Belgium in 19th Century

He hosted conferences and formed international committees on the “plight” of the natives of Africa. These included the Geographical Conference of 1876, the Association Internationale Africaine in 1876, the Committee to Study the Upper Congo in 1878, and the International Association of the Congo of 1883, all studded with leading scientists and nobles. Always, he cloaked his efforts in the language of scientific discovery and philanthropy. Leopold’s breakthrough came in 1878, with his meeting of Henry Morgan Stanley, the American who famously “found” the missionary David Livingston. The next year, Leopold funded an “exploratory” expedition by Stanley of the Congo River in central Africa. The expedition’s real purpose was to begin the establishment of Leopold’s personal empire. Leopold and Stanley’s efforts were ratified by the international community at the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, which recognized Leopold as sovereign of the Congo Free State. Leopold’s personal empire, more in the nature of a proto-multinational corporation than a national colony, had little or no effect on Belgium. Leopold obtained a loan from the Belgian parliament in 1889, ostensibly for philanthropic work in his free state, but in fact used to fund the startup of commercial exploitation.

Eventually, the brutal nature of Belgian rule in the Congo became known, and international public pressure forced the Belgian parliament to take over administration of the colony in 1908.The Belgian colonial administration was considerably less brutal than that of the Congo Free State, but no less paternalistic. Political administration fell under the total and direct control of the mother country, with no indigenous democratic institutions and almost no participation of any kind by the native population. The Belgian Congo thus earned a special place of infamy in the history of European colonialism. In the years since independence and the declaration of neutrality in 1839, the Belgians scrupulously adhered to its provisions. The army spent considerable resources building a series of fortifications around major cities throughout the country, but Belgium made no effort to ally itself with any of the Great Powers surrounding it.

In each of the abortive crises in the years before the outbreak of the war, the Belgian government made it clear to all of its neighbors that it would resist any incursion across its borders, whether hostile or “supportive.” This was not enough to ensure Belgian security. World War I began with the German invasion of Belgium in an attempt to outflank the French army at the Franco-German border to the south. Officially, Britain went to war with Germany over the violation of Belgian neutrality but was not able to provide timely aid. The Belgians resisted stoutly but were rapidly overcome by the surprise and strength of the German army. Within weeks, the Germans had occupied all but a few square miles in the far west. They spent the next four years terrorizing and starving the civilian population, and pillaging the country of its economic resources. “The Rape of Belgium” became the symbol in the Western democracies, and especially the United States, of German barbarism.