Patrice Lumumba’s Struggle Against Belgian Imperialism
It is hard to believe that in 2002 there is still imperialism being practiced in the world, but the fact of the matter is, it is. Imperialism is the policy of extending a nation’s territory or power by establishing dominance over other nations. A modern example of imperialism is the Congo.
At the 1885 Berlin Conference, where the European powers carved up most of Africa among themselves, they sanctioned the claim of Belgian King Leopold II to sole authority over the Congo, a land mass 75 times the area of Belgium. The Congo was virtually his private property. He wiped out some 10 million people, around half the population, in his determination to extract every last penny of profit.[1] The Congo, later renamed Zaire, and now called the Democratic Republic of Congo, is endowed with immense mineral wealth in. At the time of the rise of the independence movement in 1958, Congo was among the world's largest producer of copper, uranium, cobalt, industrial diamonds, and rubber.[2]
In the late 1950s and early 1960s there was a mass movement of resistance against the Belgian government. At the forefront of this struggle was Patrice Lumumba. In October 1958 Lumumba, a former postal employee, helped to found the Congolese National Movement (MNC), the first nationwide Congolese political party.[3] MNC gained much mass appeal because it united the Congolese people across the divisions of language and culture in a struggle against the imperialist rulers. The Belgian government buckled under the pressure of the resistance and reluctantly agreed to declare June 30, 1960 Independence Day and to hold free elections. MNC won more seats then any other party and Lu...
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... the Congolese people when he wrote, “This is a fearsome story of colonial brutality, of the way in which the United Nations serves the world's major powers, and of the primacy of profit over democracy.”[9] People from South Korea to Puerto Rico are struggling against imperialism. Lumumba’s fight has been documented in numerous books and movies. It is important that oppressed people learn from other oppressed people in the movement to end imperialism.
[1] Charlie Kimber, Dark Heart of Imperialism, Issue 92 of “International Socialism Journal,” Autumn 2001, http://www.isj1text.ble.org.uk/pubs/isj92/kimber.htm
[2] Brian Williams, Imperialism vs. Congolese Freedom Struggle, Issue 28/Vol 65 “The Militant,” July 23 2001, http://www.themilitant.com/2001/6528/652852.html
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid
[5] Ibid
[6] Kimber
[7] Ibid
[8] Ibid
[9] Ibid
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Obama, B. (2010). Statement on Equal Pay. Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents, 1. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
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After being colonized by the Belgians, the people living in Congo were treated horribly by the king that was i...
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