Belgian Colonialism in Africa - Essay Example

Belgian Colonialism in Africa al affiliation Belgian Colonialism in Africa The period between the late 19th century and the early 20th century is known for the campaign of colonization of a large area in Central Africa, which was later called the Congo Free State. Being conducted by Leopold II, the second King of the Belgians, it was entirely based on slave labor. This was not a Belgian colony, but Leopolds private project. Leopold founded the State in assistance with the famous explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley. At the very beginning, his task was to set up trading stations, supervise construction of roads and railways, and also establish partnership with the local chieftains. Stanley became famous for finding David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary and an explorer in Africa, as well as a popular personality in Britain. Geographical exploration was truly important for Britain since its knowledge about the continent was rather limited, as well as its influence in the area, therefore. For Europeans, Livingstone was a national hero, involved in fight against slave trade, whose lectures and writings heated the publics imagination about the mysterious continent. Driven by a dream to work his way into a career of a journalist, and of course, to obtain substantial reward, Stanley traveled to Zanzibar to find Livingstone who had not been heard from for two years. His greeting “Dr Livingstone, I presume?” and an article in the New York Herald made him famous (Hochschild, 30). With Leopold, however, Stanley found even more success. He returned to Africa and started work to open the lower Congo for commerce. At first, King Leopold managed to assure European community that his project was aimed to promote exceptionally humanitarian and philanthropic works. Nevertheless, the truth was finally revealed. Edmund Dene Morel, a clerk in a Liverpool shipping firm, was responsible for supervising shipments from and to the Congo Free State. His observations over statistics and the related documents led him to the conclusion that the trade in Congo was based entirely on slave labor. This deduction was easy to make. Firstly, things being shipped to the Congo were generally related to the theme of military actions. These were soldiers, first of all, as well as guns and ammunition. As far as export from the Congo is concerned, this was mainly rubber and ivory, two extremely lucrative items of trade. Secondly, he noticed that shipping accounts he was supposed to deal with did not match up with the statistics of the official trade in the state. Finally, the percentage of capital flowing out of the Congo was much higher in comparison to the one flowing into it. This was the beginning of a campaign against slavery in the Free Congo State, which began with a series of articles in the local magazines and newspapers after Morel quit his job in 1901 (Hochschild, 186-187). Leopold always wanted to make Belgium an imperial power. This is often explained by Leopolds personality in general and his relationship with his family. As a child, Leopold was shy, rather awkward and what is more, walked with a limp. He was always compared to his siblings, jovial brother and charming sister, and his widely respected father. It is possible to assume that his reign and many of his deeds were an attempt to assert oneself. Leopold was attracted to the Congo because of its unlimited resources that relatively isolated Belgium was deprived of. Thus, in 1876 Leopold summoned “the Brussels Geographical Conference which discussed the exploration of central Africa”. The conference established the International African Association, an organization used by Leopold to further humanitarian projects in Central Africa, which was welcomed in many European countries. The Association helped Leopold convince European community that his interest in Africa was exceptionally altruistic: “abolishing the slave trade, establishing peace among chiefs, and procuring them just and impartial arbitration” (Hochschild, 45). In 1878 Leopold founded the Committee for Studies of the Upper Congo, which was later renamed as International Association of the Congo. This was an organization under whose auspices Stanley, being attracted by financial profit, was sent to Africa: “Stanley was savvy enough to demand his money from Leopold in advance because, despite a plethora of contracts, whom he was working for remained foggy: was it the King himself, the King’s International African Association, or … the Committee for Studies of the Upper Congo?” (Hochschild, 64). Being responsible for laying basis for the further colonial expansion, Stanley became Leopolds right hand in the Congo. This person was known for his cruelty and ruthlessness. He is often described as a tyrant who considered African subhuman and had no remorse to kill them. He did not hesitate to cheat local chieftains and force them to sell their lands. Their people were compelled to hard work in horrible conditions as Stanley was moving forward. He managed to sign treaties with approximately 450 African chiefs who acknowledged their lands to be under the rule of Leopold. Thus, in quite a short period of time, Stanley conquered the country. Leopold obtained complete control over the area known as the Congo Free State. After his returning home Stanley was offered a seat in the Parliament. Belgium was not by far the only European power active in Africa. The interest of European countries in this continent substantially increased by the early 1880s, especially as far as France is concerned: “He (the King) also wanted to do nothing to alert any potential rivals for this appetizing slice of the African cake, especially France, which was starting to show interest” (Hochschild, 65). In 1881, French officer Pierre de Brazza was sent to the western Congo basin where he ran up the French flag over Brazzaville, the capital and the largest city of the contemporary Republic of the Congo. Germany joined the race too, starting to conduct expeditions of its own. All of this could pose a serious threat for Leopolds imperial plans in the Congo. Still, Leopold managed to convince both countries that common trade in Africa is the best variant for all of them. In 1885 Otto von Bismarck organized the Berlin Conference, which attempted to regulate colonization and trade in Africa. It legitimated and formalized the process known as the Scramble for Africa. Typically, the issue of giving Africans the right to vote was never raised. Its outcome, the General Act of the Berlin Conference, divided spheres of influence in the continent between European imperial powers. In 1885, the Berlin Conference recognized the King Leopold II to be the King-Sovereign of the Congo Free State, which meant that the area became his property “To Leopold, the conference was one more opportunity to tighten his grip on the Congo” (Hochschild, 84). Leopold was committed to improve lives of the native inhabitants. Besides, the Congo was supposed to remain open to all European investments. In practice, however, Leopold failed to fulfill all these promises. Leopolds reputation was sufficiently damaged because of an open letter written by George Washington Williams, a black Civil War veteran, journalist, and historian. In 1889 he was given an opportunity to meet Leopold, which turned to be a fateful encounter. Despite the Kings attempts to dissuade Williams from a trip to the Congo, he did not refuse from the visit. His astonishment and indignation resulted into “a milestone in the literature of human rights and of investigative journalism” (Hochschild, 102). This was an open letter to Leopold, later published in many American and European newspapers. Williams described atrocities of slave labor system in the Congo, mentioned the name of Henry M. Stanley and his notorious cruelty, and reminded Leopold that all the crimes were committed in his name. King Leopold was claimed guilty of crimes against humanity, and his reaction was immediate. Williamss evidences were refuted and he himself was accused of telling lies. Thus, strive for justice cost Williams his reputation and even his life – after his returning back to England, Williams eventually died of tuberculosis and pleurisy. Still, this was the beginning of the fight against Leopolds regime. Although the letter itself did not have that much influence, this was the first step in anti-slavery campaign, which was later mounted by Edmund Dene Morel: “everything he (Williams) wrote about the Congo would later be corroborated – abundantly – by others. William’s Open Letter was a cry of outrage that came from the heart” (Hochschild, 114). Life of Africans in the Congo was indeed a torture. Thousands of slaves were engaged into gathering ivory and rubber, the first commodities exploited by Leopold. The Kings functionaries needed to keep the salves in leash, by any means. Twenty five lashes with a chicotte was an often punishment. Chicotte was “a whip of raw, sun-dried hippopotamus hide, cut into a long sharp-edged corkscrew strip” (Hochschild, 120). It could cut skin and muscles and left the victim with deep scars. Although there were many other methods of terror, that is chicotte which may be referred to as a symbol of outrageous brutality of treatment towards the native people of the Congo. It was widely used throughout the whole colony. Almost all the terror acts were committed by the Force Publique, an army made up of Congolese whose function was to enforce the rubber quotas and keep the Congolese slaves kidnapped as children and given special training: “If they survived their kidnapping, transport, and schooling, most of the male graduates of the state colonies became soldiers, just as Leopold had ordered. These state colonies were the only state-funded schools for Africans in Leopold’s Congo” (Hochschild, 135). Others were cannibals. On the one hand, this gave European functionaries an opportunity to avoid dirty work and remain relatively uninvolved in brutality of the surroundings. On the other hand, giving a small group of the Congolese power over the rest gave them a sense of security, which meant that they tried to work truly hard and therefore, truly brutal. Many of them hacked off hands of their victims in order to prove white officers that they did not waste bullets on animals. Amputation was often used as punishment, too. In most cases, victims were left bleeding and dying. Besides, existence of the Force Publique was a reliable means to separate Congolese people. In general, the opportunity to serve in the Congo was attractive for many Europeans. Leopold created the concept of “vacant land” meaning that the piece of land Leopolds servant exploits would become his property (Hochschild, 117). This encouraged quite a lot of people to travel to the colony. At the same time, Leopold himself never visited the land he owned. In the 1890s, industries discovered that rubber may be used much wider than it was considered before, for instance in tires, tubing, wiring, insulation for telegraph and telephone cables, and so on. Naturally, the demand for rubber became much higher, as well as the prices and competition. The Congo was rich in rubber, which made the Kings profits astronomical. Still, the rubber quotas were extremely high and almost impossible to achieve “the normal quota assigned to each village was three to four kilos of dried rubber per adult male per fortnight – which essentially meant full-time labor for those men” (Hochschild, 163). Those who failed to fulfill the daily quota were severely punished. The men who refused to work automatically condemned their families or chiefs to violent death. At the same time, the flow of information about the colony was increasing. Leopold understood that it would become impossible to stop in quite a short period of time. It is necessary to mention William Sheppard, one of the first African-American missionaries in the Congo. He traveled to Africa in order to spread the word of Christianity among the tribes in the Congo, especially those of the Kuba. He was shocked with inhumane treatment and massacres in this country and made every possible effort to let the world hear about the atrocities committed by the King and the Force Publique: “it is partially due to him (Sheppard) that people overseas began to associate the Congo with severed hands” (Hochschild, 165). The King filed a libel suit against Sheppard, but it was not successful thanks to Emile Vandervelde, a socialist lawyer hired by Edmund D. Morel to protect the missionary. King Leopold was forced to retreat. In 1895, Leopold was involved into an international scandal caused by the murder of Charles Henry Stokes. Being an Irish protestant, Stoke was traveling around Africa and finally he decided to organize a caravan in order to buy enough ivory in Leopolds colony. He hoped that this affair would let him earn enough profit to retire and return to his motherland. Nevertheless, this did not happen, as long as “Stoke’s ivory trading competed with the lucrative monopoly Leopold was trying to establish in the eastern Congo” (Hochschild, 174). He was arrested by and immediately hanged after a farcical trial. The matter of Charles H. Stokes created an international furor. The conflict remained unresolved until the King met his cousin, Queen Victoria, who had no other choice but to intervene. Eventually, both British and German governments received 8000 pounds of compensation. The real reason why both countries were so interested in this matter, however, lies in their aim to stop Leopolds efforts to establish a monopoly on ivory trade. In the course of fight against slavery it is difficult to overestimate the contribution made by Morel. Being an honest person of strong moral principles, Morel set a goal to destroy Leopolds empire the moment he discovered that it was built on slave labor. He refused the offer of pay rise, made by head of the shipping line where he worked: “Morel’s employers were at great risk. If he made his information public and angered Leopold, the company could lose the lucrative Congo shipping Congo” (Hochschild, 186). In fact, this made him even more determined. He began with The West African Mail, his own weekly newspaper where he published Congo-related materials. His reports were always impassioned, as well as detailed and carefully researched. This period of Morels activity happened to coincide with adoption of a resolution on the Congo in Britain. When the resolution passed, British government sent Roger Casement, the consul, in the colony in order to pursue an independent investigation. He is best known for his 1904 detailed report which revealed abuses of the Congo Free State in a truly detailed manner. Unsurprisingly, the report happened to be truly provocative, with its content compromising a fair number of influential people. There were attempts to delay and even to prohibit its publication: ““Please manage to prevent issue or report by Casement until after both instant, date on which I must unavoidably encounter King of the Belgians,” Phipps (pro-Leopold British minister to Brussels) telegraphed. “The publication will inevitably put me in an awkward position at court”” (Hochschild, 204). Nevertheless, all of them failed since Casement had already given a couple of interviews about his reports to the press. Frist of all, its content could bring into disrepute names of some of the British ministers who supported policy conducted by Leopold. Secondly, it presupposed financial difficulties for those who had business in the Congo. Finally, the compromise was found and the report was published, even though with all the names purged. Its influence over public opinion was indeed considerable. Copies of the reports were sent to the British and the Belgian governments, as well as to other nations that took part in the Berlin Conference in 1885. This was succeeded by a series of arrests of officials, responsible for inhuman tortures and murders during the rubber boom. What is more, long-term effects of the report have largely contributed to the international pressure over Leopold which finally deprived the King of his influence in the Congo. In his report, Casement provides the mortality rate among the natives in the colony. According to him, this is about 3 million. As far as current estimations are concerned, however, the total number of victims of Leopold regime is approximately 10 million: “with a population loss estimated at ten million people, what happened in the Congo could reasonably be called the most murderous part of the European Scramble for Africa” (Hochschild, 280). It is possible to distinguish four major factors which made the largest contribution to depopulation of the colony. These were starvation, reduction of births, indiscriminate war and diseases. Sleeping sickness, for instance, was used by the state functionaries in order to justify high mortality rates. Absurd brutality of the Kings regime often seems absolutely irrational. Nevertheless, cruel tortures and murders remained an ordinary thing in the Congo Free State. This kind of treatment was the only means to retain the power in the Colony and prevent mass revolts. In addition, as researchers suggest, “mass murder had a momentum of its own” (Hochschild, 234). In 1904, Morel was introduced to Casement and realized they could become allies. Casement inspired Morel to make his work more organized, which led to foundation of the Congo Reform Association. Its main purpose was to persuade European nations to take measures against human rights violation in the Congo Free State (Hochschild, 207). At the same time, Morel understood that he could not rely on high level politicians since they would not dare to take the risk of any drastic actions which could endanger their personal wellbeing. For this reason, Morel sought support among businessmen, MP’s, lords, and churchmen. Of course, he continued writing and participating in public meetings. Simultaneously, Morel held correspondence with Herzekiah Andrew Shanu, an African photographer from contemporary Nigeria. Starting from 1903, Shanu helped Casement gather information concerning the abuse of the Congolese. A bit later, Casement introduced Shanu to Morel, and they started working together “Morel, knowing the evidence … would be a source of ammunition for the Congo reform campaign, asked Shanu to find out what he could” (Hochschild, 220). Shanu became a correspondent in the Congo in an illegal way and, after an accident with the state police, his activities in the colony were revealed. Consequently, his business was boycotted and led to bankruptcy, after which Shanu took his life in July 1905. He may be regarded the first victim of the African human rights in the Congo. In the light of all these events, Leopolds popularity in his own county was irreversibly decreasing. At the same time, the human rights movement organized by Morel was gaining recognitions. Mark Twain may be called one of the most famous supporters of Morels ideas. Twain wrote King Leopolds Soliloquy, an imaginary monologue by the Kind, much of which is about Leopold’s media campaign: “In these twenty years I have spent millions to keep the Press of the two hemispheres quiet, and still these leaks keep occurring” (Hochschild, 241). Leopold and his propaganda machine took much effort in order to conduct the counter campaign. The counter attack was ordered to write for such influential newspapers as the New York Times, both articles and letters to their editors. Later, Leopolds agents published a book called An Answer to Mark Twain, in which both Morel and Twain were called liars. Still, all the Leopolds attempts to discredit Morel and clear himself failed. What is more, Leopolds efforts to manipulate public opinion in the US resulted in an article revealing his plans to influence Congress, published in American newspapers. The campaign against the Kind was impossible to stop. Finally, Emile Vandervelde and other critics of Leopolds policy forced him to summon the Commission of Inquiry, an independent committee which was supposed to travel to the Congo and investigate the atrocities reported by Casement. The Commission consisted of three judges whose evidences, as Leopold supposed, would become a strong argument in his defense against criticism. Taking into consideration the development of the media at that historical moment, information provided by travelers and witnesses were the only accessible evidences, that is why the role of the Commission was so important. Contrary to the Kings expectations, the judges confirmed all the reports Casement, Morel, and other human right activists had made. Its impact over public opinion was especially significant due to the fact that this was the Kings own committee which was not expected to be objective. Consequently, Leopold had no chance to counter its influence “There could be no excuse that this was information gathered by the King’s enemies, for the three commissioners had been sent by Leopold himself” (Hochschild, 253). All the European nations understood that Leopolds rule must be ended as soon as possible, even despite his offers to reform his regime. Leopold was forced to cede his colony to Belgium. Although he was seventy at that moment, he did not want to lose the Congo without any profit for himself. For this reason, he decided to sell his property to the Belgian government, even despite the loans he still owed to it (Hochschild, 258-259). The Belgian government had no other choice but to agree to his terms. Otherwise, the country could lose the area which would become a part of some other European colonial power. Eventually, the Congo Free State became the Belgian Congo in 1908. Nevertheless, the changes in the colony itself did not occur immediately, mainly because of many companies which continued doing business in the same manner. Nevertheless, in 1912 the Congo Reform Association proclaimed their mission to be accomplished and dissolved itself. In 1924, Morel was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, chiefly for his work in the association he had founded. The King Leopold II died in 1913. One could think that this was the end of the Congo tragedy. Still, this assumption would be wrong. Atrocities and human rights abuse in the colony were far from being stopped, as the reformers could expect. Raw materials the Congo was abundant with became the tragedy of its people. What is more, the demand for them was only rising as the two world wars were approaching: “The Allies also wanted ever more rubber for the tires of hundreds of thousands of military trucks, Jeeps, and warplanes” (Hochschild, 279). Despite its horrors, the outrages brutality in the Congo was not unique. In France’s colony, for instance, the mortality rates were almost the same, as well as the business model in the whole. The King Leopolds matter was given so much publicity because his business was the largest in the area. In general, this is wrong to reduce all the atrocities Africans suffered from to one personality. That is the “colonial mentality of the whole generations that should be blamed” (Hochschild, 278-280). Correspondingly, the regime could not have been fought by a small number of individuals, such as Morel or Casement, who dared to challenge it. Still, the movement became “a vital link in that chain, and there is no tradition more honorable” (Hochschild, 306), with its role in history being hard to overestimate. The Congo may be referred to as an example of “the politics of forgetting” (Hochschild, 292). In other words, the Congo story was soon forgotten, even despite the scandal it caused and the number of famous people involved in it. This happened because of Leopold, first and foremost, who spent a week burning all the Congo-related documents. This was an incredibly hard task for investigators to restore those events. Thus, the forgetting may be fairly called an “active deed” instead of a passive one (Hochschild, 295). What is more, colonial past of the Congo continues to vanish from memory because of urbanization processes which are currently active. The Congos path towards its independence, which was finally achieved on 30 June 1960, was truly hard. Patrice Lumumba became the first prime minister of the Republic of Congo. The political direction he wanted to choose, however, conflicted with interests of western countries (Hochschild, 301-302). A couple of months later he was arrested by forces loyal to Joseph Mobutu and executed. Joseph Mobutu turned to be much easier to manage, which made him a dictator of the Congo from 1965 to 1997. His methods of rule were quite similar to the harsh authoritarian regime exercised by the King Leopold. It is necessary to mention Jules Marchal, a Belgian diplomat and historian, who has finally reminded the world about the Congo tragedy. Having devoted all his energy to the research, he managed to find the lost testimonies given by the African witnesses before the Commission of Inquiry, even though Belgian government denied access to these documents, since, as Marchal writes “There was a rule in the Foreign Ministry archives. They were not permitted to show researchers material that was bad for reputation of Belgium. But everything of this period was bad for the reputation of Belgium!” (Hochschild, 298). It is vitally important to remember atrocities like those in the Congo since it may help prevent the similar events in future. From this perspective, Marchals contribution is difficult to overestimate. The purpose of Hochschild, the author of King Leopolds Ghost, was to increase the public awareness concerning the crimes committed by European colonial powers. It is safe to say that he managed to achieve his aim. The author warns that it is a huge mistake to forget the world history since it tends to repeat itself in certain periods of time. The contemporary Congo is unlikely to recover after the atrocities it went through in the nearest decades. Only in 2005, seven years after the book was published, the Royal Museum for Central Africa, which was founded by Leopold, organized a special exhibition about the colonial period of the Congo history. Generally speaking, the Democratic Republic of Congo has always been and still remains extremely rich in natural resources. Nevertheless, such factors as political instability, problems with infrastructure and corruption prevent it from becoming a prosperous and peaceful country. References Hochschild, Adam. (1999). King Leopolds Ghost.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Read More