Congo Imperialism

During the age of Imperialism, the Congo fell under the power of King Leopold of Belgium. Leopold Benefited from new technologies, cleverly exploited imperial rivalries between European powers in Africa, and used western ideological developments for his own gain, the Belgian king’s ambitions and greed were the most important factors in creating his atrocious Belgian free state. The creation of the Belgian ruled Congo led to the enslavement of native African tribes.

Leopold and other European countries attempt to create an African empire were helped by new technologies. Advancements in the medical field, like the creation of Quinine, aided against malaria and antibiotics which helped the wounded. It allowed for a greater amount of people to

Social Darwinism led to the belief that more advanced societies were meant to take control over the weaker ones in a game of survival of the fittest. In this case it was the Europeans that were supposedly meant to take over the Africans. Europeans saw Africans as subhuman and were treated awfully. A great example of this was when Leopold decided to host a world fair displaying African culture. “The most extraordinary tableau, however, was a living one:267 black men, women and children imported from the Congo.” A human zoo where Europeans could see Africans in their native habitat. Leopold used these ideological developments to justify and cover his activities in the Congo. Leopold lied to the public saying he would bring Christianity to the Africans, end Arab slavery and told many European powers that his Congo state would be open to free trade. Leopold also deceived many Humanitarian movements, he tried to appear as a philanthropist and hosted many anti-slavery conferences in Brussels which provided cover for his atrocious actions in the Congo. One of his most successful lies was the founding of the “IAC” or Association of the Congo which would supposedly try to make Africans as European as possible, in the context of converting them to Christianity and civilizing them according to western standards. The “IAC” was used as cover for Leopold’s terrible actions in the Congo. He used slave Labor to produce his wealth and there was no fair treatment of Africans from Europeans who were at the “Congo Free State”. Leopold created the Force Publique which was a gendarmerie that was meant to keep the security and suppress any native uprisings. The Force Publique usually used violence and routinely killed any opposition to