Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

The Congo - Coggle Diagram

- - - - In reality, Leopold and his investors have a monopoly on the region.
        
        Due to the railroad Leopold had built, the colonial administrators could transport natural resources including rubber, ivory, and diamonds from the Congo to the western coast and into Europe by boat. All that returned into the Congo were military equipments and arms.
        
        These were used to arm and strengthen the Force Publique, allowing Leopold to maintain control over the Congo by inflicting violence and intimidation.
- - - - Former chiefdoms became "independent states of the Congo"
    - - Budget = 250k francs annually - promoted the expedition as scientific
        
        Leopold wanted to build a cross-continental railway to transport goods btwn coasts.
- - - - In order to quell tensions involving the Belgian-backed Katanga secessionists, Lumumba got Soviet military assistance (since the US, UN, and Belgium denied), which made him an enemy of the West.
        
        In early 1961, he was captured, tortured, and assassinated in a US, UN, and Belgium backed coup
        
        He was replaced by the dictator Mobutu Sese Soko who ruled from 1965-1997. He was seen by the West as a bulwark against communism in Africa.
        
        When he first came into power, there were 4 governments existing in the Congo, which he all defeated, assuring the preservation of the current central Congolese gov't.
        
        Despite his alliance and supposed ideological alignment with the West, Mobutu Sese Seko instituted various policies centered on the forceful preservation of traditional African culture.
        
        For example, he forced all citizens of Zaire (the DRC) to change their European names to African ones, and made naming your child a European name punishable by 5 years in prison.
        
        His policies were distinctly anti-West. He banned western attire, particularly suits and ties, and even forced people to wear Mao-style tunics, which is ironic because he was supposed to be ANTI-communist.
        
        Violent and authoritarian tendencies
        
        Early on, Mobutu publicly executed "political rivals, secessionists, coup plotters, and other threats to his rule." (Wikipedia)
        
        Mobutu was actually Lumumba's chief of staff and head of the army during his short time in office, but turned against Lumumba and conspired with the CIA when the then Prime Minister was still alive.
        
        The United States had economic interests in the Congo, particularly in its abundant natural resources.
        
        Some historians believe that the uranium needed for the atomic bomb originated in Congolese mines.
        
        The US did not want to risk allowing the Soviets access to the DRC's raw materials
        
        While Lumumba denied being a communist and maintained he was an African nationalist, this move was seen by the West as communist.
      - He wanted to ensure that neither colonialism nor tribalism existed in the Congo. He favored the establishment of a free, democratic state with guaranteed sovereignty.
        
        The one difference between his vision and the European nation-state model was that he didn't seem to want to pursue expansionist policies. Instead he wanted to ensure fair domestic governance of the Congolese people.
        
        Lumumbu also wanted to preserve peace between emerging African states.
        
        This was a problem caused by tribalism, which he wanted to avoid in addition to imperialism.