Gordon of the Congo

What if Charels "chinese" Gordon acseppted the offer of Leopold II of Belgium, which was to help establish the Congo Free State, instead of going to sudan and getting killed? Would this result in a more Humanitaran Congo? And what would be the ramifications of a longer lives gordon? Have fun.
 
Depends on how much of a free hand Leopold was offering the give him. If he's given carte blanche then I could see him instituting your standard issue colony along British lines although with perhaps some more emphasis on education and charity since IIRC he was fairly in favour of them, not raping the Congo of rubber to supply the rubber boom and vast profits could however lead to conflicts with Leopold over the less than expected cash flows extracted. If he's having to follow Leopold's policies or placed under an overall administrator that follows them then after strenuously complaining I could see him quitting, going back to London and telling people about what's been going on. Eye witness accounts from a British officer is going to blow the whole affair open much sooner I would expect.
 
The lack of British intervention in Sudan would also be an interesting factor. I wonder how far the Mahdi would've gone in such a scenario.
 
Another thought just occured to me, without the obove mentioned british intervention in the sudan, the Marchande Mission would be much more sucsessful as there would be no large british force nearby. Thus giving the french there covited taohold on the nile. (however, also likly that they might have there heads stuck in trees by the Mahdi's forces)
 
I did this in Fight and Be Right, and generally agree with Smon's analysis; while Leopold and Gordon obstensibly wanted the same thing, in reality Gordon would have been appalled at the King's real objectives, and Leopold would have been astonished that Gordon actually believed his own moralising rhetoric. The big stumbling block would be slavery; Gordon would be determined to launch a campaign against the Arab slavers of the East, while Leopold would want to accommodate them as OTL.

Most likely, I think, is Gordon suffering a dreadful 'accident' somewhere in the Ituri, dreadful shame, no questions asked by the Force Publique etc; more fun, as has been mentioned, is Gordon going rogue and exposing the Free State for what it really was. Luckily for Leopold, Gordon's death wish makes getting rid of him considerably easier.
 
Most likely, I think, is Gordon suffering a dreadful 'accident' somewhere in the Ituri, dreadful shame, no questions asked by the Force Publique etc; more fun, as has been mentioned, is Gordon going rogue and exposing the Free State for what it really was. Luckily for Leopold, Gordon's death wish makes getting rid of him considerably easier.

That does sound exactly like something that 'ole King Leopold II would try.

Trouble is that those things have a habit of getting out. Especially when they concern a court darling and media celebrity like Gordon.

Perhaps a certain Captain Josef Korzeniowski writes a tell all expose about it ...
 
For real fun there's having a knock-down drag-out argument with Leopold via telegram, he arranges for Gordon to have an accident whilst still in the Congo only for him to somehow manage to survive and tab out to civilisation. Once word gets out at that point the solid organic waste is really going to collide with the rotational air circulation device.
 
So how would the Mahdi Rebellion have gone without British intervention? I tried searching to see if someone else had already done a TL on it, but the board's search function isn't cooperating with me today.
 
Gordon's last foray in Sudan was a "quintessential Victorian melodrama, which ended with the death of its hero", in the words of Karl E. Mayer (Kingmakers - The Invention of Modern Middle East, chapter 1).
Gen. Gordon, who had been a soldier of fortune for almost all his life and enjoyed a towering reputation at home even if he had never enjoyed a major command in the British army, was in England on his way to Congo when the Mahdist insurrection boiled up and an anglo-egyptian army commanded by gen. Hicks was massacred at Shaykan, 30 miles south of El Obeid. The remnants of the army retreated to Khartoum, where they were soon besieged by the Mahdists.
The idea of using Gordon was firstly sponsored by the editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, with a lengthy interview to the general published in January 1884. Gladstone - who was firmly against additional entanglements in Africa - had to deal with a divided ministry and ultimately agreed to send Gordon to Egypt and Sudan, but with very clear instructions: organize the evacuation of Egyptian troops and all westerners from Khartoum. The appointment of Gordon was supported (with many misgivings) by Evelyn Baring, who was the effective imperial British proconsul in Egypt and had arrived two years earlier in Cairo (where he would remain until 1907).
However Gordon had spoken very clearly in the Pall Mall Gazette interview: the danger in his view was not a Mahdist invasion of Egypt, but rather the risk that "In all the cities of Egypt it will be felt that what the Mahdi has done they may do: as he has driven out the intruder and the infidel they may do the same".
What Gordon had in mind was pretty clear: retreat was not an option. It is true that Gordon agreed to "consider and report on the best mode of effecting the evacuation of the Sudan", but he was also a loose cannon, and as a matter of fact he wrote 8 months later in his journal from Khartoum "I own to having been very insubordinate to Her Majesty's government and its officials, but it is my nature and I cannot help it. .... I know if I were the chief I would never employ myself, for I am incorrigible."
To complete the picture, Gordon had had a spiritual crisis in Palestine in 1882 and his behavior in Sudan was pretty erratic, ranging from plans to annihilate the Mahdists to attempts to negotiate a peace with the Mahdi himself, offering him the title of Sultan of Khordofan (the Mahdi refused), and even proposing the name of Zubair Pasha (a notorious slaver whom he had chased all over Darfur during his tenure as governor of Equatoria) as Governor General of Sudan and to permitting the resumption of slave trade outlawed in 1877.

It was quite a long preamble (but I do recommend "Kingmakers") to justify my conclusion: if Gordon had not been offered a position in Sudan, and he had gone ahead with his plans to work for Leopold in Congo it is very unlikely that anything good might have come out: it is almost certain that Gordon and king Leopold would have had major disagreements very soon, and at the same time it is quite unlikely that queen Victoria would have accepted that the British government would put unduly pressure on his uncle. Probably it would end up with Gordon being dismissed in disgrace.

Another interesting point is that Gordon's fears of unrest in Egypt and in the Middle East proved untrue. Notwithstanding the new Mahdist success at the siege of Khartoum, neither the Mahdi (who died 6 months after the siege of natural causes) nor his successor Abdullah ibn Mohammad ever tried to invade Egypt. No particular unrest was generated in Egypt (aside from the general dislike for the British de-facto occupation of the country). When Kitchener was instructed to restore order in 1898 he did not have any problem in doing so: 50,000 Mahdists attacked at Omdurman the 25,000-strong expeditionary force, well entrenched and armed with guns and machine guns, and were slaughtered (loosing 20,000 men against 48 anglo-egyptians). The Sudan was re-organised as an anglo-egyptian co-dominium (an obvious fig leaf), and almost no guerrilla ensued.
The main effect of the whole Sudanese crisis was the resignation of Gladstone (after the death of Gordon).
 
That does sound exactly like something that 'ole King Leopold II would try.

Trouble is that those things have a habit of getting out. Especially when they concern a court darling and media celebrity like Gordon.

Perhaps a certain Captain Josef Korzeniowski writes a tell all expose about it ...

Of course, hed have to pick a more english sounding surname if he wanted to sell well....:)
 
I highly doubt Chinese Gordon would be able to be more humanitarian. Since the Congo Free State was a business venture, and not a colony. Which is at least being brutally honest about what colonialism is.
 
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