The Congo
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The Congo. HIST 4339. Wednesday Citation Workshop. Identify a tricky citation (e.g. primary source) Look it up Bring complete citation to class Wed. Outline. Congo Free State Belgian Congo Independent Congo. Themes. Belgian colonial practices illuminate other colonialisms
The Congo
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The Congo HIST 4339
Wednesday Citation Workshop • Identify a tricky citation (e.g. primary source) • Look it up • Bring complete citation to class Wed
Outline • Congo Free State • Belgian Congo • Independent Congo
Themes • Belgian colonial practices illuminate other colonialisms • Partitioned culture groups contribute to conflict
Congo Free State <www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/africa_1890.jpg>
King Leopold II’s Rule • Profits based on rubber extraction • Use of forced labor: hostages, chicotte whippings • Severed hands required as evidence of efficient bullet use
King Leopold II’s Rule • Governor of the Equatorial District of the Congo Free State: “As soon as it was a question of rubber, I wrote to the government, ‘To gather rubber in the district... one must cut off hands, noses and ears’” (Adam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost 165)
International Reaction • International scandal by turn of century • 1908: Belgian government purchase of Congo from Leopold • 1909: Leopold’s death
International Reaction • 1912: US poet Vachel Lindsay, “The Congo:” “Listen to the yell of Leopold's ghost Burning in Hell for his hand-maimed host. Hear how the demons chuckle and yell Cutting his hands off, down in Hell.”
Belgian Congo (post-Leopold II) • 1908: Belgian state takeover • Focus on practical and vocational education • 1958: Collapse of world copper market renders Congo unprofitable
Belgian Congo (post-Leopold II) • Belgian announcement of imminent independence • Congolese nationalist groups: —Congolese National Movement, led by Patrice Lumumba —Alliance of Kongo People, led by Joseph Kasavubu Lumumba Kasavubu
Belgian Congo (post-Leopold II) • June 30, 1960: independence of Republic of Congo —Lumumba Prime Minister —KasavubuPresident Lumumba Kasavubu
Belgian Congo (post-Leopold II) • June 30, 1960: independence ceremony • —Belgian king’s paternalistic speech —Lumumba’s fiery response Lumumba The Guardian (1 July 1960)
Independent Congo • Immediate political turmoil (mutiny, Katanga secession) • Sept 14, 1960: Army Chief of Staff Mobutu seizes power • Jan 1961: Lumumba’s flight, capture, execution Mobutu
Independent Congo • Feb 1961: Mobutu restores power to Kasavubu • 1965: Mobutu coup (Congo becomes Zaire) • 1994: Rwandan genocide, refugees to Zaire
Independent Congo • 1997: Rwanda invades Zaire, installs Laurent Kabila as pres. —Zaire renamed Congo • 1998: new conflict (“Africa’s world war”)
Independent Congo • 2001: Kabila assassinated, succeeded by his son, Joseph Kabila • 2006: Joseph Kabila elected president • 2012: M23 captures Goma, retreats
“Independence ChaCha” Indépendance cha cha tozui eOh! Kimpuanza cha cha tubakidiOh! Table Ronde cha cha bagagné oOh! Dipanda cha cha tozui e (Independence cha cha, we’ve won itOh! Independence cha cha, we’ve achieved itOh! The round table cha cha, we’ve pulled it offOh! Independence cha cha, we’ve won it) [the word for independence is given in French, Lingala and Kikongo]