Greed Disguised as Humantarianism: The Story of The Congo Reform Movement

8/9/2019 Greed Disguised as Humantarianism: The Story of The Congo Reform Movement

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Greed Disguised as Humanitarianism:

The Story of the Congo Reform Movement

William Tyler Grove

Appalachian Spring Conference in World History and Economics

March 20, 2010


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The Childhood of Human Rights: the Kodak on the

Congo,

Sharon Sliwinski argues that the Congo Reform effort can

be regarded as a forerunner of present-day humanitarian

groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty

International

This paper disagrees with this premise. This effort was not a precursor to Amnesty International.

The reasons for the movement seem to be four-fold: Some wanted change for financial motives, religious motives

Scapegoating (Leopold) and philanthropic interests. Some simply wanted someone else to blame for the conditions of European Imperialism

Members of the Congo Reform Association (CRA) may not have consciously realized

their true motivations for joining the group, but ultimately they were not driven

primarily by humanitarian aims..


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The Congo Free State

1885

80 times the size of Belgium

All unoccupied land was made

property of State

Organized Congo state to extract

wealth from local populations

Destroyed traditional economy

forces natives to work only for thestate or concessionaries.


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Raw Materials

Ivory: Belgian Monopoly

Rubber: 1887- The inflatable bicycle tire was invented

and spawned, along with the car tire, a worldwide

rubber boom.


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Force Publique

Leopolds 19,000 man private army

Compared to Hitlers SS for its brutality


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Early Reform Efforts:

George Washington Williams

Leopold blunted criticism of Williams and

missionaries through the formation ofCommission for the Protection of Natives (1895)


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The Missionaries

Present in Congo from founding

Part of Civilizing Native Populations

Protestant and Catholic Missionaries

were stations throughout the Congo and

provided first-hand accounts of the

atrocities

Played a key companion to Morel and

the Congo Reform Association.

Impact of Lantern Lectures


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Examples of

civilizing the native

populations


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Congo Reform

Association 1904 - The CRA was born in

England following return of

Roger Casement from the

Congo.

Casement had reported onthe conditions for the British

Government

Modeled on other

movements including

abolition:

Deployed knowledge,

observers with local

experiences and

photographs, to legitimate

accusation of exploitation.


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E.D. Morel

Edmund Dene Morel (28) quit hisLondon shipping line job 1901

Worked for Elder Dempster Companywhich is responsible from transit fromAntwerp to Congo

Published anonymous articles about theatrocities the Congo in 1900

International concern over reports ofatrocities: Human rights campaign ledby journalist British

began a full time campaign to exposethe barbarities in the Congo underLeopold II.

He started his own publication, "TheWest African Mail," an illustrated weekly

journal in 1903 as a forum on West andCentral African Questions.

funded by millionaire William Cadbury


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The War of Words a sample of documents

Anti-Leopold

Mark Twain King Leopolds

Soliloquy1905

E.D. Morel wrote Red

Rubber: the Story of theRubber Slave Trade

Flourishing on the Congo in

the year of Grace 1906

Arthur Conan Doyle Le Crime

Du Congo 1905

Pro- Leopold La Vrit sur le Congojournal

1904-1908

Henry Wellington Wack The

Story of the Congo Free State

1905


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The Incorruptible Kodak


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Armed with modern weapons and the chicotte a bull whip made of

hippopotamus hide the Belgian armyroutinely took and tortured hostages

(mostly women), flogged, and raped the natives.


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The Force Publiquetook human hands astrophies on the ordersof white officers toshow that bullets

hadn't been wasted. Some of the Victims

lived.

Two youths of the Equator district. The hands of Mola, seated,

have been destroyed by gangrene after being tied too tightly by

soldier. The right hand of Yoka, standing, was cut off by soldiers

wanting to claim him as killed.


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The baskets of severed hands, set down at

the feet of the European post commanders,

became the symbol of the Congo Free State


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Hands collected

In practice, soldiers sometimes "cheated" by simply cutting off the hand and leaving

the victim to live or die. More than a few survivors later said that they had lived

through a massacre by acting dead, not moving even when their hand was severed,

and waiting till the soldiers left before seeking help.


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Public Opinion in Media:


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1908

King Leopold II turned the Congo over to Belgium

for 150m francs.

1909

Leopold II dies, booed at his funereal parade.

The most hated man in Europe


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The philanthropic

intentions :

simply a politicallyconvenient story for their

true ambitions.

Economics

Safe Target Blame Leopold

Greed and Competition

Ignore other colonies:

Death Toll


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Results:

Leopolds rule resulted in the torture and

murder of an estimated 10 million Congolese

between 1888 and 1908.

Reduced the population by half.


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Congo Today

4 million people havebeen killed since 1998

Exploitation Continues:

Gold, Diamonds

During the 1990s theU.S. supplied more than$125 million in armsand training to 6 of the7 states who have had

troops fighting onseveral sides in CongoCivil War


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Questions?


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Other Information:

Questions?


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Why?

1876: Leopold organizes a meeting in Brussels todiscuss his plan: to open to civilization the only part of our globe

where Christianity has not yet penetrated and topierce the darkness which envelops the wholepopulation

1877: Henry Morton Stanley There are 40 million naked people on the other

side of the rapids, and the cotton-spinners ofManchester are waiting to clothe them...Birmingham's factories are glowing with the redmetal that shall presently be made into ironwork inevery fashion and shape for them... and the

ministers of Christ are zealous to bring them, thepoor benighted heathen, into the Christian fold.

Hired by Leopold to explore and secure the Congo


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Leopold II: Early Life

Belgium founded in 1830 Leopold I- father

Leopold II was cousin of QueenVictoria.

Leopold believed that Belgiumneeded colonies to ensure itsprosperity

Tried to buy the Philippines in1875.

Knew Belgian People wouldnot support his affairs, heworked as a private individual.


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Classroom Questions:

How did technology influence the Congo?

What effect do you think Nationalism played

in the Congo?


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The Second Wave of Imperialism

The Land Grab in Africa

In 1870 roughly 80% of sub-Saharan Africa was living

under indigenous rulers

by 1910 virtually all of it was European Colonies or

white settler regimes. It was the fastest land grab inhistory.


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Berlin Conference 1884

Bismarck calls Europeanpowers for a conferencethat leads for the Scramblefor Africa.

Leopold is given completecontrol over the Congo FreeState; in return heguarantees free trade rights

no monopolies no taxes and tariffs

no restriction on trade.


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Government Action in Britain

May 1903- The House of Commons passed a

resolution urging that Congo natives be

governed with humanity.

Sent Consul Roger Casement, to report on the

conditions in the Congo

Jun 1903- The British government officially

protested Belgian atrocities in the Congo.


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Casement Report, 1903

The single most important factor inexposing the atrocities in The Congo.

I have returned from the Upper Congotoday with convincing evidence ofshocking misgovernment and

wholesale oppression. It is an extraordinary thing that the

conscience of Europe which seventyyears ago put down the slave trade onhumanitarian grounds tolerates theCongo state today.


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Heart of Darkness

1902 Joseph Conrad's novel

Based on his 1890 trip to theCongo as a Boat Captain. Conrad saw some of the most

shocking and depraved examplesof human corruption hed everwitnessed. He was disgusted bythe ill treatment of the natives, thescrabble for loot, the terrible heatand the lack of water.

Marlow on Leopolds colonialism: The conquest of the earth, which

mostly means the taking it away

from those who have a differentcomplexion or slightly flatter nosesthan ourselves, is not a prettything when you look into it toomuch.


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Patrice Lumumba

Freely elected Prime Minister (1960)

Assassinated Jan, 1961

CIA involvement in Lumumbas

assassination

Mobutu Dictatorship

1960 1997

Initiated first coup in September

1960

Reign marked by Kleptocracy

Cold War Patron of the West

Destruction of the country

Overthrown in May 1997


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Congo Today

4 million people havebeen killed since 1998

Exploitation Continues:

Gold, Diamonds

During the 1990s theU.S. supplied more than$125 million in armsand training to 6 of the7 states who have had

troops fighting onseveral sides in CongoCivil War

Documents

Greed Disguised as Humantarianism: The Story of The Congo Reform Movement