We know about Leopold II, whose horrifying reign of terror caused a population decline -according to recent research- of most likely around 1.2 million(disease, hunger, refugee exodus, mass violence, lowered fertility(1). But did you know ol’ Leopolds’ criminal extravaganza was not nearly as unique as you might think?
At least according to Adam Hochschild, who in chapter 18 of Leopolds Ghost argues that other colonial powers were just as horrid but were ignored by the international community.
In other words; every time some delusional Kraut, Frog or Britbong tries to do some thinly veiled colonial apologism by uttering the phrase “well, there were colonial crimes, but aT LeASt wE weRnT As BaD aS …” show them this list below. List is not exhaustive.
Again, you do not hate the French enough
Ad0ring-fan on
Mongolia ? Russia ? China ? The Middle East ? The U.S ?
OkTangerine8139 on
I don’t…think that’s what was going on…
The other world absolutely KNEW and HATED what the other colonial powers did and were doing. The colonial powers themselves knew what they did was wrong, the issue being that they usually did it behind the backs of others.
Leopold himself didn’t announce the Congo Free State until AFTER the Berlin conference, and he did so as a cover up to “bring civilization” to the Congo people as well as developing the region economically. Of course the reality was far more cruel and brutal than that.
European and US reformers exposed atrocities in the Congo Free State to the public through the Congo Reform Association, founded by Casement and the journalist, author, and politician E. D. Morel. Also active in exposing the activities of the Congo Free State was the author Arthur Conan Doyle, whose book The Crime of the Congo was widely read in the early 1900s.
It was the fact that Leopold had DIRECT and ABSOLUTE rule over Congo that made everyone mad at him, and not the fact that it was a colony. Eventually the Belgian congress pushed for the Congo to be annexed and become Colony, which would allow for *some* autonomy of the Congo.
In short, it was bad enough, and it doesn’t excuse the actions of others, but the actions of others doesn’t excuse the Congo.
Also, this is a response to OP, yes, I DO hate the French enough. The issue is that many people don’t like that and wanna bring up the Berber pirates for some fucking reason to try and justify the Algerian Genocide.
5 Comments
You do not hate the French enough
We know about Leopold II, whose horrifying reign of terror caused a population decline -according to recent research- of most likely around 1.2 million(disease, hunger, refugee exodus, mass violence, lowered fertility(1). But did you know ol’ Leopolds’ criminal extravaganza was not nearly as unique as you might think?
At least according to Adam Hochschild, who in chapter 18 of Leopolds Ghost argues that other colonial powers were just as horrid but were ignored by the international community.
In other words; every time some delusional Kraut, Frog or Britbong tries to do some thinly veiled colonial apologism by uttering the phrase “well, there were colonial crimes, but aT LeASt wE weRnT As BaD aS …” show them this list below. List is not exhaustive.
Again, you do not hate the French enough
Mongolia ? Russia ? China ? The Middle East ? The U.S ?
I don’t…think that’s what was going on…
The other world absolutely KNEW and HATED what the other colonial powers did and were doing. The colonial powers themselves knew what they did was wrong, the issue being that they usually did it behind the backs of others.
Leopold himself didn’t announce the Congo Free State until AFTER the Berlin conference, and he did so as a cover up to “bring civilization” to the Congo people as well as developing the region economically. Of course the reality was far more cruel and brutal than that.
European and US reformers exposed atrocities in the Congo Free State to the public through the Congo Reform Association, founded by Casement and the journalist, author, and politician E. D. Morel. Also active in exposing the activities of the Congo Free State was the author Arthur Conan Doyle, whose book The Crime of the Congo was widely read in the early 1900s.
It was the fact that Leopold had DIRECT and ABSOLUTE rule over Congo that made everyone mad at him, and not the fact that it was a colony. Eventually the Belgian congress pushed for the Congo to be annexed and become Colony, which would allow for *some* autonomy of the Congo.
In short, it was bad enough, and it doesn’t excuse the actions of others, but the actions of others doesn’t excuse the Congo.
Also, this is a response to OP, yes, I DO hate the French enough. The issue is that many people don’t like that and wanna bring up the Berber pirates for some fucking reason to try and justify the Algerian Genocide.
Leopold II: [In hell I’ll be in good company ](https://youtu.be/B9FzVhw8_bY)
Not really.
The whole thing about the Belgian Congo was that even by the standards of the age and using other European empires as a metric, it was brutal.
It’s a bit like the other lads in the SS given Otto a wide berth because he’s clearly mental.
If your mates in the SS think you’re a wrong un, you are clearly fucked up.