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

Patrice Lumumba Patrice Lumumba

[fromhttp://www.un.int/drcongo/history.htm]

Decolonization?Decolonization?

The process of ‘decolonization’ simply did not exist in Belgian Congo.

Chronology:

• 1957 proclamation of independence in 30 years

• 1959 riots spread throughout colony

•Belgian king announces independence will be granted in 18 months

•… and it was.