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“King Leopolds Ghost”
Adam Hochschild
King Leopold of Belgium had a dream of Empire. Unlike most of the rest of the European powers, Belgium had never had an Empire, and received the financial benefits of colonisation, and he resolved to do something about it. So it was that he set out to bring Christian civilisation to the uneducated heathens of Equatorial Africa – the Congo, an area the size of Western Europe was annexed by the King in order to create a Belgian colony. European agents and native troops put down slavers from Zanzibar and Timbuctu, and built schools, railways, hospitals and missions up and down the land. Trade for ivory and rubber brought wealth undreamed of the colony, and the native population thanked the King for his efforts to raise them to civilisation.
Or that was the story, anyway.
How often can it be said that the actions of one man have destroyed an empire?
That man was Edmund Dene Morel, a clerk in the offices of a Liverpudlian shipping agent which had the contract for shipping ivory and rubber back from Africa. He joined with dreams of wealth and adventure, the great dream of bringing civilisation to Africa, and making a tiny living at the same time.
Over time he noticed something that belied the official version of events. Ships would arrive in Belgium laden with Ivory and rubber, but they would be shipped back empty of trade good. Empty of anything, that is except soldiers, rifles, and ammunition. There was no trade going on here, he realised, the only explanation was slave labour on a scale undreamed of.
Filled with a crusading zeal that only the Victorians could really muster, he founded the Congo reform organisation and set out to destroy the Congolese regime. As an organistion, it included in it’s numbers and supporters at one time or another every Bishop in the British isles, 79 members of Parliament, Mark Twain, President Theodore Roosevelt, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and tens of thousands of others. Eventually international pressure prevailed, and King Leopolds trading company folded, putting the administration of the Congo into the hands of the Belgian government, and under international law.
During the 25-year administration of King Leopolds Belgian Congo Company, the population of the region halved to 10 million. Company agents were rewarded according to how cheaply they could bring in Ivory or rubber – the cheaper the cost to the company, the greater percentage of profit the agent got when it was sold in Europe. This lead to slavery and brutality on an unprecedented scale; kidnap, torture and forced labour were not just common, they were routine devices to convince the native population to work ever harder for the company.
And if Mr. Morel hadn’t been observant, or just hadn’t cared, there’s no telling how much longer it would have escaped the public gaze.
An excellent book and a story well told about a period of history that so often seems ot have been forgotted. Sadly, political necessities of maintaining Belgian allies during WW1 ended the officially sanctioned outcry over The Congo company...and since then, saving those people who have read Joseph Conrads "Heart of Darkness", it seems never to have been remembered.
Adam Hochschild
King Leopold of Belgium had a dream of Empire. Unlike most of the rest of the European powers, Belgium had never had an Empire, and received the financial benefits of colonisation, and he resolved to do something about it. So it was that he set out to bring Christian civilisation to the uneducated heathens of Equatorial Africa – the Congo, an area the size of Western Europe was annexed by the King in order to create a Belgian colony. European agents and native troops put down slavers from Zanzibar and Timbuctu, and built schools, railways, hospitals and missions up and down the land. Trade for ivory and rubber brought wealth undreamed of the colony, and the native population thanked the King for his efforts to raise them to civilisation.
Or that was the story, anyway.
How often can it be said that the actions of one man have destroyed an empire?
That man was Edmund Dene Morel, a clerk in the offices of a Liverpudlian shipping agent which had the contract for shipping ivory and rubber back from Africa. He joined with dreams of wealth and adventure, the great dream of bringing civilisation to Africa, and making a tiny living at the same time.
Over time he noticed something that belied the official version of events. Ships would arrive in Belgium laden with Ivory and rubber, but they would be shipped back empty of trade good. Empty of anything, that is except soldiers, rifles, and ammunition. There was no trade going on here, he realised, the only explanation was slave labour on a scale undreamed of.
Filled with a crusading zeal that only the Victorians could really muster, he founded the Congo reform organisation and set out to destroy the Congolese regime. As an organistion, it included in it’s numbers and supporters at one time or another every Bishop in the British isles, 79 members of Parliament, Mark Twain, President Theodore Roosevelt, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and tens of thousands of others. Eventually international pressure prevailed, and King Leopolds trading company folded, putting the administration of the Congo into the hands of the Belgian government, and under international law.
During the 25-year administration of King Leopolds Belgian Congo Company, the population of the region halved to 10 million. Company agents were rewarded according to how cheaply they could bring in Ivory or rubber – the cheaper the cost to the company, the greater percentage of profit the agent got when it was sold in Europe. This lead to slavery and brutality on an unprecedented scale; kidnap, torture and forced labour were not just common, they were routine devices to convince the native population to work ever harder for the company.
And if Mr. Morel hadn’t been observant, or just hadn’t cared, there’s no telling how much longer it would have escaped the public gaze.
An excellent book and a story well told about a period of history that so often seems ot have been forgotted. Sadly, political necessities of maintaining Belgian allies during WW1 ended the officially sanctioned outcry over The Congo company...and since then, saving those people who have read Joseph Conrads "Heart of Darkness", it seems never to have been remembered.
