The Belgian Congo 1960s
The Congo is
a territory
larger than
Western
Europe,
bordered by
nine
countries
(former
colonies).
http://unimaps.com/congo-crisis/print.html
Colonial “Development”
On the eve of independence, how well
developed was the Congo compared to other
colonies?
Human Resources, decidedly underdeveloped:
•no African army officers
•3 African managers in civil service
•30 University Graduates
first Congolese admitted to Belgian universities in 1950s
first universities in Congo:1954 (Catholic), 1956 (lay),
graduating 16 by independence
Colonial 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.)
•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 Katanga
Miners at work, 1938
http://euromin.w3sites.net/Nouveau_site/gisements/congo/GISCONe.htm
Copper in Katanga
Miners sampling ore, 1938
http://euromin.w3sites.net/Nouveau_site/gisements/congo/GISCONe.htm
Copper in Katanga
Loading Copper in Katanga, 1950
http://euromin.w3sites.net/Nouveau_site/gisements/congo/GISCONe.htm
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-CompanyHistory.html
dominated palm-oil production
ran plantations covering hundreds of
thousands of acres
•labour varied from poorly paid wage to
forced
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 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.)
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.)
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 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
[from
http://www.un.int
/drcongo/history.htm]
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.