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Congo - Coggle Diagram
Congo
How did colonization impact the Congo? (Long term effects)
Colonization in the Congo resulted in many lives being taken in horrible and cruel ways. In the Congo there was basically a new system of slavery implemented.
The colonizers had horribly tormented the people of the Congo. The whites would kidnap the women and the children from villages and hold them as hostages. The white men would also rape these women and treat them as though they were mere objects. The women and children lived in horrible conditions.
In Belgium, Africans were treated as and displayed as zoo animals. These people were put in cages with signs that were similar to ones at the zoos that read "do not feed the animals.
Another method of punishment that was used to kill and torture the people of the Congo was the chiotte which was a very strong weapon that resembled a whip.
The death toll counted in the 25 year span that Belgium colonized Congo was between 5-10 million deaths
In the Congo today many of the roads and transportation methods remained the same from the colonial ages.The roads that were build are still used as well as the mapping the colonizers input.
The Congo became a world wide issue
Many different groups of people joined the in the efforts to shut this cruel system down. There were many groups formed.
Many countries were betrayed by Belgium because they believed that Belgium was being truthful.
Multiple people were sent to the Congo to investigate what happened. One of these mans was named Shepard. This man printed his findings worldwide.
In the Congo there were child solidiers being used in labor. The colonizers would kidnap orphans and use them to fight against their own people since they did not have loyalty to anyone.
Belgium tricked many countries into believing what they were doing was for science. This made other countries very upset.
Colonization impacted the Congo negatively but did not stop the Congo.
In 1960 a man named Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the Congo
The people of the Congo remained strong-willed and determined and they were even hopeful of change
Not only were they hopeful, they acted as well and changed many things about the political system in their country
Though this hope was short lived it was not in vain, after the execution of Lumumba many other movements followed and Lumumbas ideals still held true
The people of the Congo needed even more determination as the colonizers still wanted to hold control
On December 11, 1958 Lumumba spoke at the Assembly of African Peoples
Lumumba had different groups of people supporting his efforts as well as a common goal with these people
Not only did colonization not stop the Congo, Lumumba strived to unite all of Africa against this common enemy creating a large scale sense of unity at the assembly
7 months shortly after Lumumba became the first Prime Minister, he was executed by a staged coup that involved Belgium and US
He was executed so that the West and Europe could hold power in the Congo, the man that replaced him was essesntailly their pawn in colonizing and controlling the Congo
How were the colonizers morally justifying committing these crimes?
The colonizers justified their actions because they saw the Africans as less than them. This allowed the whites to justify their actions and commit these horrible crimes because the whites did not see them as people
Another justification was money. Belgium gained a lot of wealth through their crimes.
Specifically Leopold, he received an incredible amount of profit from the colony. He received 50 million francs for their gratitude of his work
European Countries and the US used the global context which the assassination took place to justify their actions
Lumumba called the Soviet Union for support which only gave the white countries more of a reason to commit these acts
If the Soviet Union had access to the raw materials in the Congo it would've posed a threat to the Western nations so they needed to take it into their own hands. The US and other countries wanted to keep these raw materials for themselves
The Congo becoming a free state during this time was a supposed threat to these countries because it enabled free African countries to be involved in trade and such
The Congo and Africa itself was just a way for colonizers to gain wealth
One of the richest countries because of its natural resources
One of these natural resources was rubber. Rubber came from tree sap and was incredibly valuable. Rubber was also difficult to collect and those who were forced to collect it were also forced to use their bodies as a way of holding and transporting the rubber which resulted in them losing skin and suffering horrible pain.
Rubber was located in trees but very high up making it very hard to reach and very dangerous as well. No one would collect rubber willingly.
If rubber was not collected correctly, those were punished by having their hands chopped off.
If the part of the tree that rubber came from was damaged, the person who damaged it would have their hands removed.
If a village didn't meet ends meet or a quota they would be punished by having their hands cut off.
If a village refused to collect rubber they would all be killed.
Since the colonizers took their rubber very seriously there was punishments but in place to try and make sure that they would gain profit and keep the people of the Congo doing their dirty work.
how is the Congo able to/was able to maintain their natural resources?
The Congo wasn't really able to maintain these resources. Even after their alleged independence the colonizers still used their natural resources
Example of this is in US war with Japan. US used materials found in the Congo for their nuclear weapons
In central Africa and is the second largest country in Africa
it is three times the size of the state of Texas
Home to variety of wildlife species
Specifically elephants which were deemed as valuable due to their tusks which contained ivory. Ivory was an very expensive item that costed a lot and gave profit to the colonizers.
Warm / "tropical" climate