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The Congo State
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Book Synopsis The Congo Free State and the New Imperialism by : Kevin Grant
Download or read book The Congo Free State and the New Imperialism written by Kevin Grant and published by Macmillan Higher Education. This book was released on 2016-09-02 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book introduces students to the history of the Congolese peoples and the Congo Free State, ruled by King Leopold II of Belgium between 1885 and 1908. It illuminates central issues in the study of the era of the "new imperialism" and challenges students to analyze a variety of different kinds of sources in building their own historical arguments about the period. The introduction provides an overview of the Congolese peoples, the environment in which they lived, and the process through which the Congo Free State was established and developed. The documents invite students to explore the history of the Congo Free State through speeches, international treaties, oral histories, investigative depositions on atrocities, visual texts, official and private correspondence, parliamentary debates, and published exposés. Document headnotes, a chronology, and analytical questions help students to place the Congo Free State in the context of not only the new imperialism but also its larger global context.
Book Synopsis The Tragic State of the Congo by : Jeanne M. Haskin
Download or read book The Tragic State of the Congo written by Jeanne M. Haskin and published by Algora Publishing. This book was released on 2005 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the mineral-rich, dirt-poor Congo, the promise of democratic elections now offers to ignite a glorious future for the country - or a final conflagration.
Book Synopsis King Leopold's Ghost by : Adam Hochschild
Download or read book King Leopold's Ghost written by Adam Hochschild and published by Picador. This book was released on 2019-05-14 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With an introduction by award-winning novelist Barbara Kingsolver In the late nineteenth century, when the great powers in Europe were tearing Africa apart and seizing ownership of land for themselves, King Leopold of Belgium took hold of the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. In his devastatingly barbarous colonization of this area, Leopold stole its rubber and ivory, pummelled its people and set up a ruthless regime that would reduce the population by half. . While he did all this, he carefully constructed an image of himself as a deeply feeling humanitarian. Winner of the Duff Cooper Prize in 1999, King Leopold’s Ghost is the true and haunting account of this man’s brutal regime and its lasting effect on a ruined nation. It is also the inspiring and deeply moving account of a handful of missionaries and other idealists who travelled to Africa and unwittingly found themselves in the middle of a gruesome holocaust. Instead of turning away, these brave few chose to stand up against Leopold. Adam Hochschild brings life to this largely untold story and, crucially, casts blame on those responsible for this atrocity.
Book Synopsis European Atrocity, African Catastrophe by : Martin Ewans
Download or read book European Atrocity, African Catastrophe written by Martin Ewans and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This narrative of the creation, development and collapse both of King Leopold's regime, and of the Belgian colony that replaced it, provides insight into the nature of European colonialism in Africa and the consequences for Europe itself.
Book Synopsis King Leopold's Congo and the "Scramble for Africa" by : Michael A. Rutz
Download or read book King Leopold's Congo and the "Scramble for Africa" written by Michael A. Rutz and published by Hackett Publishing. This book was released on 2018-03-01 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "King Leopold of Belgium's exploits up the Congo River in the 1880s were central to the European partitioning of the African continent. The Congo Free State, Leopold's private colony, was a unique political construct that opened the door to the savage exploitation of the Congo's natural and human resources by international corporations. The resulting 'red rubber' scandal—which laid bare a fundamental contradiction between the European propagation of free labor and 'civilization' and colonial governments' acceptance of violence and coercion for productivity's sake—haunted all imperial powers in Africa. Featuring a clever introduction and judicious collection of documents, Michael Rutz's book neatly captures the drama of one king's quest to build an empire in Central Africa—a quest that began in the name of anti-slavery and free trade and ended in the brutal exploitation of human lives. This volume is an excellent starting point for anyone interested in the history of colonial rule in Africa." —Jelmer Vos, University of Glasgow
Book Synopsis Selling the Congo by : Matthew G. Stanard
Download or read book Selling the Congo written by Matthew G. Stanard and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Belgium was a small, neutral country without a colonial tradition when King Leopold II ceded the Congo, his personal property, to the state in 1908. For the next half century Belgium not only ruled an African empire but also, through widespread, enduring, and eagerly embraced propaganda, produced an imperialist-minded citizenry. Selling the Congo is a study of European pro-empire propaganda in Belgium, with particular emphasis on the period 1908–60. Matthew G. Stanard questions the nature of Belgian imperialism in the Congo and considers the Belgian case in light of literature on the French, British, and other European overseas empires. Comparing Belgium to other imperial powers, the book finds that pro-empire propaganda was a basic part of European overseas expansion and administration during the modern period. Arguing against the long-held belief that Belgians were merely “reluctant imperialists,” Stanard demonstrates that in fact many Belgians readily embraced imperialistic propaganda. Selling the Congo contributes to our understanding of the effectiveness of twentieth-century propaganda by revealing its successes and failures in the Belgian case. Many readers familiar with more-popular histories of Belgian imperialism will find in this book a deeper examination of European involvement in central Africa during the colonial era.
Book Synopsis In the Forest of No Joy: The Congo-Océan Railroad and the Tragedy of French Colonialism by : J. P. Daughton
Download or read book In the Forest of No Joy: The Congo-Océan Railroad and the Tragedy of French Colonialism written by J. P. Daughton and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2021-07-20 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The epic story of the Congo-Océan railroad and the human costs and contradictions of modern empire. The Congo-Océan railroad stretches across the Republic of Congo from Brazzaville to the Atlantic port of Pointe-Noir. It was completed in 1934, when Equatorial Africa was a French colony, and it stands as one of the deadliest construction projects in history. Colonial workers were subjects of an ostensibly democratic nation whose motto read “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” but liberal ideals were savaged by a cruelly indifferent administrative state. African workers were forcibly conscripted and separated from their families, and subjected to hellish conditions as they hacked their way through dense tropical foliage—a “forest of no joy”; excavated by hand thousands of tons of earth in order to lay down track; blasted their way through rock to construct tunnels; or risked their lives building bridges over otherwise impassable rivers. In the process, they suffered disease, malnutrition, and rampant physical abuse, likely resulting in at least 20,000 deaths. In the Forest of No Joy captures in vivid detail the experiences of the men, women, and children who toiled on the railroad, and forces a reassessment of the moral relationship between modern industrialized empires and what could be called global humanitarian impulses—the desire to improve the lives of people outside of Europe. Drawing on exhaustive research in French and Congolese archives, a chilling documentary record, and heartbreaking photographic evidence, J.P. Daughton tells the epic story of the Congo-Océan railroad, and in doing so reveals the human costs and contradictions of modern empire.
Book Synopsis A Nervous State by : Nancy Rose Hunt
Download or read book A Nervous State written by Nancy Rose Hunt and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2015-12-30 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In A Nervous State, Nancy Rose Hunt considers the afterlives of violence and harm in King Leopold’s Congo Free State. Discarding catastrophe as narrative form, she instead brings alive a history of colonial nervousness. This mood suffused medical investigations, security operations, and vernacular healing movements. With a heuristic of two colonial states—one "nervous," one biopolitical—the analysis alternates between medical research into birthrates, gonorrhea, and childlessness and the securitization of subaltern "therapeutic insurgencies." By the time of Belgian Congo’s famed postwar developmentalist schemes, a shining infertility clinic stood near a bleak penal colony, both sited where a notorious Leopoldian rubber company once enabled rape and mutilation. Hunt’s history bursts with layers of perceptibility and song, conveying everyday surfaces and daydreams of subalterns and colonials alike. Congolese endured and evaded forced labor and medical and security screening. Quick-witted, they stirred unease through healing, wonder, memory, and dance. This capacious medical history sheds light on Congolese sexual and musical economies, on practices of distraction, urbanity, and hedonism. Drawing on theoretical concepts from Georges Canguilhem, Georges Balandier, and Gaston Bachelard, Hunt provides a bold new framework for teasing out the complexities of colonial history.
Book Synopsis King Leopold's Soliloquy by : Mark Twain
Download or read book King Leopold's Soliloquy written by Mark Twain and published by LeftWord Books. This book was released on 2020-03 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dear, dear, when the soft-hearts get hold of thing like that missionary's contribution they completely lose their tranquility they speak profanely and reproach Heaven for allowing such a find to live. Meaning me . They think it irregular. They go shuddering around, brooding over the reduction of that Congo population from 25,000,000 to 15,000,000 in the twenty years of my administration; then they burst out and call me the King with Ten Million Murders on his Soul. They call me a 'record'. - From King Leopold's Soliloquy
Book Synopsis The Congo Free State by : Charles River Editors
Download or read book The Congo Free State written by Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-06-30 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts of the Congo Free State *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "I do not want to risk...losing a fine chance to secure for ourselves a slice of this magnificent African cake." - King Leopold II of Belgium King Leopold II of Belgium emerges from the pages of history as a curious character. He was a member of a privileged clique of European monarchs, bereft of power but rich, indulgent, and indolent. Leopold certainly availed himself of all the pleasures of court life, but he was also shrewd, astonishingly competent, and avaricious to an almost unimaginable degree. His initial interest in foreign real estate was imperial, insofar as he desired on behalf of Belgium the main accoutrements of a first-rate power, which were, of course, foreign estates and colonies. He was, however, unable to move the Belgian parliament to act in accordance, the conservative belief perhaps being that Belgium could not afford to compete on that level. Belgium was a small European nation, existing between major and, at times, belligerent powers, and as such, it quietly went about its business with a determination not to rock the European boat. Displaying enormous ability and a masterful grasp of diplomatic maneuver, Leopold was able to secure primary rights over the territory of the Congo River catchment, a portion of the globe more than three times the size of France. By any standards, this was a monumental coup, and by the time the other European powers woke up to precisely what was underway, it was too late the arrest the momentum. Of all the issues on the agenda as delegates gathered in Berlin in 1884, foremost was the Congo question. The matter was debated, and although deeply troubled by the potential consequences, recognition was eventually afforded to Leopold's claim to the Congo. And so, the Congo Free State came into being, a private fiefdom of Leopold II of Belgium and arguably one of the most cynical and exploitative colonial regimes across the European spectrum. The truth of this would not immediately come to light, and the high-minded proclamations that accompanied the formation of Leopold's colony were taken at face value. However, it was of profound importance was to ensure that nothing like it could happen again, and central to the agenda of the conference, which lasted almost a year, was to establish certain ground rules governing the future European partition of Africa. Of these, three are most noteworthy. The first was that the annexation of any territory in Africa by any European power would not be formally recognized without a clear display of effective occupation and administration. Second, no such annexation could proceed without a formal request for protection on the part of an indigenous leader or monarch responsible for that territory. Such a plea for protection would be required to be submitted to treaty and be ascribed with the seal, mark, or signature of that king. The third rule, which could perhaps be better described as a convention, required that in the event of a European war, the territories, protectorates, and colonies acquired under the terms of the conference's General Act would remain neutral. The Congo Free State: The History and Legacy of the Colony Established by King Leopold II of Belgium chronicles the turbulent history of the Belgian colony. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Congo Free State like never before.
Download or read book Congo Love Song written by Ira Dworkin and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2017-04-27 with total page 469 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his 1903 hit "Congo Love Song," James Weldon Johnson recounts a sweet if seemingly generic romance between two young Africans. While the song's title may appear consistent with that narrative, it also invokes the site of King Leopold II of Belgium's brutal colonial regime at a time when African Americans were playing a central role in a growing Congo reform movement. In an era when popular vaudeville music frequently trafficked in racist language and imagery, "Congo Love Song" emerges as one example of the many ways that African American activists, intellectuals, and artists called attention to colonialism in Africa. In this book, Ira Dworkin examines black Americans' long cultural and political engagement with the Congo and its people. Through studies of George Washington Williams, Booker T. Washington, Pauline Hopkins, Langston Hughes, Malcolm X, and other figures, he brings to light a long-standing relationship that challenges familiar presumptions about African American commitments to Africa. Dworkin offers compelling new ways to understand how African American involvement in the Congo has helped shape anticolonialism, black aesthetics, and modern black nationalism.
Book Synopsis Belgium and the Congo, 1885-1980 by : Guy Vanthemsche
Download or read book Belgium and the Congo, 1885-1980 written by Guy Vanthemsche and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-30 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explains how and why Belgium, a small but influential European country, was changed through its colonial activities in the Congo, from the first expeditions in 1880 to the Mobutu regime in the 1980s. Belgian politics, diplomacy, economic activity and culture were influenced by the imperial experience. Belgium and the Congo, 1885-1980 yields a better understanding of the Congo's past and present.
Book Synopsis Humanitarianism and Human Rights by : Michael N. Barnett
Download or read book Humanitarianism and Human Rights written by Michael N. Barnett and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-15 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the fluctuating relationship between human rights and humanitarianism and the changing nature of the politics and practices of humanity.
Book Synopsis Reinventing Order in the Congo by : Theodore Trefon
Download or read book Reinventing Order in the Congo written by Theodore Trefon and published by Zed Books Ltd.. This book was released on 2013-04-04 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kinshasa is sub-Saharan Africa‘s second largest city. The seven million Congolese who live there have a rich reputation for the courageous and innovative ways in which they survive in a harsh urban environment. They have created new social institutions, practices, networks and ways of living to deal with the collapse of public provision and a malfunctioning political system. This book describes how ordinary people, in the absence of formal sector jobs, hustle for a modest living; the famous ‘bargaining‘ system ordinary Kinois have developed; and how they access food, water supplies, health and education. The NGO-ization of service provision is analysed, as is the quite rare incidence of urban riots. The contributors also look at popular discourses, including street rumor, witchcraft, and attitudes to ‘big men‘ such as musicians and preachers. This is urban sociology at its best - richly empirical, unjargonized, descriptive of the lives of ordinary people, and weaving into its analysis how they see and experience life.
Book Synopsis Slavery, Freedom, and the Law in the Atlantic World by : Sue Peabody
Download or read book Slavery, Freedom, and the Law in the Atlantic World written by Sue Peabody and published by Macmillan Higher Education. This book was released on 2018-10-26 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the era of revolution, independence, and emancipation in the north Atlantic, slavery and freedom were fluid and contested concepts. Individuals and groups turned to courts of law to define and enforce the status of indigenous Americans, forcibly imported Africans, and colonizing Europeans -- and their progeny. Legal institutions of the state manufactured and mediated a new, dynamic concept of freedom, inventing categories of race and codifying white privilege. In this collection of documents from the French, British, Spanish, and Portuguese empires, Peabody and Grinberg introduce the voices of slaves, slave-holders, jurists, legislators, and others who struggled to critique, overturn, justify, or simply describe the social order in which they found themselves. Discussion questions, illustrations, a glossary, and a bibliography allow students to analyze these rich documents and discern their lasting influences.
Download or read book Imagining the Congo written by K. Dunn and published by Springer. This book was released on 2003-05-29 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding the current civil war in the Congo requires an examination of how the Congo's identity has been imagined over time. Imagining the Congo historicizes and contextualizes the constructions of the Congo's identity in order to analyze the political implications of that identity, looking in detail at four historical periods in which the identity of the Congo was contested, with numerous forces attempting to produce and attach meanings to its territory and people. Dunn looks specifically at how what he calls 'imaginings' of the Congo have allowed the current state of affairs there to develop, but he also looks at the broader conceptual question of how the concept of identity has developed and become important in recent international relations scholarship.
Book Synopsis Church, State and Colonialism in Southeastern Congo, 1890–1962 by : Reuben A. Loffman
Download or read book Church, State and Colonialism in Southeastern Congo, 1890–1962 written by Reuben A. Loffman and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-05-23 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the relationship between Catholic missionaries and the colonial administration in southeastern Belgian Congo. It challenges the perception that the Church and the state worked seamlessly together. Instead, using the territory of Kongolo as a case study, the book reconfigures their relationship as one of competitive co-dependency. Based on extensive archival research and oral histories, the book argues that both institutions retained distinct agendas that, while coinciding during certain periods, clashed on many occasions. The study begins by outlining the pre-colonial history of southeastern Congo. The second chapter examines how the Church began its encounters with the peoples in Kongolo and the Tanganyika province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Subsequent chapters highlight how missionaries exerted significant influence over the colonial construction of chieftainship and the politics of Congolese decolonization. The book ends in 1962, with the massacre of a number of Holy Ghost Fathers in an event that signaled the beginning of a more Africanized Church in Kongolo. ‘The author gratefully acknowledges support from the Economic and Social Research Council in the completion of this project.’
