10 Social Studies: Belgian Congo

The Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo

• King Leopold's Soliloquy, by Mark Twain

  A satirical work about the atrocities committed in the Congo, from 1903, based on contemporary accounts

• House of Commons Debate on The Congo Free State

  House of Commons Debate 20 May 1903 vol 122 cc1289-332

• Correspondence and Report of His Majesty's Consul at Boma (Casement Report)

  Download file from this website. This volume contains letters and reports compiled for the Parliamentary Enquiry into the Congo Free State.

• The historiography of Belgian colonialism in the Congo

• Belgian "colonialism"

• King Leopold's Congo, 1886-1908 [Cambridge History of Africa]

  Stengers, J. and Vansina, J. (1985) “King Leopold's Congo, 1886–1908,” in Oliver, R. and Sanderson, G. N. (eds) The Cambridge History of Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (The Cambridge History of Africa), pp. 315–358. doi: 10.1017/CHOL9780521228039.009.

• Belgian Africa

  Jewsiewicki, B., Brett, Y. and Roberts, A. (1986) “Belgian Africa,” in Roberts, A. D. (ed.) The Cambridge History of Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (The Cambridge History of Africa), pp. 460–493. doi: 10.1017/CHOL9780521225052.011.

• Red rubber : the story of the rubber slave trade which flourished on the Congo for twenty years, 1890-1910, by E. D. Morel

  Download the full text of the document.

• King Leopold's rule in Africa, 1904, by E. D. Morel

  Download the full text of the document.

Podcasts

• The Congolese Holocaust [Black History Podcast]

• Congo: the epic history of a people [ABC Radio National]

Post-Colonial Era: Zaire and the Democratic Republic of Congo

• Decolonisation

  Despite the belief expressed during the Second World War by the colonial powers that the subject peoples of the empires were totally unsuited to self-government, within twenty years the colonial empires had effectively ceased to exist. Why did this happen? This essay looks at decolonisation in Turkey, Iran, China, India, the Far East, Indo-China, Gold Coast, Algeria, Congo, Rhodesia.

• Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi [Cambridge history of American foreign relations]

  Young, M. C. (1984) “Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi,” in Crowder, M. (ed.) The Cambridge History of Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (The Cambridge History of Africa), pp. 698–754. doi: 10.1017/CHOL9780521224093.016.

• Decolonisation: geopolitical issues and impact on the European integration process

  This ePublication focuses on the interactions between the decolonisation process and the European integration process, with a particular emphasis on French and British decolonisation. Topics include decolonisation in Asia, the emergence of the Third World, and decolonisation in Africa, and the repercussions.

• Decolonisation and revolution

  From the late 18th century, decolonisation was a central defining historical trend, which shaped the global system of states as it exists today through the release of revolutionary forces. Decolonisation continues to influence the relationship between the European continent and the rest of the world.

• Decolonisation: The end of Empire

  Professor Sir Richard Evans examines why the European global empires collapsed so suddenly in the third quarter of the 20th century, and describes the events in Asia, India, Middle East and North Africa, including the Suez Crisis.