ImperialismJoin now to read essay ImperialismBetween 1875 and 1900 the relationship between Africa and Europe experienced dramatic changes resulting from increased imperialism by Europeans on almost all of Africa. Europe was scrambling to gain territory and control over Africa as a result of internal rivalries between European powers which intensified after the industrialization of Europe. The slave trade ended between 1807 and 1820 and subsequently, more European interest was targeted at the vast natural resources Africa possessed and imperialism was inforced in order to obtain these highly desirable resources. Guyanese historian and activist, Walter Rodney, once said that “Europe underdeveloped Africa,” meaning that the imperialism Europe forced upon Africa resulted in an economic setback in Africa forever, causing it to be inferior to the rest of the world. Rodney was clearly valid in making this statement as Europeans unjustly exploiting business opportunities in Africa, creating plantations ran by forced labor of the natives, and took possession over Africas newfound resources, all of which prevented Africa from allowing its own economy to prosper and develop.
Europeans used imperialism, obtaining African gold, ivory, and palm oil and preventing Africas economy from growing in the process. Just recovering from the end of the slave trade which was abolished in the early 1800s, Africans hardly had any time to build up their homeland at all before Europeans came to partition and colonize most of their land for their own benefit. Many Europeans went to Africa as missionaries and merchants with the hope of gaining information from travelers about the goods and business prospects Africa had to offer. Trading posts were fortified by the Europeans who were mostly from Britain, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Belgian , and Spain. These countries created a very active commerce where they exchanged the resource of African natives for European textiles, guns, and other goods. This prevented the natives from having the opportunity to trade their goods directly and prosper economically. Consequently, Africa fell behind in trade not only in the late 1800s to early 1900s, but even today they still lag behind the rest of the countries economically. The exploitation and deception the Europeans placed upon Africa with their imperialism had lasting effects and permanently weakened Africa and any chances it had back then of becoming a strong independent nation who could adopt the industrialization of Europe and westernized as so many surrounding countries have done and prospered from during this time period.
The development of the Congo Free State during the reign of King Leopold II, which lasted from 1865-1909, resulted in high taxes and forced labor from natives and a lot of prosperity for Belgium who further took advantage of Africa and all of its potential to excel. Belgium, in an effort to compete with neighboring European nations for power, made the Congo Free State a free-trading zone open to merchants and business people from all of Europe. This was a strategic move for Belgium and prevented the rival Europeans from taking the African natives for granted before they could. King Leopold II made a personal colony full of rubber plantations which were ran by forced labor with harsh working
The Congo Free State began in 1876, with a population of about one million people. Within the span of three years, it had grown an additional 7 million people. In 1890, the population reached six million, although the colony had to use land by 1892 to do so and continued to use land for its agricultural needs. In 1902, the population increased to 8 million and by 1907, it reached nine million. By 1914, the population had reached 22 million and the economic activity had risen. Belgium decided to expand the colony in order to secure the resources necessary for its industrial and agricultural needs. As soon as the number of people had reached ten million, the French established a railway line between the French border and the Congo in 1904. During the first three years, Belgian law passed that forced the native population to work for the Belgian government (which it did in order to prevent the introduction of foreign products into Belgian markets). France had a part to play in the creation of Congo, also in 1914.
King Leopold II and First Belgian President Charles III.
In 1905, Charles III. became king and his government fell apart. The Belgian constitution had always been the “Liberty” of the country. In 1913, Belgium went into a second general election conducted through an agreement between the Congress and the Belgian state representative (and Belgium’s chief executive. It was this arrangement that, in 1911, was put in place to replace the old election system and allow the Belgian legislature to have their mandate heard during the first two elections). The government of Belgium remained in power until the first president was elected, Louis I. Leopold II in 1815. In 1917, the Belgian government fell apart again; the first two elections were held in 1918 (which were rerun by the parliament of Belgium in 1918), 1818 and 1820. In 1918, the Belgian parliament established its own elections on the issue of foreign exchange. Leopold was the only man elected as president. He did not resign in 1920 because of the “election of the proletariat” or because the Communist Party was defeated. In 1923, Leopold resigned after losing several elections because Leopold was not the candidate for the office. In 1923, his second election was elected to avoid a Communist majority, because of the fact that it had not been reelected in four years.
This article was written by Philippe Poussin and published by Proust and Dibouton, and contains opinions expressed in a personal or academic fashion.
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