Abstract The following is an undergraduate 5-page paper describing how colonialism influenced people in the Congo. The paper discusses how colonialism plays a part in contributing to the emergence of Third World countries.
Abstract This paper explains that the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as Zaire, has been plagued with ethnic turmoil and civil war, exacerbated by the massive influx of refugees from Rwanda and Burundi, which has reduced a once prospering country into a state of turmoil. The author points out that there are over 200 African ethnic groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo of which the majority of these are Bantu. The paper explains that the U.N.'s Human Development Index (HDI), which is a composite of human development indicators, such as longevity, knowledge and education, and economic measurements, is a better system of determining living standards than the GDP alone; Democratic Republic of Congo ranks very near the bottom. Many graphs and charts.
Table of Contents
Democratic Republic of Congo Background
Introduction
Geographic Placement
Ethnic Composition of the Democratic Republic of Congo Religious Composition of the Democratic Republic of Congo Colonial History of the Democratic Republic of Congo Form of Government for the Democratic Republic of Congo Main Sources of Economic Activity
Structure of the Economy of Democratic Republic of Congo Economic Background
Nominal and Real GDP Per Capita for the Previous 10 Years, in US$
Nominal and Real GDP Per Capita for the Previous 10 Years, in LCU
Comparison of Two Graphs
Life Expectancy
Adult Literacy Rate
Primary School Enrollment Rate
Human Development Index (HDI)
HDI Formula
HDI Versus GDP
5 Obstacles to Economic Development in the Past 5 Years
Actions that Could be Taken to Overcome These Challenges
From the Paper "Currently the country is under a dictatorship and is presumably transitioning towards a representative government; however, this has yet to be realized. A 500-member transitional National Assembly, along with a 120-member Senate was installed in July of 2003. These members were drawn from groups that signed the Pretoria Accord in December 2002. Elections were scheduled to be held in June of 2005; however, these are not likely to take place. Instead, it is likely that the transitional government will remain in place until the early part of 2006. President Joseph Kabila heads this transitional government. The transitional government includes an executive president, four vice-presidents, and a cabinet that is drawn from five armed groups, the unarmed political opposition, civil society, and the previous government of Joseph Kabila."
Abstract This paper describes the atrocities committed in the Congo Free State and further compares how they were represented in two works of literature: Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and "Adam Hochschild's "King Leopold's Ghost". The author explores how, although Joseph Conrad and Adam Hochschild both deal with the violent imperialism of the Congo, they also have different understandings and perspectives on its historic impact. The brutal rule of King Leopold of Belgium over the Congo is described in both works. The author concludes that Conrad and Hochschild both agree that the Congo Free State was a primary example of the horrors of colonization.
From the Paper " The Congo Free State was a private colony owned by the King of Belgium King Leopold 1st. Known historically as a place of brutal repression and exploitation of Africans by Europeans seeking personal motivations of greed, it is depicted by both Hochschild and Conrad. King Leopold killed many of the native people that were not only treated as slaves, but brutally in a way that was far worse than other instances of slavery. King Leopold went to great lengths to colonize the colony and use explorers for his own personal gain. King Leopold lied to the world convincing them he would give power to the native people and treat them well and better than other European nations, but instead turned to colonial notions in order to maximize profitability and take advantage of his holdings. Thus sets the stage for the portrayal of the dehumanizing impact of colonization and imperialism."
Abstract This paper examines the Republic of the Congo. It gives a brief overview of the history, geography, resources, economics and population make-up of the Republic of Congo. It also describes how the poverty of the nation has led to significant social and political turmoil in the land. The paper then focuses on the environmental issues that face the nation.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Brief Overview
Population
Geography/Resources/Economy
Environmental Issues
Conclusion
From the Paper "The Congo is experiencing numerous environmental issues. Some of these issues include water pollution caused by the dumping of raw sewage, air pollution, and non-potable tap water. All of these issues are of the utmost concern because of the impact they have on both the people of the Congo and the overall environment. However the most serious environmental issue facing The Republic of Congo is Deforestation."
"This deforestation is occurring in the Congo Basin. According to Tsoumou (2007) the Congo Basin is the second largest rain forest in the world. The Congo Basin is composed of nearly 30 percent of the world's entire vegetation, and it covers an area of 470 million acres (Tsoumou 2007). The Congo basin serves as the habitat for nearly 400 mammal species; this is inclusive of the world's largest populations of lowland chimpanzees, gorillas, and forest elephants (Tsoumou 2007)."
Abstract This essay uses Adam Hochschild's book," King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa," in order to explore the role of various people responsible for the mass killings in the Congo in 1979. The author details the conflict, the history of the region, the players, both local and foreign, whose knowledge and decency exposed the massacre and its cover-up by King Leopold.
From the Paper "Just as Leopold and his aides were involved in the exploitation of the country, there was one man who actively worked towards exposing this tragedy thereby forcing Leopold to give the people of Congo their independence. His name was Edmund D. Morel, a British shipping company clerk who noticed that ships coming from Congo carried valuables like ivory and rubber but those that went back contained nothing but soldiers and arsenal. This made him suspicious and so he resigned from his job to form the Congo Reform Association (CRA), an organization that made the horrors of the Congo region public. Morel used information smuggled out by missionaries such as William Sheppard and George W. Williams, the former being later involved in a libel suited filed against him by Leopold."
Abstract This paper is a thesis proposal for investigating the failure of international laws in protecting the citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo from invasion and human rights abuses.
Abstract This paper looks at the impact of colonialism and imperialism on the Congo, focusing on King Leopold II's of Belgium's policies that resulted in one of the most atrocious colonial regimes including removal of people from their homes, slave labor and other forms of brutality and exploitation of a native people. It also examines the devastating impact and legacy of this brutal exploitation after independence.
From the Paper "Before delving into a discussion of the impact of colonialism and imperialism on the Congo it is best to define the terms in order to understand the difference between them. Imperialism ..."
Tags: Zaire, colonialism, slaves, minerals, Henry Stanley, King Leopold, Belgium
Abstract The writer explains that the classic, "Heart of Darkness", is important primarily as an art form. The paper shows that it also serves a significant historical purpose in that the novel reflects the surroundings and circumstances in the Belgian Congo in 1902. The paper examines the account of the colonization of the Belgian Congo related in Conrad's novel. The writer reviews traditional historical sources showing factual accounts of the same era. The writer assesses the overall relevance of "Heart of Darkness" to the body of historical documentation of European imperialism in the Belgian Congo. In conclusion, the writer states that any thorough investigation of the European colonization of the Congo can be greatly enriched when supplemented by a reading of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness".
From the Paper "Joseph Conrad's 1902 novel Heart of Darkness is invaluable for its frank portrayal of European colonialism in the Belgian Congo. Although Heart of Darkness is undoubtedly a work of fiction and a product of Conrad's imagination, the fact that Conrad's own experiences of 1889-90 mirror those laid out in the novel serves to increase the credibility of the historical framework of the text. Historical investigations and the posthumous publication of Conrad's personal papers have confirmed that Conrad endured a series of incidents remarkably similar to that recounted by Marlow, as a Belgian agent inextricably torn "between colonizing Europe and exploited Africa" (Gurko 115). In this context, Heart of Darkness transcends the confines usually placed upon a work of art and becomes a valuable narrative recording a dismal, largely undocumented period in the history of European imperialism."
Abstract This paper explains that Adam Hochschild's "King Leopold's Ghost" is a brilliant historical account of how Leopold II, King of the Belgian, carved a personal empire and fortune from the Congo and how Edmund Morel, a clerk for the Elder Dempster shipping company, led an international campaign to expose the monarch's criminal enterprise. The author points out that Leopold's single-minded ambition, adroit diplomacy, skillful corruption and ruthless brutality brought him, already one of Europe's wealthiest men, untold riches, while for the Congolese people it brought only unbelievable suffering. The paper states that the "ghost" in the book's title relates to (1) after Leopold's death, rumors abounded that he had not really died but instead had gone to live in the Congo or (2) a more plausible claim emerged that Leopold's ghost would return to haunt the Congo for more than three decades after independence in the form of Mobutu Sese Seku, also a master criminal driven by vampire avarice.
From the Paper "From the start, Leopold's Congo administration required Congolese labor, at first as portage to carry ivory, then to construct the railway. With the commercial emphasis switching to rubber, the Congo Free State was faced with a problem. Obviously, the state could purchase ivory, or seize it at the point of a gun, but it was impossible to oversee the harvesting of rubber latex, Its collection required going deep into the rain forests to find the rubber vines. So the Congo Free State's militias, the Force Publique, developed a brutal system which involved raiding villages and seizing women and children as hostages, only releasing them when the men brought in quotas of rubber."
Abstract This paper analyzes the life of Henry Morton Stanley, a British/American explorer who ventured into the vast unknown Congo River Basin for the greedy Belgian king, Leopold II during the nineteenth century. It details his exciting adventures before and during his Congo exploration and evaluates how they were the epitome of the imperialistic adventures of his time. It examines how these adventures give us an insight into the great "scramble for Africa" that was going on during his lifetime.
From the Paper "Stanley left the Union Navy in 1865 when the Minnesota returned to port, and began to start his career as a journalist by moving to St. Louis. There, he begins to travel to the American West and write dispatches for a local newspaper. His talent in journalism and exploration continued to grow and Stanley's dispatches began to appear all over the United States. He was successful at recounting the "corruption and sin" that was going on in many frontier towns. His flourishing career in journalism caught the eye of James Gordon Bennett Jr. of the New York Herald. Stanley was soon commissioned by Bennett to report on a British war against the Emperor of Abyssinia."
Abstract This paper explains that Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" was written in 1899; therefore, when reading the book from this historical time, the reader must keep in mind the prevailing norms of that period and compare the thoughts of the author to those of the norms of this period. The author points out that this novel is based on Conrad's firsthand experience of the Congo region of West Africa, which was gained when Conrad was actually sent up the Congo River to an inner station to rescue a company agent, who died a few days later aboard ship. The paper relates that "Heart of Darkness" is told in the words of Charlie Marlow, a seaman, and filtered through the thoughts of an unidentified, listening narrator.
From the Paper "In 1899, when "Heart of Darkness" was first published, both Europe and America were well on their way to building empires in other parts of the world. Several European states had already experienced unprecedented expansion worldwide during the last third of the nineteenth century due to increased industrialization, adventurism, and paternalism. Latin America, Asia and Africa were targeted to control seaports and trade. England, the leading European colonial power, had already established much of its overseas empire, followed by France with territories in Southeast Asia and North Africa, and Portugal, Spain and Holland, who still retained some of their earlier holdings. Germany and Italy were quite new to the game."
Abstract A discussion of the ways that the characters Adah and Leah, a pair of 14-year-old identical twins, have different experiences as a result of isolation in the Congo. The paper examines the way that preconceived ideas of racial interactions were instilled in the girls before their arrival in the Congo and how these changed after spending a long period in the country.
From the Paper "In the end, Adah must piece together a new account of her past and relinquish the categories that have disempowered her. This means letting go of her view of victimization by Leah. Ultimately, she earns a degree in medicine, but instead of becoming a doctor, she becomes a sort of witchdoctor, studying from her lab at the university. She is surprisingly successful in her research because of her intuitive understanding of viruses as partners rather than enemies, derived from her lessons in the Congo. Furthermore, she is aware of the interrelationship of life and death, and thus "embraces death as its company, not its enemy.""
Abstract This paper presents a discussion of Hochschild's book, "King Leopold's Ghost", that reveals the barbaric and murderous control of the Belgian Congo by King Leopold II of Belgium whom the author terms a mass murderer who established a rule of terror in the Congo.
From the Paper "King Leopold II of Belgium represents one of the worst mass murderers in history. Leopold was not content to be the King of Belgium, a territory roughly equating in size to the state of Maryland. Every action taken by Leopold was subjected ..."
Abstract This paper discusses Patrice Lumumba, born in July 1925, who had a significant impact on Congolese independence and was the first elected Prime Minister of the newly independent nation of Congo. The paper looks at Lumumba's role in the liberation of the Congo from Belgian colonization. Additionally, the paper highlights the controversy surrounding Lumumba and his death.
From the Paper "Lumumba was known for his brutal honesty. This ultimately would lead him to his rapid downfall. The infamous speech that he delivered at the official Congo Independence Day Ceremony on June 30 1960 proved to be a major catalyst for his demise. The speech contained inflammatory language that angered Belgian officials including the King himself. "Lumumba's determination was inflexible. No one on Earth could have stopped him that day from making his speech at that solemn session when independence was proclaimed" (Kanza 154). Lumumba felt he was not being treated as the Prime Minister of a nation should be treated by the Belgians. This enraged him, and when it came time for his speech, Lumumba refused to hold back his true feelings. The Belgian government officials would find that they had underestimated Lumumba's courage and determination."
Abstract This paper discusses the conflict between the Congo, Uganda and Rwanda and their tribes called the Hutus and the Tutsis. It provides a history of the current problem and examines the ethnic issues at the core of the conflict. Zimbabwe's relation to the conflict is also discussed as well as the impact of this crisis on central Africa's society and economy.
From the Paper "The African region has always been a region at war with itself. Since the time when this region was under the colonial umbrella, to now when the influence is mainly indirect in the form of TNC?s, Africa has been unable to find the answer to its internal problems. When the colonialists lost their direct influence in the region, it was expected that finally the time has come that Africa's own leaders will stand up for their respective country's rights but that did not materialize as one after the other, self serving leaders found their way to power. The Great Lakes Crisis is a saga in the epic that concerns the nations that were previously under the French sphere of influence. "
