History thread: Belgium Terror in Congo over Rubber Harvest

Worse than the Holocaust.

And sadly, not a damn was given.

quote:

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King Leopold II of Belgium

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Not a good dude. You don't hear much about it, but Belgium fricked the Congo. fricked them hard.

The personal property part is insane.

Read King Leopold's Ghosts. Its an excellent book. It shows what was happening in the Congo, and how activism by one dedicated dude was able to sway public perception to force Leopold to stop.

The worst thing I heard of was they shoved dynamite up some of the butts of workers that pissed them off and lit the fuse.

A lot of Africa's current problems stem from European actions during the colonial era. Not something a lot of people want to hear, and will likely get pushback on this thread, but it's true. Native people who showed intelligence or ambition were suppressed, imprisoned, or killed. Tribal animosities were encouraged in a divide and conquer strategy. And geographical boundaries were drawn over conference tables with no attention paid to reality on the ground.

That era didn't end until the seventies or later in some parts of Africa, and when the Europeans finally pulled out, there was a power vacuum with predictable results.

Some colonial regimes were better than others. The British were no saints, but they left a somewhat better legacy, and nations formed out of the British colonies have fared better after independence. The areas ruled by the French and Belgians, much worse.

Not much has changed in DNC

Amy good gorilla. Amy want rain drop drink.