The Belgian Congo 1960s The Belgian Congo 1960s The Congo is a territory larger than Western Europe, bordered by nine countries (former colonies) . http://unimaps.com/congo-cri sis/print.html
Dec 13, 2015
The Belgian Congo 1960sThe Belgian Congo 1960s
The Congo is a territory larger thanWestern Europe,bordered by nine countries (formercolonies).
http://unimaps.com/congo-crisis/print.html
Colonial “Development”Colonial “Development”
On the eve of independence, how well developed was the Congo compared to other colonies?
Human Resources, decidedly under-developed:
•no African army officers•3 African managers in civil service•30 University Graduates
first Congolese admitted to Belgian universities in 1950sfirst universities in Congo:1954 (Catholic), 1956 (lay), graduating 16 by independence
Colonial DevelopmentColonial Development
Mineral resources, extremely well developed
•copper, gold, tin, cobalt, diamonds, manganese, zinc
•all attracted massive investments from West
•economy dominated by mining:
70% owned by la Société Générale de Belgique (still Belgium’s leading holding company)also controlled river and rail transport
Colonial Development (cont.)Colonial Development (cont.)
•Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK) produced:
70% world’s copper production (1953), 80% cobalt, 5% zinc;
1950-9 made net profits 620 million $$, overall production increased 149%
labour force 100,000 – twice as large as elsewhere; also attracted post-war immigration
Copper in KatangaCopper in Katanga
Miners at work, 1938 http://euromin.w3sites.net/Nouveau_site/gisements/congo/GISCONe.htm
Copper in KatangaCopper in Katanga
Miners sampling ore, 1938 http://euromin.w3sites.net/Nouveau_site/gisements/congo/GISCONe.htm
Copper in KatangaCopper in Katanga
Loading Copper in Katanga, 1950 http://euromin.w3sites.net/Nouveau_site/gisements/congo/GISCONe.htm
Colonial Development (cont.)Colonial Development (cont.)
Cash crops• almost as much product of Western investment as mining•35%-40% commercial agriculture in hands of Huileries du Congo Belges
subsidiary of Anglo-Dutch Unilever Co.http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Unilever-Company-History.html
dominated palm-oil production ran plantations covering hundreds of thousands of acres
•labour varied from poorly paid wage to forced
Colonial Development (cont.)Colonial Development (cont.)
Urban Growth/Politics •dramatic even by African standards•mostly workers, many of them migrants•growth of African urban associations, usually ethnically based•African newspapers •1957 municipal elections in which Africans voted (in largest cities like Stanleyville, Leopoldville, Elisabethville)
Overall: adjunct to western industrial system, lacking any indigenous capital or internal capital generating market
Colonial Development (cont.)Colonial Development (cont.)
Colonial Society settler-based but settlers did not demand the semi-autonomy of neighboring colonies (e.g., Kenya, Rhodesia)
especially ‘intense’ in terms of number of:
•white officials, •paramilitary forces•agricultural officers enforcing drastic programs of compulsory cultivation
Colonial Development (cont.)Colonial Development (cont.)
much anachronistic rhetoric about ‘paternalism’:
aim to create Middle Class who would eventually attain full citizenship in some form of Belgian-Congolese community
“Cartes du Merite civique”: so rarely given out that they became source of grievance
Colonial Development (cont.)Colonial Development (cont.)
Education:
•primary education entirely in hands of Christian Missionaries
Evangelism very successful: 600 Congolese priests, 500 ministers c.1956
of 16 million Congolese, 3 ½ million Catholics; 1 ¾ million Protestants
•1950s move towards more secular education
•missionaries rallied converts in support of church
[see Readings, “Poisonwood Bible”, selected pages for perspective of American Missionaries c.1959. Fiction, yes, but very insightful.]
Prelude to IndependencePrelude to Independence
1957 paper announced need for ‘independence plan’ in 30 years hailed in Catholic journal, Conscience Africaine
• followed by the handful of educated Congolese, including a young postal worker, Patrice Lumumba
• responded by deferentially requesting that Congolese elite be consulted in drafting of plan
• first of Congolese University graduates also emerging 1957/58, engaging with idea