Congo Paternalism

The Republic of the Congo began as a Belgian colony in the late 19th century. Belgium’s King Leopold II, after becoming increasingly frustrated by Belgium's lack of international power, began to persuade his government to support colonial expansion. His attention was drawn to the area of the Congo River basin following during Sir Henry Morton Stanley’s exploration from 1874–77. King Leopold II organized a geographical conference in Brussels in 1876, during which he proposed “establishing an international committee for the propagation of civilization among the peoples of Central Africa” including the Congo region. While it was conceived as a multi-national organization focusing on scientific and humanitarian efforts, his primary goal was securing
Public opinion over the alleged large-scale violation of human rights led to a British official investigation in 1900. Reacting to the international pressure, the Belgian Parliament annexed CFS and removed Leopold from power in 1908. Before turning CFS over to Belgium, Leopold destroyed any evidence of what occurred under his reign in CFS, including the archives of the Departments of Finance and the Interior. On November 15, 1908, Congo Free State officially became a colony known as Belgian
While the official philosophy towards Congo was that of paternalism, the situation in the Belgian Congo did not change significantly. The Congolese remained treated as “second class citizens” compared to the Belgians, which kept them from attaining better opportunities and moving up the social ladder. In reaction to the situation, resistance towards the Belgian government remained. A rebellion in the eastern districts erupted in 1919 and was not fully suppressed until 1923 and unrest increased during World War II. The year 1958 saw Patrice Lumumba launch the Congo National Movement political party and, in January of 1959, riots began in Leopoldville as a rallying call for independence. In the pre-independence election, MNC’s Patrice Lumumba was elected as Prime Minister, while Joseph Kasavubu, the leader of the regional ABAKO party became President. While many had reservations about the quick movement towards independence, including the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative to the Congo Ralph Bunche and United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold, the Republic of the Congo continued. Belgium and the newly elected leaders negotiated and agreed to a constitution, which granted the central government limited powers and gave more authority to the provincial leaders. The Republic of the Congo gained full independence on June 30,