Belgian Imperialism In The Congo

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History 10

Imperialism

Maria

Imperialism might differ from country to country depending on how powerful the nation is or what military forces they might have. Imperialism is a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. Belgian imperialism had a great impact on the Congo. The Congo was basically the only place that Belgians Imperialized. It all started when King Leopold promised them a better future and made them sign treaties that basically gave the King full power over their home. He lied his way into ruling there. He said he would give them a better future but all he did was take away any chance of a good future.

The consequences of Imperialism included being ruled. Being taken control …show more content…

They were also banned from any “white establishments”. King Leopold thought the people of the Congo were less than people because of their colour and their culture, A lot of these people had to face the fact that their culture was being destroyed and that their personal rights were being taken away. They were also forced to change their religion to something that the Belgians found more “acceptable”. This meant that the catholic and Protestant churches forced their views on religion upon the people of the …show more content…

They were very neutral, they were guaranteed neutrality. Half their country was french and half was german so they tried to stay out of everything until World War 1. Germany invaded them. Belgium had enough power to hold them back and they held them back that the british and french were able to mobilize their armies so that the germans couldn’t get to Paris. Britain established the neutrality so when Germany attacked it brought them into the war right away.

In 1960, the Congolese finally became independent. They were no longer under Belgian rule. They finally got control over their own government, education, and resources. However, they did not have any political structure. They did not have agreeing institutions. They did not want to work together which led to a lot of civil war. The villages in the Congo are divided and don’t agree which leads to these wars. It is all because of the Belgian’s who ruled before. Many belgian’s still have high roles in the government and military of the Congo.

Imperialism is a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. Countries take part in it because they wanted colonies and they wanted resources. There are many different reasons for Imperialism. In Belgian’s case, they wanted to rule and they wanted their own profits at the cost of the Congolese

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