Belgian+Congo

Belgian Congo
 -Belgian Congo map, and King Leopold II of Belgium- =Timeline: = = =

1. Leopold in Power, 1865-1909
The Congo Free State was a large area in Central Africa which was controlled by Leopold II, King of the Belgians. Leopold II of Belgium was the sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private project undertaken by the King. The Powers at the Berlin Conference allowed the Free State to accede to its final Act in 1885, which committed the State to bringing the inhabitants into the modern world and that all nations be allowed to trade freely. Leopold ignored the conditions and ran the Congo his way which was using brutal force to control the people. He made a fortune from the Congo by collecting the ivory and forcing the native population to collect sap from rubber plants. It is estimated that he was for over a million deaths. The Congo became one of the most infamous international scandals of the early 20th century with Leopold being the perpetrator. Leopold was ultimately forced to relinquish control of it to the government of Belgium. Leopold died in December, 1909.

** 2. Berlin Conference: November 15, 1884 **
The Berlin Conference consisted of 13 European States, and was held in order to determine the Colonizing of Africa. All of the states involved were interested in Africa for its abundance in natural resources, as well as the large labor work force the country supplied. This time was often referred to as the “scramble for Africa”, when most powerful European countries were all attempting to contain the promising economic aspects of Africa. Belgium claimed the area known as The Democratic Republic of Congo, and renamed it as Belgium Congo.

 -The Berlin Conference, 1884-

** 3. Belgians conquer Katanga: 1891-92 **
Katanga was one of the richest and most well developed areas of the Congo, thus leading on the stairs expedition. British and Belgian companies greedily eyed the mineral riches (gold,copper uranium) that the Katanga region had to offered.King Leopold II soon toke possession of Katanga and its administrations after the killing of Mwenda Misiri, a local chief. By early January 1892 the expedition had the papers sufficient to convince their British rivals that the Belgian now had Katanga.

The Casement Report was a 1904 document by British diplomat Roger Casement who reported on the abuses that King Leopold II of Belgium was conducting in the Congo Free State. The report was important in stopping Leopold from his human abuse. Leopold had ownership of the Congolese state since 1885 granted to him by the Berlin Conference in which he exploited its natural resources and its people.
 * 4. Casement Report- 1904 **

5.Colonial economic policy: 1920's - 1950's
====After the first world war mining was was a priority, copper and cobalt in Katanga, diamonds in kasai, and gold in Ituri. A neccessary work force was recruted from the interior of the colony, tens of thousands of workers were transferd from the interior colony to the sparsely populated copper belt in south Katanga to work in the mines as well as agriculture too.====

** 6. The Republic of congo gains independence: 1960 **
After being ruled by king Leopold II, Congo was declared it's independence in 1960, and named 'Republic of Congo'. Fulbert Youlouruled as the country's first president until rival political parties instigated a three-day uprising that ousted him. The Congolese military toke charge of the country briefly and civilian government provisional. First President After Leopold II > Fulbert Youlou

==- 1998 second Congo war began involving seven foreign armies and included killing 5.4 million people. The vast majority died from malaria, pneumonia and malnutrition. ==

=Impacts Imperialism had on Belgium Congo: =

The Population:
 In 1960, it was an estimated population of 16,610,000 living in Politically Independent Congo.

Culture and Language:
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Before Congo was colonized by Belgium, a number of native languages were used in the country, such as Yoruba, Igbo, Fula, Shona, Zulu, and the most widely spoken language being Swahili. Today, it is a mainly Francophone speaking country, being manipulated and swayed by European influence to learn their culture and language.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Land and resources:
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> King Leopold II, used the land to resource ivory, rubber and other minerals to export and sell.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Economic Well-being:
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The deminishment of Congo Free State (1885 to 1908), was a result of government mistreatment to its peoples, aswell as the large depleasion of resources the country provided.

Sources: "BBC News - Timeline: Democratic Republic of Congo." //BBC News - Home//. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1072684.stm>.

"Belgian Congo." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Congo>.

"Belgian Congo | Colonial Genocides | Genocide Studies Program." //Yale University//. Web. 23 Oct. 2011 <http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/belgian_congo/index.html>.

"History of Katanga." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Katanga>.

"History of Katanga." //African Federation of the Free States of Africa//. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. <http://www.africafederation.net/Katanga_History.htm>.