King Leopold’s Ghost Chapters 17-19 Discussion Jessica Russo October 2, 2012

Quiz: Question 1 In a short paragraph summarize the main points of chapters 17-19 of King Leopold’s Ghost. (50 points) https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQSlhmj2HDTk-flZr0pW7cMLZZG3WB3U_IPCZ4Kd5ft3QRevnuT

Quiz: Question 2 Please choose 2 of the following (10 points each):   Please choose 2 of the following (10 points each): a)What prompted Leopold to sell the Congo to Belgium? Do you think the terms of the sale were fair to Belgium? Why or Why not? b)Leopold did the best that he could to try and erase his presence in the Congo from history. Name one way that he did this. Do you think he succeeded? Why or why not? c)Leopold also did the best that he could to take his riches with him to the grave. Name one way that he did that. Do you feel he was successful? Why or why not? d)Lumumba was the Congo’s first leader after it gained independence. From what you have read about Lumumba, do you think the Congo would have been better off if he was not assassinated and continued to rule? Why or why not? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Leopold_ii_garter_knight.jpg/220px-Leopold_ii_garter_knight.jpg https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQZgEw0ZWPDrZVkdRLgLwOtobYSIdtDV7FkOB-l6KyYFJftWM6r9w

Quiz: Question 3 Multiple Choice (10 points each): 3)Both Casement and Morel were put in jail for their reform work at one point. Which one never made it out alive? Casement Morel http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41958000/jpg/_41958548_rogerpa203.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/E.D._Morel.jpg

Quiz: Question 4 4)Within which decade did the Congo gain independence from Belgium? A) 1890’s B) 1940’s C) 1960’s https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTLbxkEzS9KspejLXiOh8nApNor2dHbsDDISgn4Znmuakoob04ZRg

Quiz: Question 5 5) After WWI, colonizers found other natural resources that could be taken from the Congo. Which one of the following was a natural resource that the Congo was rich in? Copper Gold Zinc All of the above https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQYQaGTyNkrZCoKLGHqqW8czOnjL9CYNLG-BI1bu4_J9brOvt59xA

Bonus Questions Bonus Questions (10 points each): 6) Hochschild referred to one of the political leaders in the Congo as Leopold’s reincarnate. What was his name? 7) There was another country which had a colony in Africa and made the native people build a roadway through forced labor as well. The construction of this roadway was said to have killed more people than the construction of Leopold’s did. Which country was it?

1903 -1906 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Leopold_ii_garter_knight.jpg/220px-Leopold_ii_garter_knight.jpg http://www.state.gov/cms_images/belgium_map_2007-worldfactbook.jpg

The Terms of the Agreement http://www.leftovercurrency.com/Resources/banknote-100-belgian-francs-1995-ensor.jpg 110 million Francs- Debt 32 million Francs - Loan 45.5 million Francs- Projects 50 million - Leopold

What Changed? Campaign Du Kasai http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/teachers/curriculum/m18/images/image028.png

DEATH http://www.collectingpapermemories.com/images/money-symbol.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Leopold_ii_garter_knight.jpg/220px-Leopold_ii_garter_knight.jpg

What was everyone else up to? https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTwrEgst5-BM470DM0n3tbV6taUIGjw397SIfaoUF32M4WTT8Xb https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSJSgF2XhLLD9Qt87AlOvIUDdjcOs4kAXRhqjAJL4WW51kAVwOG https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTlEBGOma8yxvr_0aGTdb0AdsAXD2U0KECf-JVWkVAQHQrg3ZnsnA https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQA5EpgRleMDNNavyDL6NHUy9rFUOmsGqP7Y_mLAES7iC4FlA-ftg

The CRA https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRH3EGgfkE4wQfvyShz0HDy44OWgC5bbPm1CFpd7_yAhdWOa8jGag

World War I https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSYvGvnBVT6FArJAYqaulzO-IRF4fKUMUAuaKaLEsdhshZijVP8CQ https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT6jskEEIIGYEFRedMspmzBHgogOtByvQFNXfse8QEKFqKcRA6MlQ “…Germany invaded in 1914, killed more than 5,000 Belgian civilians, and deliberately set fire to thousands of buildings, including the renowned university library at Louvain…The Germans, it was said, crucified Belgian babies on the doors of houses.” (295-296)

The Reformers Roger Casement William Shepard E.D. Morel Alice Harris https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQJ3kP6lNrcjZ3eMX2LjH3hI03Y5Vvfu30YoxCNY739p2cM0te2 http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41958000/jpg/_41958548_rogerpa203.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/E.D._Morel.jpg Roger Casement William Shepard E.D. Morel Alice Harris

History.... http://www.inmemoriam.be/content/ob-assets/2003/06/19/431689.jpg https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRSqo3vcRuZbPEkz-g1prmjwIgK7YM4C5fV0kxvzvn9Vtr15oLK Jules Marchal “The furnaces burned for eight days, turning most of the Congo state records to ash and smoke in the sky over Brussels. ‘I will give them my Congo Leopold told Stinglhamber, ‘but they have no right to know what I did there.’” (294) “‘The rubber this time, that was nothing. But the first time, that was terrible.’ Only thirty years later did I understand what he was talking about.”(299)

Jean Felix De Hemptinne http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XnjD39MreWo/SXXquNl47eI/AAAAAAAABrc/nPgSrsDMH_I/s400/Hemptinne_congo_vicapost.jpg Jean Felix De Hemptinne

The Leaders Patrice Lumumba Joseph Mobutu https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQZgEw0ZWPDrZVkdRLgLwOtobYSIdtDV7FkOB-l6KyYFJftWM6r9w https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRG2gUIUnKs5e3VuzfidBt5c8ns_ViANLbIviCaPZC9XJ1ZI2LwKg Patrice Lumumba Joseph Mobutu

THE CONGO 2012

Discussion

Do you think Belgium rule in the Congo created a less hostile environment for the Congolese? Why or Why not?

Many other European countries as well as the United States were colonizing different parts of the developing world. Why was there so much publicity at that time about the colonization of the Congo? Were there similarities between the Congo and those colonies?

Casement and Morel weren’t tried until after they began fighting for peace and freedom in places other than the Congo. Why do you think that was the case?

Leopold did the best he could to erase his presence in the Congo from history. Do you think things would have been different for the Congo if that did not happen? Why or why not?

Do you think Germany’s treatment of Belgium during WWI can be compared to Belgium’s treatment of the Congo?

The Congo struggled after gaining independence and is still struggling today. Can we discuss the Congo in terms of the resource curse and indirect rule? Can it be considered a failed state?

Are there any other important issues in Chapters 17-19 that we have not discussed yet?