Peterson 1

Jeanie Peterson

Prof. McKnight

Hum. 414

5 December 2011

Reign of Terror: 1885-1908

“The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have

a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you

look into it too much.”1 King Leopold II is known to the Belgians as the “builder king.” He is

known to the Congolese as a tormenter, rapist, and murderer. At the start of his reign, Leopold II

proclaimed, “My ambition is to make Belgium greater, stronger and more beautiful.”2 Elevation

of Belgium was a way for him to elevate himself. Leopold, like his father, believed that having a

colony was the key to achieve greatness for King and country. His father, King Leopold I, made

over 50 attempts to colonize, all unsuccessful.3 Before the crown was securely placed on his

head, Leopold II was determined to buy a colony. He tried Formosa, Sarawak, and the Fiji

Islands until there was practically nowhere else to look.4 The Congo was Leopold’s last chance.

Since the Congo was relatively unknown to most Europeans, Leopold II turned to Henry Morton

Stanley, the man responsible for opening up Africa for colonization when he successfully

crossed Africa from east to west.5 With Stanley’s help, it was possible for Belgium to colonize

the central African country. Leopold II believed that a colony had to make money for the mother

country. Unlike the other colonizing countries, he did not believe in investing in colonies to 1 Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (New York: Penguin Books, 1999), Part 1, 3. 2 “White King, Red Rubber, Black Death,” DVD, directed by Peter Bate (London: BBC, 2003). 3 Ibid. 4 Tim Jeal, Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa’s Greatest Explorer (New Haven: Yale University Press,

2007), 235. 5 Ibid., 4.

Peterson 2

maintain them. For Leopold II, the end always justified the means, and the end was always

money. Creating a mask of paternalistic virtues, Leopold II was free to enforce the necessary

means to reach his desired end result without the disapproval or interference from the other

European powers, particularly from his Aunt, Queen Victoria of England, until after the

devastation had already occurred. The terror that Leopold II instilled in the heart of Africa will

forever affect and haunt the Congolese.

Leopold II once wrote to an aide, “I do not want to miss a good chance of getting us a

slice of this magnificent African cake.” 6 Upon hearing the news that Henry Morton Stanley had

successfully crossed Africa signaled Leopold to act. Leopold convened the Brussels Conference

in 1876 and enacted the African International Association, proclaiming himself as President.7

Leopold used the organization as a disguise for his true intentions. Leopold sent Stanley with

instructions to form a, “republican confederation of free Negroes…with its president residing in

Europe.”8 Stanley was sent to build and construct a more modern Congo. A Congolese historian

said, “It’s true [Stanley] constructed something new to replace [the old Congo], namely a new

commercial and political logic. And this new system was put at the service of the west and King

Leopold II in particular.”9 Stanley was eventually given new orders to obtain the signatures of

the Congolese chiefs to name Leopold II as the official Sovereign, by whatever means necessary.

Stanley tricked the chiefs while Leopold tricked the European Powers. Leopold II promised the

other European countries, particularly the Dutch and the British, that he would continue free

trade and navigation in the Congo basin, maintain international neutrality, and end the Arab slave

6 Thomas Pakenham, The Scramble for Africa: White Man’s Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912 (New York: Avon Books, 1992), 22.

7 Ruth Slade, King Leopold’s Congo (London: Oxford University Press, 1962), 25. 8 Ibid, 25. 9 “White King, Red Rubber, Black Death.”

Peterson 3

trade. 10 Leopold promised the other Powers that his motives were humanitarian, that it was the

“white man’s burden” to end slavery and bring civilization and progress to the Congo.11 Author

Pagan Kennedy wrote:

His political insignificance made him invisible, and so he could do whatever he wanted

without attracting notice. If he flattered enough politicians, if he started enough rumors, if

he spoke stirringly about the evils of the Arab slave trade, if he kept a stable of spies, then

perhaps he could win his colony.12

In 1885 the Berlin Conference granted Leopold everything he desired and he was named the

Sovereign of the Etat independent du Congo (Congo Free State).13

Once in control, Leopold II was under no other jurisdiction but his own. He could rightly

say, “L’etat, c’est moi,” or (in my own translation), “the state is me.”14 Leopold passed decrees

that established his supreme power over the Congolese and began to monopolize its assets.

Although ivory was an important source of income, it was rubber that dominated trade. In 1887,

J.B Dunlop invented the inflatable rubber bicycle tire. That and the growing popularity of the

automobile dramatically increased the need for rubber.15 Leopold, who at the time was struggling

financially, found his ray of hope. Taking advantage of this new growing necessity, Leopold II

successfully exploited this major raw material. The Congo soon became the second largest

10 L.H. Gann and Peter Duignan, The Rulers of Belgian Africa 1884-1914 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1979), 35.

11 Howard W. French, A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa (New York: Vintage Books, 2005), 53

12 French, 53. 13 Slade, 25 and Gann and Duignan, 35. 14 Gann and Duignan, 40. 15 Russell Schimmer, “Genocide Studies Program: Belgian Congo,” Yale University,

http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/belgian_congo/index.html (accessed December 3, 2011).

Peterson 4

supplier of rubber in the world.16 As of the turn of the century, rubber accounted for 87 percent

of the revenue of the Congo Free State.17 The decrees that Leopold began to pass almost as soon

as he gained complete authority over the Congo was intended to maximize his profit, with

absolutely no thought of the Congolese people. On the first of July, 1885, it was decreed that all

‘vacant lands’ belonged to the State. In 1891 and 1892, other decrees declared that all production

of the forests belonged to the State and the natives could only harvest them for the State.18 “So in

less than no time, Leopold II had stripped the Africans of everything and transformed the Congo

into a vast forced labor camp.”19

In order to sustain this kind of power and monopoly over the production of rubber,

Leopold II instilled fear in the hearts of the natives. Leopold raised a military, known as the

Force Publique, to fight against the Arabs, enforce his strict decrees, protect his interests, and

suppress internal uprisings. The officers of the Force Publique were all white, either Belgian

soldiers or mercenaries from other countries. 20 However, they recruited men from West Africa

and eventually from Congo itself as soldiers. Recruited soldiers had to serve a term of five years

before they were free to leave; later the term was raised to seven years of service.21 In 1895, there

were 6,000 Africans in the Force Publique. In 1905, that number grew to 16,000.22 The Force

Publique’s primary use was to instill the fear in the hearts of the Congolese. Leopold II funded

multiple military campaigns to force villagers deeper into the forest to collect the precious sap

from rubber trees. Any laborer who refused or failed to reach their quota was lashed with a

16 Austin Coates, The Commerce in Rubber: The First 250 Years (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987), 52.

17 Coates, 163. 18 Schimmer.19 “White King, Red Rubber, Black Death.”20 Schimmer. 21 Slade, 17322 Ibid., 173.

Peterson 5

chicote, a whip usually made with hippopotamus hide, or much, much worse. The Belgian army

would often raid a village and hold the women and children hostage until the men returned with

enough rubber to satisfy them.23 If they were unsatisfied, the soldiers would burn down the

village, murder the children, and cut off the hands of the Congolese. To insure that there was no

insubordination within the ranks, each soldier was issued a fixed number of cartridges before a

raid and to prove to the white officers that he did not waste any, the soldier had to bring back a

cut hand for each cartridge he used.24 If the soldiers missed or used the cartridges to kill game,

soldiers would cut the hands of the living to meet their quota.25

Leopold’s actions in the Congo were at first relatively unknown at the start of his reign.

His humanitarian ploy disguised his true intentions. As part of his promise, Leopold II did indeed

end the Arab slave trade, however for different reasons than the anti-slave crusade that was

presented to the Europeans. The Arabs were controlled a large part of the Congo, a part that

Leopold II wanted. The Arab plantations were very rich and desirable. They grew rice, potatoes,

and sugar –cane; they had flocks of sheep and goats as well as herds of cattle and donkeys.26 To

get to this rich land, Leopold needed to conquer the Arabs. The Arabs were Leopold’s

opposition. Getting rid of the Arabs meant getting rid of his competitors and allowing him to

take over the large area they occupied.27 Leopold, however, used the ruse of the crusade against

slavery to make his name more pronounced; he was heralded as the freer of slaves.

The true happenings in the Congo, however, did not go unnoticed for long. An African

American George Washington Williams visited the Congo in 1890 and wrote a report to the

23 Coates, 120. 24 “White King, Red Rubber, Black Death.”25 Schimmer.26 Slade, 115. 27 “White King, Red Rubber, Black Death.”

Peterson 6

American secretary of state describing the conditions he witnessed. His report was the first

criticism of Leopold’s actions in the Congo. After describing many alarming incidents, including

one in which two Belgian officers bet five pounds to see if they could shoot a native from across

the river, Williams’ declared, “Leopold II is guilty of many crimes against humanity.”28

Missionaries located in the Congo were the main source of criticism; their eyewitness accounts

of the monstrosities that were being committed by the Belgian army reached the ears of the

sympathetic and righteous Europeans. At first the missionaries only wrote to each other of the

horrors they witnessed, but eventually they began writing to their home missions. John B.

Murphy, a missionary living in one of the rubber districts, wrote,

The poor people are crying out against the cruel oppression of the State and well they

might! I can scarcely keep my tongue silent when I hear of and see such villainy. We are

700 miles from the coast and the officers act as though they had a free hand that they can

do as they please. Their conduct is bringing disgrace on the name of civilization.29

Their tales sparked more public concern and criticism. In 1897, a former administrator of the

Congo Free State, E.J. Glave, wrote in Century Magazine, “Everywhere I hear the same news of

the Congo Free State — rubber and murder, slavery in its worst form.”30 Joseph Conrad’s book

Heart of Darkness sparked international concern, which led to the British to launch an official

investigation in 1900. It was the efforts of Edmund Dene Morel that truly galvanized the British

Government to act by gathering a strong public opinion. Morel established the Congo Reform

Association in Great Britain, which became one of the first human rights movements.31

28 “White King, Red Rubber, Black Death.”29 Ibid. 30 Schimmer.31 Slade, 182.

Peterson 7

Leopold II was not unaware of his growing unpopularity. At the end of 1903, he wrote,

“A state cannot continue in existence if it has world opinion against it. We must increasingly

supervise the conduct, the attitudes, the spirit of our agents, and try to make the Congo State into

a model state.”32 Leopold defended his system and made large gestures to show his eagerness to

reform. In 1904, he sponsored the Commission of Enquiry to report on the conditions in the

Congo. The three men appointed to the Commission were seen as impartial and were welcomed

and accepted by the missionaries and the people of the Congo. The Commission’s report,

however, when it was finally published, was softened; specific examples were left out and the

idea of forced labor was accepted as justifiable. Certain practices were condemned, including the

monopoly on the land and its production as well as the military expeditions and reforms were

suggested. 33 Leopold proposed reforms, trying to regain some approval, but it was too late. The

public, particularly the British Parliament, mistrusted the King, and in 1908 he was removed

from power and the Congo became annexed by the Belgian Parliament.34 Before a full enquiry

could be made into his actions, Leopold destroyed all evidence that could be used against him.

Leopold’s actions in the Congo should be construed just as harshly as either Hitler or

Stalin. He committed genocide. Roughly ten million people died at his hands, which is more than

the entire death toll in World War I.35 Leopold exploited the people of Congo, forcing them to

work, destroying land and people for his own personal gain. Under the guise of humanitarianism,

Leopold replaced one form of slavery for another. When his atrocities were finally brought into

32 Slade, 186. 33 Ibid. 187-189.34 Schimmer. 35 French, 54.

Peterson 8

the light, public criticism grew until he was finally brought to justice. Leopold II died in 1909.

The people booed his funeral procession.

I saw on that ivory face the expression of somber pride, of ruthless power, of craven

terror — of an intense and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of

desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge?

He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried out twice, a cry that was

no more than a breath:

“The horror! The horror!”36

36 Conrad, Part 3, 12.

Peterson 9

Bibliography

Coates, Austin. The Commerce in Rubber: The First 250 Years. Oxford: Oxford University

Press, 1987.

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Penguin Books, 1999.

French, Howard W. A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa. New York:

Vintage Books, 2005.

Gann, L.H. and Peter Duignan, The Rulers of Belgian Africa 1884-1914. Princeton, NJ:

Princeton University Press, 1979.

Jeal, Tim. Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa’s Greatest Explorer. New Haven: Yale

University Press, 2007.

Pakenham, Thomas. The Scramble for Africa: White Man’s Conquest of the Dark Continent from

1876 to 1912. New York: Avon Books, 1992.

Schimmer, Russell. “Genocide Studies Program: Belgian Congo.” Yale University.

http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/belgian_congo/index.html (accessed December 3,

2011).

Slade, Ruth. King Leopold’s Congo. London: Oxford University Press, 1962.

“White King, Red Rubber, Black Death.” DVD. Directed by Peter Bate. London: BBC, 2003.