1998. GENEALOGY OF THE TERM DECOLONIZATION 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. In 1482 the Portuguese navigator Diogo Co became the first European to come to the Congo. 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". In the first years of the twentieth century, the Congo question became an important international issue, since the British government took this matter to heart, especially after an official enquiry commission, appointed by king Leopold, had confirmed the existence of excesses (1904). THE CAUSE OF DECOLONIZATION It also had small concessions in Guatemala (18431854) and in China (19021931) and was a co-administrator of the Tangier International Zone in Morocco. Congo is a multiethnic country with about two hundred ethnic groups. Belgian rule in the Congo was based on the "colonial trinity" (trinit coloniale) of state, missionary and private company interests. Why does an iron rod become a magnet when current is passed through a coil of wire wrapped around the rod? London: Zed Books, 2002. Immediately after independence on June 30, 1960, ethnic and personal rivalriesinfluenced by Belgium, other European nations, and the United Statessent the newly independent country into political crisis. The most obvious result of the Congress and of nationalist yearnings, juxtaposed with a more structured European map, was a new and general scramble for colonies in other parts of the world. 2006. These countries accounted for more than 30% of Africa's population. In the west, it 'acquired' Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Southern Cameroon, and Sierra Leone; in the east, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania were under Britain rule; and in the south, Britain successfully overtook South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho, Botswana, and Swaziland. Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps, Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450. 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. 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). The economic system of the kingdom was organized into guilds based on agriculture and handicraft industries. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Conditions in the colonies did improve after the Belgian government assumed direct control after 1908. The Congo had a high degree of racial segregation. The French first began colonizing Africa in the 17th century, although they did not start having a significant presence on the continent until the 19th century. [5] Many deaths can be attributed to new diseases introduced by contact with European colonists, including smallpox which killed nearly half the population in the areas surrounding the lower Congo River. After the end of the war, the Belgian government tried to exchange these territories against the left bank of the Congo River mouth, which was in Portuguese hands. How many countries did Belgium colonize in Africa? They occupied a large part of this German colony. There were other small LubaLunda states in Congo. 1972. 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. . Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. 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. The Belgian claim was never formally recognised and the proposal was dropped in 1908. There are also Nilotic-speaking peoples near Sudan and some pygmies in northeastern Congo. The Portuguese colonial empire was the first and the last European empire overseas, from the conquest of Ceuta (1415), in Morocco, North Africa, until the formal handover of Macau to the People's Republic of China (1999). The Legacy of Belgium's 19th and 20th Century African Colonies. 111: 1223. [4] By the turn of the century, however, the violence used by Free State officials against indigenous Congolese and the ruthless system of economic extraction led to intense diplomatic pressure on Belgium to take official control of the country, which it did in 1908, creating the Belgian Congo. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. The official Belgian attitude was paternalism: Africans were to be cared for and trained as if they were children. The history of Colonialism as a policy or practice go, Amin, Idi c. 1925-2003 [21] The agreement was approved by the Belgian parliament on 13 July 1931. Vellut, Jean-Luc, Florence Loriaux, and Franoise Morimont, eds. The former Belgian colonies have experienced a series of coups, civil wars and have a history of political instability. 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. After several unsuccessful attempts in different parts of Asia and Africa, Leopold developed a keen interest in Central Africa. Source for information on Portugal's African Colonies: Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450 dictionary. From the coastline excursions in Africa and the gradual establishment of trade routes in Asia and in the Indian . Leopold II exploited the Congo for its natural rubber, which was starting to become a valuable commodity. New York: Macmillan. 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. In the 1500s, Portugal colonized the present-day west . On 4 May 1843, the Guatemalan parliament issued a decree giving the district of Santo Toms "in perpetuity" to the Compagnie belge de colonisation[fr], a private Belgian company under the protection of King Leopold I of Belgium. 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. The Belgian Congo (French: Congo belge, pronounced [ko bl]; Dutch: Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa between 1908 and 1960 in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. (art. 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. Belgian Congo, French Congo Belge, former colony (coextensive with the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) in Africa, ruled by Belgium from 1908 until 1960. Protestant missions were present in the Congo next to Catholic ones, but the latter enjoyed, during most of Belgian rule, a privileged position. EUROPEAN EFFORTS TO REINVENT OVERSEA, LEOPOLD II (18351909; ruled 18651909), king of Belgium and personal sovereign of the Congo Free State. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Portugal's African ColoniesOne of the great ironies in the history of European colonialism is that the small country of Portugal established one of the first colonial empires and then retained its colonial possessions well after most other European nations had lost theirs. Paris: Duculot, 1989. "Belgium's African Colonies A rich Hutu who purchased a large herd of cattle could become a Tutsi, while a Tutsi who became poor would drop into the Hutu caste. Many European countries wanted to colonize distant parts of the world in order to exploit the resources and "civilize" the inhabitants of these less-developed countries. 7 What were the former British colonies in Africa? The Challenge of Third World Development, 4th ed. How do I move data from one tab to another in Excel? With the support of the Free State's military, the Force Publique, the territory was divided into private concessions. "Africa: Belgian Colonies [12], Belgian rule in the Congo was based on the "colonial trinity" (trinit coloniale) of state, missionary and private company interests. Although a few attempts were made by the first king, Leopold I (17901865), these were not successful. On February 5, 1885, Belgian King Leopold II established the Congo Free State by brutally seizing the African landmass as his personal possession. The history of Colonialism as a policy or practice go, Colonialism, Internal Leopold II, an ambitious and enterprising monarch, was fascinated by the Dutch colonial "model" in Java and wanted to enhance his country's grandeur by exploiting a vast colonial domain, destined to enrich the mother country. Britain, France, Germany and Belgium had territories on the African continent. [CDATA[ Whereas the Hutus were farmers, the Tutsis were cattle herders. Ekwe-Ekwe, Herbert. The Belgians found willing elites to help them rule Rwanda. This ended with the seizure of power by Joseph-Dsir Mobutu. The Consul of Belgium and the president of the Brera Academy established a charitable foundation with the goal of building a village for artists and a hotel.[23]. 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. The first wave of genocide by the Hutus against the Tutsis took place earlier, however, under the administration of the Belgians in 1959. GENEALOGY OF THE TERM DECOLONIZATION "Africa: Belgian Colonies Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450. . The Tutsis were willing collaborators to the Belgian colonization. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. On the Congo Free State's own domains, as well as on the vast tracks of land that had been conceded to private companies, brutal and repressive practices took the lives of large numbers of Africansthough exact figures are impossible to establish. Belgium is a small country in northwest Europe that joined Europe's race for colonies in the late 19th century. Under Egypt 's Pharaoh Amasis (570-526 BC) a Greek mercantile colony was established at Naucratis, some 50 miles from the later Alexandria. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". During World War I, Britain captured the German holdings, which became a British mandate (1920) under the name Tanganyika Territory. [citation needed], Leopold achieved international recognition for the Congo Free State in 1885. The concept of internal colonialism has become so widely used and applied that almost every minority group in the world has b, The 1994 genocide in Rwanda represents one of the clearest cases of genocide in modern history. Belgium administered these mandates through a system of indirect rule. The people of the Congo were forced to labor for valued resources, including rubber and ivory, to personally enrich Leopold. The Portuguese established a relationship with the king of Kongo but stayed in the modern Angolan coastal areas. N'Daywel Nziem, Isidore. Maurel, Auguste. When Congo became a sovereign nation on June 30, 1960, this new state was utterly unprepared to handle the enormous problems that it had to face, and it slid into years of chaos, internal disruption (e.g., regional secessions, such as Katanga's), and civil waronly to emerge in 1965 under the Mobutu Sese Seko (19301997) dictatorship, which was to last more than thirty years and thoroughly pillaged the country's enormous riches. This exploration led initially to the establishment of the Congo Free State. Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps. This led to him being remembered in Belgium today as the "Builder-King." Hutus went on a rampage, killing Tutsis in their midst with the aim of exterminating them. 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 Belgians, in turn, gave the Tutsis privileged positions in politics, education, and business. Another notable kingdom was the Lunda kingdom of Nwata Kazembe, founded in the early eighteenth century and centered around the Luapula River near the Congo-Zambia border. During both world wars, the Belgian Congo played a great role as purveyor of raw materials for the Allies, while the Congolese troops also engaged in warfare against the German and Italian forces. They could also cheaply receive slaves and ivory and sell it at a very high price making a huge profit. Article 4 of the May 1842 Acte de concession clearly stated that the cession of the territory to the Belgian company did not involve, implicitly or explicitly, a cession of sovereignty over the territory, which would forever remain under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of Guatemala. The former colonial power cannot be solely blamed for all the atrocities and political instability that has characterized life in its now defunct empire, but a significant degree of responsibility is attributable. Justice was to be administered by judges named by the government (art. A classic image depicts the Belgian Congo as being run by the "Trinity" of administration, capital, and the (Catholic) Church. Belgian native policy, which had rigidified the ethnic boundaries between Tutsi and Hutu and consequently had exacerbated the ethnic identity of these groups, was largely responsible for the intensification of ethnic rivalry between these groups after the end of foreign rule. There was social mobility (both upward and downward) in this stratified Rwandese society. Encyclopedia of Race and Racism. So did Spain, Italy and Portugal by 1914. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. In 1962, it got its independence from Belgium. Le Congo: De la colonisation Belge l'indpendance, 2nd ed. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. OF DECOLONIZATION 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]. Belgium, a constitutional monarchy, gained its independence in 1830 from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The new leader signed a peace treaty with the rebel groups and appointed four vice presidents hailing from former rebel groups. Towards the end of colonial rule, the governor general at the time, Lon Antoine Marie Petillon (in office 1952-1958), wanted to grant Africans more civil rights. Any four countries? When both countries became independent on July 1, 1962, Rwanda was governed by a Hutu president, Burundi by a Tutsi king. An increasing number of volunteers had joined the public service and the military in the Congo; Belgian Catholic missions had been protected and promoted by the Free State's authorities; the Belgian Parliament had granted loans to the Congo; and important private groups had started investing in colonial enterprises, particularly in 1906. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". On September 5, President Kasavubu dismissed Lumumba as prime minister. New York: Barnes and Nobles. Ethnic Conflict. Foreign Policy No. Lumumba in turn dismissed the president, creating a political stalemate. Even before the 1870s some new gains had occurred. French explorers fanned out in equatorial Africa, and a French mission began the conquest of Indochina in the 1860s. 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 boundaries of Colonialism, like those of many literary eras, are difficult to draw. Before the coming of the Europeans, the Kingdom of Kongo had well-organized political and administrative structures that rivaled those of the Europeans. In 1885 Leopold II secured U.S. recognition of his personal sovereignty over the Congo Free State. The territory was granted independence in 1962, as the separate countries of Rwanda and Burundi in 1962, bringing the Belgian colonial empire to an end. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. (Colonizing other peoples, regardless of the justification . Stengers, Jean. Although a few attempts were made by the first king, Leopold I (1790-1865), these were not successful. * As many as 10 million people are estimated to have died in Congo from killings, famine and disease . 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. Belgian Congo, French Congo Belge, former colony (coextensive with the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) in Africa, ruled by Belgium from 1908 until 1960. However, the date of retrieval is often important. "[1] In 1876, he told delegates at an international conference on geography which he sponsored in Brussels that: To open to civilization the only part of our globe which it has not yet penetrated, to pierce the darkness which hangs over entire peoples, is, I dare say, a crusade worthy of this century of progress. 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. Yet, Leopold personally subscribed to what was sometimes called the "progressive" view of imperialism: That it had a moral justification as a civilizing mission. It was not until the eighteenth century that the Portuguese gained substantial influence in Congo. King Leopold's Legacy. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. The city of Tianjin (Tientsin), a treaty port in China (18601945) included nine foreign-controlled concessions (Chinese: ; pinyin: zujie). Davidson, Basil. //]]>. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. Joseph Conrad's book, Heart of Darkness (1899), was based on an 1890 visit to the Congo.[4]. Most of the ethnic groups speak languages of the widespread Bantu family: Kongo, Mongo, Luba, Bwaka, Kwango, Lulua, Luanda, and Kasai. ." Leopold had administered Katanga separately, but in 1910, the Belgian government merged it with the Belgian Congo. Encyclopedia.com. ." Map of Africa in 1910. The so-called Colonial Charter of 1908 set out the main lines of the Belgian colonial system: a rigorous separation between the budgets of the colony and the mother country; a strict parliamentary control of executive power (in order to avoid the excesses of the former Leopoldian despotism); the appointment of a governor-general in Congo, whose powers were strictly limited by the metropolitan authorities; and a tight centralism in the colony itself, where provincial authorities were granted little autonomy. When France, in the early 1880s, started to develop a political hold along the banks of the lower Congo, the AIC (which, in the meantime, had hired the British explorer Henry Morton Stanley (18411904) as its local manager) also began to conclude treaties whereby African chiefs recognized the association's sovereignty. Other articles where history of Belgium is discussed: Belgium: History of Belgium: This section surveys the history of the Belgian territories after 1579. . Belgium controlled several territories and concessions during the colonial era, principally the Belgian Congo (modern DRC) from 1908 to 1960 and Ruanda-Urundi (modern Rwanda and Burundi) from 1922 to 1962. A number of lobbying groups formed after the unification, including the West German Society for Colonization and Export (1881) and the Central Association for Commercial Geography and the Promotion of German Interests Abroad (1878). Through intermarriage and socioeconomic contacts, interethnic strife was benign. In 1865 he succeeded his father, Leopold I, to the Belgian throne. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/belgiums-african-colonies, "Belgium's African Colonies 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. According to one estimate, casualties were as high as 66 percent of the local population. 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. Can I leave an internship for another internship? ." Leopold II became known as the "Butcher of the Congo," where millions of Africans died as a result of the brutality of his rule. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

Elmira Sheriff's Department, Girl Found Dead In Chicago Today, Bohs Certificate Of Competence In Asbestos, What Do These Things Have In Common Solver, Articles W