GiantMonkeyMan
Banned
Glory and Dignity
A Post-Colonial Timeline
“The day will come when history will speak. But it will not be the history which will be taught in Brussels, Paris, Washington or the United Nations. It will be the history which will be taught in the countries which have won freedom from colonialism and its puppets. Africa will write its own history and in both north and south it will be a history of glory and dignity.” - Patrice Lumumba
The rapid urbanisation of the Congo in the post-war period was the result of the huge economic boom that the region experienced. Foreign capital flocked to the colony to take advantage of the region's abundant resources that had provided three quarters of the entire world's supply of cobalt, some of the uranium for the Manhattan project from the mines in Katanga as well as diamonds, copper, iron, coal and other minerals. The expansions of the mines as well as the avaricious policies of the settler farmers, who hoarded vast tracts of the most arable land leaving only the worst land for native farmers to compete over, drove the urbanisation of the Congo as large numbers of dispossessed Congolese migrated to find new work and lives for themselves. By 1955 over a fifth of the entire population was centred in urban areas and it was this strata of Congolese society that lead the struggle for independence.
Leopoldville, Stanleyville and the other major cities of the Congo became the centres of political resistance to the Belgian colonial authorities eventually proving fertile ground for the political parties to form and later solidify during the economic recession of 1957-58. Copper prices fell by 30 percent on the first year and then an additional 14 percent in the following and the entire Congolese economy experienced a recession with a huge fall in living standards. By 1959, over 25 percent of Leopoldville was unemployed and with a similar economic situation across the whole of the Belgian Congo. It was this segment of urban poor, along with the perpetually oppressed rural worker, who began actively organising with the fledgling political organisations. The Congo proved fertile for political struggle and there were over 120 parties representing various ethnic and social movements for independence.
The Leopoldville riots in January 1959 began as a response to police crackdown on the ABAKO party lead by the charismatic Joseph Kasavubu. The riots were brutally suppressed under the orders of the Force Publique garrison commander Lieutenant-General Emile Janssens leading to deaths numbering over a hundred by some estimates. Similar rioting flared up in Stanleyville prompting more harsh crackdowns and deaths. It was in this fiery situation that the Mouvement National Congolais was born from a union of nationalist organisations with the common aim of independence under the leadership of Patrice Lumumba.
The Belgian colonial administration began fraying at the edges in a crisis of opinion regarding the causes of the riots. A commission set up by the Belgian parliament was critical of the colonial policy that engendered racial discrimination and the repressive response of the colonial administration that lead to the deaths in the riots. Janssens was quietly redeployed to another role and, in a move heralded by the Concience Africain as "the first step towards liberation", the restrictions on access to higher education removed for Congolese natives. King Baudouin was forced to make the promise of independence at an unspecified date and the end to racial discrimination. The violent repression of Congolese independence organisations remained but the Belgian authorities began to feel the need to pay lip-service to the ideas of decolonisation in order to quell the unrest of the frustrated native population.
However, the rumblings of political activity wouldn't stop and the initial policies proved only a segue towards the first elections that took place in select municipalities, namely several cities. The elections became a proving ground for the political groups organising throughout the Belgian colony. Parties based around ethnic groups gathered support only in areas where their leaders were particularly charismatic, such as ABAKO and Kasavubu in the Bakongo region and CONAKAT lead by Moise Tshombe in Katanga, but the real explosion came from the MNC which crossed ethnic lines and expressed a nationalist programme.
The success of MNC prompted the leader of the Parti Solidaire Africain, Antoine Gizenga, to enter into talks with Lumumba, who he saw as ideologically very similar, and begin an amalgamation process of the two nationalist independence organisations giving the MNC a stronger foothold in the Leopoldville regional province. To the Belgians, the nationalist MNC with its left-wing message was proving far more serious than the parties based along ethnic lines. Previously at the forefront of the agitation, ABAKO was soon eclipsed by the rapid growth of MNC and the intense politicisation of the western rural areas in support of Lumumba's promises of land reform. Kasavubu had come out with an idea for a secessionist Bakongo state organised along tribal lines, a stance that proved vastly unpopular with large numbers of Congolese people.
The Belgian administration laid out a comprehensive plan for decolonisation that began with a broadening out of the municipal elections in December. CONAKAT, ABAKO and the MNC declared the decision unreasonably slow and, following a second wave of rioting in the autumn months, organised a successful boycott of the election, defying the legitimacy of the colonial authorities. Less than a third of eligible voters participated in the election despite the huge politicisation of the whole colony. This forced the Belgians to convene in Brussels what was known as the Round Table Conference in 1960 with the leaders of the major political parties.
[1]
[2]
[1] Lumumba arriving in Belgium for the Round Table Conference after being freed from a colonial prison.
[2] An early protest by ABAKO supporters demanding an end to the racist policies of the colonial administration.
A Post-Colonial Timeline
“The day will come when history will speak. But it will not be the history which will be taught in Brussels, Paris, Washington or the United Nations. It will be the history which will be taught in the countries which have won freedom from colonialism and its puppets. Africa will write its own history and in both north and south it will be a history of glory and dignity.” - Patrice Lumumba
The rapid urbanisation of the Congo in the post-war period was the result of the huge economic boom that the region experienced. Foreign capital flocked to the colony to take advantage of the region's abundant resources that had provided three quarters of the entire world's supply of cobalt, some of the uranium for the Manhattan project from the mines in Katanga as well as diamonds, copper, iron, coal and other minerals. The expansions of the mines as well as the avaricious policies of the settler farmers, who hoarded vast tracts of the most arable land leaving only the worst land for native farmers to compete over, drove the urbanisation of the Congo as large numbers of dispossessed Congolese migrated to find new work and lives for themselves. By 1955 over a fifth of the entire population was centred in urban areas and it was this strata of Congolese society that lead the struggle for independence.
Leopoldville, Stanleyville and the other major cities of the Congo became the centres of political resistance to the Belgian colonial authorities eventually proving fertile ground for the political parties to form and later solidify during the economic recession of 1957-58. Copper prices fell by 30 percent on the first year and then an additional 14 percent in the following and the entire Congolese economy experienced a recession with a huge fall in living standards. By 1959, over 25 percent of Leopoldville was unemployed and with a similar economic situation across the whole of the Belgian Congo. It was this segment of urban poor, along with the perpetually oppressed rural worker, who began actively organising with the fledgling political organisations. The Congo proved fertile for political struggle and there were over 120 parties representing various ethnic and social movements for independence.
The Leopoldville riots in January 1959 began as a response to police crackdown on the ABAKO party lead by the charismatic Joseph Kasavubu. The riots were brutally suppressed under the orders of the Force Publique garrison commander Lieutenant-General Emile Janssens leading to deaths numbering over a hundred by some estimates. Similar rioting flared up in Stanleyville prompting more harsh crackdowns and deaths. It was in this fiery situation that the Mouvement National Congolais was born from a union of nationalist organisations with the common aim of independence under the leadership of Patrice Lumumba.
The Belgian colonial administration began fraying at the edges in a crisis of opinion regarding the causes of the riots. A commission set up by the Belgian parliament was critical of the colonial policy that engendered racial discrimination and the repressive response of the colonial administration that lead to the deaths in the riots. Janssens was quietly redeployed to another role and, in a move heralded by the Concience Africain as "the first step towards liberation", the restrictions on access to higher education removed for Congolese natives. King Baudouin was forced to make the promise of independence at an unspecified date and the end to racial discrimination. The violent repression of Congolese independence organisations remained but the Belgian authorities began to feel the need to pay lip-service to the ideas of decolonisation in order to quell the unrest of the frustrated native population.
However, the rumblings of political activity wouldn't stop and the initial policies proved only a segue towards the first elections that took place in select municipalities, namely several cities. The elections became a proving ground for the political groups organising throughout the Belgian colony. Parties based around ethnic groups gathered support only in areas where their leaders were particularly charismatic, such as ABAKO and Kasavubu in the Bakongo region and CONAKAT lead by Moise Tshombe in Katanga, but the real explosion came from the MNC which crossed ethnic lines and expressed a nationalist programme.
The success of MNC prompted the leader of the Parti Solidaire Africain, Antoine Gizenga, to enter into talks with Lumumba, who he saw as ideologically very similar, and begin an amalgamation process of the two nationalist independence organisations giving the MNC a stronger foothold in the Leopoldville regional province. To the Belgians, the nationalist MNC with its left-wing message was proving far more serious than the parties based along ethnic lines. Previously at the forefront of the agitation, ABAKO was soon eclipsed by the rapid growth of MNC and the intense politicisation of the western rural areas in support of Lumumba's promises of land reform. Kasavubu had come out with an idea for a secessionist Bakongo state organised along tribal lines, a stance that proved vastly unpopular with large numbers of Congolese people.
The Belgian administration laid out a comprehensive plan for decolonisation that began with a broadening out of the municipal elections in December. CONAKAT, ABAKO and the MNC declared the decision unreasonably slow and, following a second wave of rioting in the autumn months, organised a successful boycott of the election, defying the legitimacy of the colonial authorities. Less than a third of eligible voters participated in the election despite the huge politicisation of the whole colony. This forced the Belgians to convene in Brussels what was known as the Round Table Conference in 1960 with the leaders of the major political parties.
[1]
[1] Lumumba arriving in Belgium for the Round Table Conference after being freed from a colonial prison.
[2] An early protest by ABAKO supporters demanding an end to the racist policies of the colonial administration.
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