Fourth, European and American governments and the multinational business and interests have fueled ethnic conflicts in Africas former Belgian colonies for their own purposes. Contents1 How did Belgium colonize Africa?2 Was [] Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Successive governments viewed colonial expansion as economically and politically risky and fundamentally unrewarding, and believed that informal empire, continuing Belgium's booming industrial trade in South America and Russia, was much more promising. 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. Colonialism in Africa. [1] Greeks colonised Cyrenaica around the . The king took several personal initiatives, without the formal backing of his country's government and even without the support of Belgium's leading economic players. Burundi is a small country in Central Africa, which borders with Rwanda, Zaire, and Tanzania. [18], While the Compagnie belge de colonisation was granted the land in perpetuity, the concession did not become a colony in the political sense. The large numbers of white immigrants who moved to the Congo after the end of World War II came from across the social spectrum, but were always treated as superior to black citizens. The people, although classified as Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa, essentially spoke the same language. In order to wipe out the stain of Leopoldian ill treatment of the African population and gain international respectability, the Belgian authorities tried to turn the Congo into a "model colony." The Challenge of Third World Development, 4th ed. The Congo was also characterized by the extraordinary development of huge mining industries (particularly in the province of Katanga, well known for its copper, and in the Kasai region, famous for its industrial diamonds). From the coastline excursions in Africa and the gradual establishment of trade routes in Asia and in the Indian . Colonial rule in the Congo began in the late 19th century. Belgians, including their government, adopted an ambivalent, even indifferent attitude towards their empire. 1822) [19]. This ended with the seizure of power by Joseph-Dsir Mobutu. Some argued for a gradual shift to self-governance because of the lack of personnel equipped to take over the responsibilities of governance. When did Belgium colonize Congo? [11], 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. Brussels: De Boeck & Larcier, 1998. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. European traders came to the new country, which was not a colony in the normal sense, but essentially the personal possession of King Leopold, to obtain beeswax, coffee, fruits, ivory, minerals, palm oil, and especially rubber. The Tutsis were willing collaborators to the Belgian colonization. The Congo had a high degree of racial segregation. 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). Germany's African Colonies | Encyclopedia.com Even in the first decades of its existence, it showed little inclination toward overseas expansion. However, the Government was not in favor, arguing that this could result in political instability. [3], Although the Congo Free State was not officially a Belgian colony, Belgium was its chief beneficiary, in terms of its trade, the employment of its citizens, and the wealth which Leopold extracted which was used for the construction of numerous fine public buildings in Brussels, Ostend, and Antwerp. It also had small concessions in Guatemala (18431854) and in China (19021931) and was a co-administrator of the Tangier International Zone in Morocco. Seven days later, Moise Tshombe, the provisional president of Katanga, in a move instigated by the Belgians, declared the mineral-rich Katanga province an independent country. Belgium is a small country in northwest Europe that joined Europe's race for colonies in the late 19th century. The scramble for colonies. Why did they cut off hands in the Congo? . History of Belgium | Britannica A third economic sector consisted of large-scale plantations (e.g., palm oil production by the enterprise founded by the British businessman William Lever [18511925]), also oriented toward export. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. In French. Belgium controlled 3 colonies and 3 concessions during its history, the Belgian Congo (modern DRC) from 1908 to 1960, and Ruanda-Urundi (Rwanda and Burundi) from 1922 to 1962. During its colonisation era, Belgium controlled several colonies/concessions during its history, the Belgian Congo (modern DRC) from 1908 to 1960, and Ruanda-Urundi (Rwanda and Burundi) from 1922 to 1962. Leopold II | Biography, Facts, & Legacy | Britannica Histoire gnrale du Congo: De l'hritage ancien la Rpublique Dmocratique, 2nd ed. In April of 1885 Belgium's parliament made Leopold the sovereign ruler of this new "state," called the Congo Free State, incorporating all lands not directly occupied by Africans. They could also cheaply receive slaves and ivory and sell it at a very high price making a huge profit. The Belgian colonial empire consisted of three African colonies possessed by Belgium between 1901 to 1962. Vocabulary. From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over 10,000,000 km 2 (3,900,000 sq mi), the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire.During the 19th and 20th centuries, the French colonial empire was the second largest colonial empire in the world only behind the British Empire; it . Arguably, in comparison with other colonial powers in Africa, Belgium did less to prepare its overseas subjects for political independence, investing little in education and training, and extracted the riches of its colonies at enormous human cost. By the mid-1950s, an independence movement was underway. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Any four countries? It is estimated that millions of Congolese died during this time. Yet, Leopold personally subscribed to what was sometimes called the "progressive" view of imperialism: That it had a moral justification as a civilizing mission. 1998. In 1966 he renamed the Congolese cities of Lopoldville (Kinshasa), Stanley-ville (Kisangani), and Elisabethville (Lubumbashi). In 1876 Leopold convoked an International Geographic Conference in Brussels, where prominent geographers and explorers were invited. By the time independent Belgium might have been in a position to consider an overseas empire, major imperial powers such as the United Kingdom and France already had the most economically promising territories for colonization within their spheres of influence. 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. Uprisings, revolts, assassinations, and other acts of resistance were common during King Leopold's rule. Before the European incursion into Rwanda and the Belgian colonization, Rwanda was united under the central leadership of an absolute Tutsi monarchy. THE CAUSE OF DECOLONIZATION Paris: Duculot, 1989. Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450. . Although the figures are estimates, it is believed that as many as ten million Congolese died during the period,[7][8][9][10] roughly a fifth of the population. It was not until the eighteenth century that the Portuguese gained substantial influence in Congo. Among the Congolese, the Belgians used the strategy of divide and rule. The main aim of these so-called volus in resisting the Belgian colonial administration was to redress the gross inequality. Mobutu and his supporters were so corrupt and stole so much money from the Congolese people that his government was described as a kleptocracy, or government by thieves. The pre-colonial social and political authorities, consisting of a Tutsi king (mwami) and a tiny aristocracy (predominantly of Tutsi origin), ruling over a vast majority of mainly Hutu agriculturalists, were kept in placeeven if the Belgians reshaped the traditional structures by constantly intervening in them. On reaching Kinshasa in May 1997, Kabila declared himself president and changed the name of Zaire back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1962, it got its independence from Belgium. Protestant missionaries were also active and Protestants today comprise 29 percent with an additional 10 percent belonging to the Kimbanguists (an African Independent Church banned in colonial times). Joseph Conrad's book, Heart of Darkness (1899), was based on an 1890 visit to the Congo.[4]. Of Belgium's other colonies, the most significant was Ruanda-Urundi, a portion of German East Africa, which was given to Belgium as a League of Nations Mandate, when Germany lost all of its colonies at the end of World War I. Dakar, Senegal: African Renaissance. Leopold had administered Katanga separately, but in 1910, the Belgian government merged it with the Belgian Congo. 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. The Twa or the pygmies, who were the original inhabitants of Rwanda, were outcasts and despised by both the Hutus and the Tutsis. By the time Belgium's second king, Leopold II, was crowned, Belgian enthusiasm for colonialism had abated. In 1876 Belgium's King Leopold II convened the Brussels Geographical Conference, which led to the formation of the African International Association. Natives eventually faced dire conditions, characterized by displacement, forced labor, and taxation. 21 section 2 Flashcards | Quizlet The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". [CDATA[ 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. Belgian King Establishes Congo Free State - National Geographic Society Leopold II became known as the "Butcher of the Congo," where millions of Africans died as a result of the brutality of his rule. 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. During the East African Campaign of World War I, the north-east part of German East Africa, Ruanda-Urundi, was invaded by Belgian and Congolese troops in 1916, and was still occupied by them at the end of the war in 1918. I should say that Burundi was a German colony in 1885 up to around 1916, and then when the Belgians-when the Germans left, the Belgians came in as colonizers. The Belgians even took the few leadership positions that the Hutus had and gave them to the Tutsis. Under Egypt 's Pharaoh Amasis (570-526 BC) a Greek mercantile colony was established at Naucratis, some 50 miles from the later Alexandria. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. 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. Mobutu ruled for thirty-one years and pauperized the Congo. Belgium itself had only been independent since 1830, prior to that it was part of the Netherlands (and had a role in that country's colonies) or of France, or was governed by Spain or Austria. . However, when independence came, the territories were ill-prepared for self-governance since little effort had been made to train and equip an African leadership. As early as 1860, he was urging his state to imitate its neighbors in acquiring overseas territory, "extend beyond the sea whenever an opportunity is offered," he said, "you will find there precious outlets for your products, food for your commerce and a still better position in the great European family. Third, most of the ethnic tensions in these countries are caused by rapid population growth and the fight for scarce resources by the leaders of the various ethnic groups. The Former French Colonies - WorldAtlas Nzongola-Ntalaja, Georges. The boundaries of Colonialism, like those of many literary eras, are difficult to draw. This was in contrast to the British and the French, who generally favoured the system of indirect rule whereby traditional leaders were retained in positions of authority under colonial oversight. In 1876 he commissioned Sir Henry Morton Stanleys expedition to explore the Congo region. This antagonism, coupled with the high population density in these overwhelmingly agricultural countries, was to form a volatile environment in the following decades, causing several interethnic massacres, of which the Rwandan genocide of 1994 was the most terrifying example. In just a few months' time (from early 1959 to the beginning of 1960), the political prospects for the colony evolved from a long-term loosening of the ties between Belgium and the Congo, to the immediate independence of the African country. Western colonialism | Definition, History, Examples, & Effects Secondary and university education were seriously neglected. Others cited Belgian's ratification of Article 73 of the United Nations Charter (on self-determination) and argued for a swifter hand-over of power than the 30 years favored by some. Their refusal led Leopold to create a state under his own personal rule. During World War I, Britain captured the German holdings, which became a British mandate (1920) under the name Tanganyika Territory. Belgium itself could not stay aloof, because of its growing involvement in the Congo Free State. Western colonialism, a political-economic phenomenon whereby various European nations explored, conquered, settled, and exploited large areas of the world. POST-1945 HISTORICAL CONTEXTS The former Belgian colonies have experienced a series of coups, civil wars and have a history of political instability. This empire was unlike those of the major European imperial powers, since 98 percent of it was just one colony (about 76 times larger than Belgium)the Belgian Congoand that had originated as the private property of the country's king, King Leopold II, rather than being gained . Can I leave an internship for another internship? Maurel, Auguste. Before the coming of the Europeans, the Kingdom of Kongo had well-organized political and administrative structures that rivaled those of the Europeans. Much of this was spent on public buildings in, Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eastern Coast of Central America Commercial and Agricultural Company, "Early Belgian Colonial Efforts: The Long and Fateful Shadow of Leopold I", "King Leopold's legacy of DR Congo violence", "New Physical, Political, Industrial and Commercial Map of Central America and the Antilles", Colonisation dans l'Amrique centrale du District de Santo-Tomas de Guatemala, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Belgian_colonial_empire&oldid=1151384224, This page was last edited on 23 April 2023, at 18:24. colony, any nonself-governing territory subject to the jurisdiction of a usually distant country. Subsequent political problems led to military intervention by the Belgians, who claimed that they intervened to protect Belgian citizens from attack. ISBN links support NWE through referral fees, tat Indpendant du Congo: Congo Free State. "Belgium's African Colonies Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. That the Tutsi and Hutu were originally two castes of the same people, speaking a common language, and that the antagonism had been created by Belgian colonial forces for their own purposes, were facts somehow lost in the international dialogue. This exploration led initially to the establishment of the Congo Free State. After a year, it was returned to the Italian State in 1920. Bibliographie historique du Zare l'poque coloniale (18801960): Travaux publis en 19601996. These kingdoms, especially the Kingdom of Kongo, were comparably wealthy, and when the standard of living is high, people tend to get along well.
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