The Congo

Figure 15: Images Highlighting Leopold’s Rule in the Congo

Leopold II of Belgium plundered the colonial Congo. Taking power under the guise of humanitarian intervention, especially ending the alleged Arab slave trade, and playing different European countries against each other, Leopold obtained control of the vast heartland of Africa, ruling it as a private colony. Always lacking money, Leopold leased out the northern half of the colony to concession companies while having Stanley explore and start slowly building up the infrastructure–railroads and trading posts (using forced labor) of the southern half. Soon realizing the abundance of wild rubber, Leopold worked to exploit his colony as much as possible. Using European overseers and African enforcers, Leopold’s regime demanded villagers spend the majority of their time gathering rubber rather than raising crops, holding villagers hostage while family members went into the surrounding jungle to meet their rubber quota. Perhaps most notoriously, Leopold’s European and African enforcers chopped off the hands of those who failed to gather enough rubber. In response, missionaries publicized the pictures that shocked the world, with other Europeans formed humanitarian organizations that called for an end to Leopold’s rule (while not questioning the underlying assumptions of colonialism). Overall, tens of thousands were directly killed while hundreds of thousands died through famine, disease (including indigenous diseases under control through this point combined with diseases brought by traders), exhaustion and a plummeting birth rate. Hundreds of thousands of Africans fled while the population declined an estimated three to ten million people and Leopold’s rule remains synonymous with the brutality and excesses of colonial rule.

Figure 16: A Memorial to Leopold II

E.D. Morel condemnation of Leopold in his Red Rubber:

The frequent wars upon the natives undertaken without any cause by the State soldiers sent out to get rubber and ivory are depopulating the country. The soldiers find that the quickest and cheapest method is to raid villages, seize prisoners, and have them redeemed afterwards against ivory

King Leopold’s defense of his rule in the Congo:”In no shape or form have I bettered myself financially through my relationship with the Congo. On the contrary, I have spent large sums of my own in developing the country – sums amounting in the aggregate to millions. I am poorer not richer because of the Congo. The betterment of the country and the improvement of the conditions of the natives are the only objects of my efforts.

The Herero

In 1905, the Herero and Namaqua rebelled against German rule in Southwest Africa (current day Namibia). After 15 years, the majority of both groups realized that colonial rule meant taxation, land alienation, less access to watering holes, and cattle theft. Additionally, many Herero realized the inequality that defined colonial rule as Germans were often acquitted for crimes, including murder, against the Herero while Herero were hanged for minor offenses. For the Germans, their failure to prosper while the Herero seems to do quite well inverted claims of racial superiority. Recounted differently by the Germans and Herero, the rebellion began in January 1904 with the exchange of gunfire. After some initial successes, a larger German army surrounded and annihilated the Herero at the Battle of Waterberg, forcing survivors to escape into the desert. German soldiers destroyed watering holes, shot the Herero on sight; Germans found holes that the Herero dug 12-15 feet deep as they desperately searched for water. The German commander proclaimed that any Herero returning to the territory would be shot on site. The survivors were captured in the desert and, as the Germans realized the colony needed a labor force, worked for the German state or settlers for no pay and living in windswept conditions that left people exposed to the elements while being denied proper food. Overall, 85% of the Herero population died in the first genocide of the 20th century as colonial rule was brutally enforced.

This chapter worked to demonstrate the new world order that emerged as a result of European colonization of Africa and Asia during the second half of the 19th century. It also worked to highlight the important consequences of these imperial projects for those involved, including a denial of political power but also famine and war. In contrast to the ideals of the civilizing mission, colonialism was about greed, ambition and power. It led to the death of millions throughout Africa and Asia and created many problems that these two world regions are still struggling to overcome.