Case Study #2
Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC)
Outline
 Geography
 History
 Dictators
 Civil
War
 Conflict Minerals
Geography
Brainstorm:
What do you think the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) looks like?
Geography
Geography
Second largest
country in Africa
¼ the size of the
USA
Geography
Located on the equator
Midpoint between the poles
Average temperature: 25 ° C
Geography
Congo River
• Deepest river in the
world
• 3rd largest river in the
world
• 9th longest river in the
world
Geography
Mt. Nyiragongo
• Active volcano in the
DRC
• One of the most
active in the world
• One of the least
studied because of
the constant warfare
in the region
History
Before we go into the history of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo… we need to go back and
review the history of globalization…
History
Phases of Globalization (Dominant Western Perspective)
Phase One (2,000 BC - 1400): The Spread of Trade
• Goods and ideas were spread by caravans, horses, & walking
• Rise of Asian power
• Land and sea routes are important (i.e. Silk Road)
Phase Two (1400 - 1950): Discovery and Expansion
• Helped by advances in shipping
• Started with Christopher Columbus sailing to the Caribbean
• Rise of European expansion & imperialism
• Widespread industrialization with the Industrial Revolution
Phase Three (1950 - present): Widespread Interconnectedness
• Includes economic, social, political
• Rapid growth of world markets
• Instant communications
• Rise of China and India as economic powers
History
Phases of Globalization (Dominant Western Perspective)
Phase One (2,000 BC - 1400): The Spread of Trade
• Goods and ideas were spread by caravans, horses, & walking
• Rise of Asian power
• Land and sea routes are important (i.e. Silk Road)
Phase Two (1400 - 1950): Discovery and Expansion
• Helped by advances in shipping
• Started with Christopher Columbus sailing to the Caribbean
• Rise of European expansion & imperialism
• Widespread industrialization with the Industrial Revolution
Phase Three (1950 - present): Widespread Interconnectedness
• Includes economic, social, political
• Rapid growth of world markets
• Instant communications
• Rise of China and India as economic powers
During this
second
phase, the
“Age of
Discovery,”
Europeans
started
exploring
Africa…
History
ACTIVITY
Draw three scenes – one for each of the phases of
globalization.
Draw the symbols, people, landscapes, and
anything else you think you might see/have seen
during each of the phases of globalization
History
The Scramble for Africa
During the Age of Discovery, we saw Europeans
establish settlements and trade posts along the coast
of the African continent but there was little interest in
the interior of Africa for many years….
What Changed? Why did people go to the interior?
History
The Scramble for Africa
Trade
• Increased European demand for raw materials unavailable in
Europe, especially copper, cotton, rubber, cocoa, diamonds,
and tea
• As trade increased, Africa offered cheap materials, limited
competition, and abundant raw materials
Industrial Revolution
• Industrialisation brought about rapid advancements in
transportation and communication, especially in the forms of
steam navigation, railways, and telegraphs
Medical Advances
• An effective treatment for malaria enabled vast expanses of
the tropics to be accessed by Europeans
Strategic Areas
• Gathering strategic military bases and trade route access
(often good bargaining items)
The Suez
Canal
The first
interior
place to be
thoroughly
explored
History
The second place to be
thoroughly explored…
THE CONGO
History
Exploring the Congo
King Leopold II of Belgium
• King Léopold II of Belgium sparked the
scramble for Africa
• Why? He wanted more resources
• Went to Africa and claimed the Congo
region
• Why? Rich in ivory and rubber – needed
rubber for increasing amounts of tires…
• Brutal ruler – villages had quotas for
production and if they didn’t meet them,
they would get their hands cut off
• Used Propaganda - did not let knowledge
of his atrocities get out and bribed
publishers to write positive stories
Propaganda
Things that are
used to persuade
people to
accept a cause
or a position by
presenting only
one side of an
argument
Congo labourers who
failed to meet rubber
collection quotas were
often punished by having
their hands cut off
Leopold is rumored to
have killed up to 16
million Congolese
Indigenous people
A father in the Congo looks at the severed hand and foot of
his five year old daughter
What do you think this cartoon is symbolizing?
What do you think this cartoon is trying to say?
Do you think Belgium was the ONLY Empire
that wanted resources from Africa…?
History
The Scramble for
Africa
Was a period of
invasion, occupation,
colonization and
annexation of African
territory by European
powers between 1881
and World War I in
1914
History
The Scramble for Africa
Berlin Conference (1884-1885):
A conference among the
world’s imperial powers to split
up Africa… no African
representatives were given a
voice… or territory….
History
Berlin Conference

Fake Reason: “Humanitarianism“
•
•
•

Real Reason: Establish Rules of
Competition
•
•

Condemnation of the slave trade
Prohibition of the sale of alcoholic
beverages and firearms in certain
regions
Expressed concern for missionary
activities
No nation was to stake claims in
Africa without notifying other
powers of its intentions.
No territory could be formally
claimed prior to being effectively
occupied.
Real Life
•
The competitors ignored the rules
when convenient