Examples Of European Imperialism

The late 19th century saw a new wave of European Imperialism. The colonies of England, France, and Germany are some of the most common examples of late imperialism, but this wave of late imperialism saw the rise of a new major European power: Belgium. King Leopold held a massive tract of land in Central Africa that would come to be know as The Congo Free State. According to the editors of The Encyclopedia Britannica (2015), a small group of investors headed by King Leopold would be drawn to the land after Morton Stanley’s exploration of the land during the 1870’s. Once they had acquired their land they would set up a system that was meant to extract maximum profit from the natural resources of Central Africa. They had a complete disregard

of the people who inhabited this land, and used them as disposable tools for growing their fortune. This would result in one of the most brutal regimes to ever exist ruling the Congo region for about 25 years. They would gather immense wealth at the expense of the 10 million Congolese who would die under the rule of the Belgians.
Henry Morton Stanley was one of the first Europeans to enter the land that would eventually become The Congo Free State.

In his 1885 journal of his travels in Africa Stanley says: “I speak of eager native traders following us for miles for the smallest piece of cloth. I mention that after travelling many miles to obtain cloth for ivory and redwood powder, the despairing natives asked: 'Well what is it you do want? Tell us, and we will get it for you.'” He says this to explain that he sees a great opportunity for Europeans in Africa. He says that African leaders are eager to make deals with Europeans, exchanging land and African goods for European produced goods. Although Stanley claims that Africans were eager to cooperate with colonists, it must be taken in consideration the mindset of European colonists. The following quote from Marcus R.P. Dorman shows this mindset of Europe perfectly: “The Congo Free State has indeed, without breaking any Treaty, solved the problem which has baffled the combined wisdom of all the ancient great colonial Powers. It exists on its own resources without poisoning the natives with alcohol; it extracts much wealth from the soil without fear of ever exhausting it; it opens up great tracts of land without running heavily into debt, and noblest of all it-daily converts naked cannibal savages into self-respecting responsible people.” (1905) This view of “ naked cannibal savages” was the typical view of Africans during this period and most

certainly was held by most if not all the people in control of The Congo Free State. Once this is taken into consideration it is easy to imagine how the contracts that gave Europeans control of Central Africa were at least partly unwilling.
Stanley and other Europeans saw a land that they had a strong desire to make their own, and they had a desire to claim these lands for one reason alone, raw goods. Industry was booming in Europe and the resources of Europe were exhausting quickly. So they set their eyes on Africa, but to explore the continent was no small task. In his 1885 journal, Stanley explains how Africa was a daunting place to unprepared Europeans entering the jungle. He says that they considered themselves strong men, but their courage and pride both vanished while in Africa. Central African disease would claim the lives of many Europeans.
Once The Congo Basin had been explored, a colonial government replaced the native system of governance. At the Berlin Conference, Belgium’s authority was solidified when the name “Congo Free State” was made official in 1884 when all major European powers recognized King Leopold II’s authority over the region. The land was not given to Belgium though, it was the king's private land that he was free to do with what he pleased, a power which would be abused to the extreme.
The Congo Free State was not established as a colony for monetary reasons, or at least this was the case on paper. In 1909, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described The Congo Free State as such:“ Never before has there been such a mixture of wholesale expropriation and wholesale massacre all done under an odious guise of philanthropy and with the lowest commercial reasons as a reason.” The facade put up by the Belgians was that they were in the Congo to spread "civilization". Marcus R.P. Dorman even says in his 1905 journal that a distinctive feature of the natives that he met was that they nearly all had vaccination marks. Even if this is the case, the good that followed the Belgians was far out weighed by the death and destruction that they wrought on to the land. The end result of bringing "civilization" was the death of about half of the area's population, about 10 million people. ( Hamilton, 2000)
Once The Congo Free State was officially founded, a fairly typical colonial government was set up.

At The top of society was a small group of Europeans. Rubber agents and other government officers controlled every aspect of life in The State. They even held control over when natives could visit family. (Doyle, 1909) These Europeans had a section of land that they were to supervise and oversee the production of goods. In Belgium, a very selective group of people had control over the region with King Leopold II at the top. He had the final say in all policy of The Congo Free State. Although he held this power, most of the decision making was sub-contracted to government owned companies, such as The Anglo-Belgian Indian Rubber

Company.
The Anglo-Belgian Indian Rubber Company, or ABIRC, was the largest of the companies that operated within The Congo Free State. As the name suggests, the primary product of the ABIRC was rubber harvested from wild trees, but they also produced palm oil and ivory. The harvesting of these goods was done by natives who were forced into labor. Strict quotas were imposed and extreme force was used to enforce these quotas. One of the most popular punishments was to have a hand cut off and the number of hands collected was often used to make sure that the natives were properly scared into working. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2015) Another punishment tactic was to torture entire families or sometimes whole villages for the actions of a few. T. Stanley says that " Villages were set quotas of rubber and the gendarmerie were sent in to collect it - a process that was sped up by looting, arson and rape. If a village failed to reach its quota hostages would be taken and shot." The taking of hostages was common in the classical sense that a few villagers would be taken hostage, but often huge groups were taken hostage and prohibited from movement. Additionally, the private companies in The Congo were legally prohibited from carrying guns, but they got around this in two ways. The first was that they were all given guns, and then declared them private property. (Doyle 1909) Also they hired an army of Africans known as the Force Publique, who perpetrated many of the deeds in the Congo. They were famous for developing a trade in severed hands because soldiers could often not collect the number of hands required. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2015)