1920) under the name Tanganyika Territory. By the 1870s, many European countries were looking to expand their control in Africa. So did Spain, Italy and Portugal by 1914. In 1842, a ship sent by King Leopold I of Belgium arrived in Guatemala; the Belgians observed the natural riches of the department of Izabal and decided to settle in Santo Tomas de Castilla and build infrastructure in the region. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Which seven European countries placed virtually all of Africa under European control between 1880 and 1900?, What reforms did Muhammad Ali introduce during a 30-year reign in Egypt, What did Boers believe was ordained by God in relation to racial differences and more. They occupied a large part of this German colony. Belgium created two colonies in Africa: the entities now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly the Republic of Zaire) and the Republic of Rwanda, previously Ruanda-Urundi, a former German African colony that was given to Belgium to administer after the defeat of Germany in World War I.. Did Portugal colonize Africa? THE CAUSE OF DECOLONIZATION Britain established control over many parts of Africa, including Sudan and much of the south. What has been described as an Apartheid-like system also existed in that the mobility of Africans, but not of Europeans, was restricted and curfews applied to the former. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Anstey, Roger. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). . It replaced the failed British Eastern Coast of Central America Commercial and Agricultural Company. It was established by the Belgian . French explorers fanned out in equatorial Africa, and a French mission began the conquest of Indochina in the 1860s. Africans and Their History, 2nd ed. Although Great Britain held several, Belgium, Intelligence and Security Agencies, http://www.diplomatie.be/fr/archives/archives.asp, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/belgiums-african-colonies. In 1876 he commissioned Sir Henry Morton Stanleys expedition to explore the Congo region. Very little money was invested in educationwhich was left to missionaries, mainly Roman Catholic, and consisted of basic literacy and numeracy. All the major decisions concerning the Congo were made in Brussels, and the Congolese were not allowed to participate in the running of their own country. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Bibliographie historique du Zare l'poque coloniale (18801960): Travaux publis en 19601996. The Belgian concession was proclaimed on 7 November 1900 and spanned some 100 hectares (250 acres). Because the United Kingdom, France, and Portugal had conflicting interests in this region, Leopold's skillful personal diplomacy succeeded in playing the contradictory ambitions of these countries against each other. When Belgium became a nation in 1830, it had almost no tradition of long-distance trade or colonial activity. Source for information on Portugal's African Colonies: Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450 dictionary. Colonial rule in the Congo began in the late 19th century. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Protestant missions were present in the Congo next to Catholic ones, but the latter enjoyed, during most of Belgian rule, a privileged position. This ended with the seizure of power by Joseph-Dsir Mobutu. In 1482 the Portuguese navigator Diogo Co became the first European to come to the Congo. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. An agreement was reached between the Belgian and Chinese governments in August 1929 to return the concession to China. The Challenge of Third World Development, 4th ed. Dakar, Senegal: African Renaissance. With the exception of Brandenburg-Prussia's short-lived attempt to gain a foothold on the West African coast and to participate in the 17th-century transatlantic slave trade, German colonialism began only in the 1880s. The Twa or the pygmies, who were the original inhabitants of Rwanda, were outcasts and despised by both the Hutus and the Tutsis. Harris, Joseph E. 1998. Mobutu first escaped to Togo and then to Morocco, where he died a few months later from cancer. In 1876 Leopold convoked an International Geographic Conference in Brussels, where prominent geographers and explorers were invited. London: Zed Books, 2002. On February 5, 1885, Belgian King Leopold II established the Congo Free State by brutally seizing the African landmass as his personal possession. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. However, the date of retrieval is often important. On July 14, the United Nations Security Council authorized a force to help to establish order in the Congo, but this force was unable to bring the seceded Katanga province to order. Nzongola-Ntalaja, Georges. The former Belgian colonies have experienced a series of coups, civil wars and have a history of political instability. Specifically, in 1929, they eliminated all the non-Tutsi chiefs, and as a result the Hutus lost all their representation in the colonial government. The colonial authorities also obliged these agriculturalists to produce export crops (e.g., cotton), which made them vulnerable to the ups and downs of world markets. Through intermarriage and socioeconomic contacts, interethnic strife was benign. Germany had only been unified in 1871 and . German colonists entered the area in the 1880s, and in 1891 the Germans declared the region a protectorate as part of German East Africa. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. [1] Greeks colonised Cyrenaica around the . Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps, Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/belgiums-african-colonies, "Belgium's African Colonies https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/africa-belgian-colonies, "Africa: Belgian Colonies No foreign troops were to be allowed on the concession and Guatemalan troops were to garrison two forts that were to be built near the projected new town. The main aim of these so-called volus in resisting the Belgian colonial administration was to redress the gross inequality. On January 17, 1961, the government of Moise Tshombe in Katanga, with the full support of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), murdered Lumumba and two of his associates in cold blood. Germany's African ColoniesThe unification of Germany in 1871 constituted a watershed in Germany's imperial agenda of acquiring colonies in Africa. The Belgian colonial empire consisted of three African colonies possessed by Belgium between 1901 to 1962. Although forced labor, repression, and a "color bar" (a form of racial segregation) persisted till the very end of their domination, the Belgians made serious efforts to promote indigenous wellbeing, particularly during the 1950s, by developing a network of health services and primary schools. in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. 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. After the June 1960 elections, Lumumba became prime minister and Kasavubu the ceremonial president. How did Germany colonize Tanzania? - 2023 The Belgians found willing elites to help them rule Rwanda. "Belgium's African Colonies A study of encounters between colonizer and colonized in French West Africa throughout the colonial period, focusing on "history from below.". Factbox: Belgium's colonial rule in Congo and what happened next Although the Congo Free State was not a Belgian colony, Belgium was its chief beneficiary in terms of trade and the employment of its citizens. It is estimated that millions of Congolese died during this time. Leopold II, French in full Lopold-Louis-Philippe-Marie-Victor, Dutch in full Leopold Lodewijk Filips Maria Victor, (born April 9, 1835, Brussels, Belgiumdied December 17, 1909, Laeken), king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. The second king of Belgium, Leopold II, was a very ambitious man who wanted to personally enrich himself and enhance his countrys prestige by annexing and colonizing lands in Africa. A classic image depicts the Belgian Congo as being run by the "Trinity" of administration, capital, and the (Catholic) Church. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. Rwanda also has a new constitution, and amnesty was granted for most of the Hutu genocide perpetrators. [2] Belgian traders also extended their influence in West Africa but this too fell apart following the Rio Nuez Incident of 1849 and growing Anglo-French rivalry in the region. Millions of Congolese died during this time. Relations among the Congolese peoples during the precolonial period were largely harmonious. The lowest level of administration consisted of the indigenous authorities, the more or less "authentic" traditional African chiefs, who were strictly controlled by Belgian officials. Intermarriage was not prohibited in this caste system. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Belgium seized Rwanda and Burundi from Germany in 1916; two years later, after the defeat of Germany in World War I, Ruanda-Urundi was formally given to Belgium as a League of Nations (later United Nations) trust territory.
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