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The Congo

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

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The Congo

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  1. The Congo HIST 4339

  2. Wednesday Citation Workshop • Identify a tricky citation (e.g. primary source) • Look it up • Bring complete citation to class Wed

  3. Outline • Congo Free State • Belgian Congo • Independent Congo

  4. Themes • Belgian colonial practices illuminate other colonialisms • Partitioned culture groups contribute to conflict

  5. Congo Free State <www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/africa_1890.jpg>

  6. 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

  7. 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)

  8. International Reaction • International scandal by turn of century • 1908: Belgian government purchase of Congo from Leopold • 1909: Leopold’s death

  9. 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.”

  10. Belgian Congo (post-Leopold II) • 1908: Belgian state takeover • Focus on practical and vocational education • 1958: Collapse of world copper market renders Congo unprofitable

  11. 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

  12. Belgian Congo (post-Leopold II) • June 30, 1960: independence of Republic of Congo —Lumumba Prime Minister —KasavubuPresident Lumumba Kasavubu

  13. 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)

  14. 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

  15. Independent Congo • Feb 1961: Mobutu restores power to Kasavubu • 1965: Mobutu coup (Congo becomes Zaire) • 1994: Rwandan genocide, refugees to Zaire

  16. Independent Congo • 1997: Rwanda invades Zaire, installs Laurent Kabila as pres. —Zaire renamed Congo • 1998: new conflict (“Africa’s world war”)

  17. Independent Congo • 2001: Kabila assassinated, succeeded by his son, Joseph Kabila • 2006: Joseph Kabila elected president • 2012: M23 captures Goma, retreats

  18. “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]

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