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Jan 1, 1200
Rise of Congo Empire
Rise of the Congo Empire. The Congo is located in Africa and is East of the Atlantic Ocean. The Congo is located in central Africa directly north of Angola. -
Before Imperialism
Prior to the Imperialism in Africa, The Congo government was very powerful, especially between the 14th and 17th centuries. Their system consisted of a head ruler or a king. The king would oversee all judicial, military, and financial issues. The Congo was seperated into six different provinces, much like American states. Each individual province was controlled by a governer and each villiage in each province was controlled by a tribal chief. -
Exploring the Congo and Claiming
In 1876 Leopold II (King of Belgiam) ordered Sir Henry Morton Stanley to explore the Congo region. This exploration initially led to the creation of the Congo Free State. This new colony was nearly seventy-four times larger than Belgium, and belonged to Leopold II. -
Why the Belgians?
Prior to Belgiam taking over the Congo, many European nations didn't even bother with trying to take over this land. These other European powers stayed away from the Congo because it was viewed as a non-valuable place and was filled with unknown animals, plants, and diseases. King Leopold II of Belgiam however saw this land as being profitable and conquering it would make other European countries respect the fairly quiet Belgians at the time. -
Congo natives coping with Leopold II
Leopold II ruled the Congo with an iron fist and as an absolute ruler and controlled everything in the country as well. The Congo natives were under the mercy of King Leopold II and the belgians. -
Negative effects of conquering
Some of the negative effects on the natives was that some would say that instead of helping the natives, the Belgians just hurt them and conquered them, killed a vast amount of natives in an attempt to humanize them, and destroyed the Congo way of life. In addition to this, the Belgians left parts of the Congo uninhabitable. Although the Belgians did bring about some very good things, they also ruined the lives of some of the natives and changed the Congo to a way that will never go back. -
Postive effects of conquering
Some of the good things that came to the natives of the Congo is that the Belgians created schools to educate the natives, brought major advances and medicine and also brought much needed advancements in technology. Sometimes in order to improve, you must accept change. The Congo natives did not have a say in what happened but some of the natives' lives were changed for the better. -
Independance
The Congo becomes an independent nation with Patrice Lumumba as their prime minister and Joseph Kasavubu as their president. -
Internal Conflicts
The Congo's Army mutinies and Belgian troops are sent into the Congo to protect Belgian citizens that were in the Congo at the time. As a result, the United Nations security council votes and later decides to send in troops to help resolve the issues and restore order however the troops were not allowed to interfere with internal conflicts. -
Lumumba loses power
President Kasavubu dimisses the prime minister Lumumba. In December of that same year, Lumumba is arrested and in February of 1961, Lumumba is murdered.
