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B - King Leopold's Congo, 1886–1908

from 6 - Western Equatorial Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

By
Jean Stengers  and
Jan Vansina
Edited by
Roland Oliver  and
G. N. Sanderson
Jean Stengers
Affiliation:
Free University of Brussels
Jan Vansina
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Summary

IN EUROPE

The fact that the title of this chapter bears the name of a European monarch is fully significant. The Congo was a political entity brought into being on African soil completely by the will of one man, and that man – who never visited his dominion – governed it from his residence in Europe in a completely autocratic way.

The Congo Independent State (Etat indépendant du Congo), under the personal government of King Leopold, lasted from 1885 to 1908. In 1908, it was annexed by Belgium and became a Belgian colony, the ‘Belgian Congo’. Well before 1908, however, the term ‘Belgian Congo’ was very often used by foreign writers. This can readily be understood when one considers the way in which the Independent State appeared to them. The sovereign of the state, they thought, was the King of the Belgians, who was, as everyone knew, ardently devoted to Belgian interests. The central services of the state were located in Brussels, and all its officials were Belgian. As for the Congo itself – in the administration, in the army, and in the courts - the essential role was played by Belgians, particularly by officers of the Belgian army assigned to African service. Even the religious missions – at any rate those of the Catholics, which were most favoured by the state – almost all had a markedly Belgian character. How, in such circumstances, could contemporaries have failed to come to speak naturally of a ‘Belgian Congo’? Nevertheless, the usage was quite improper.

Keywords

economic policiesKing Leopold's CongoCongo administrationcolonial occupationtraditional commercial companieslocal African authorities
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of Africa , pp. 315 - 358
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1985

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