FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Belgium, without imperialist ambition, had no colonial vocation. It had taken over the Congo in 1908 to act on the recommendations of a commission of inquiry commissioned by its King, Leopold II, also sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo, whose existence was disputed by the great ...

The Belgian system had its peculiarities, however, which made it qualify as "paternalistic". Belgium having inherited from the Congo almost unwillingly, from a King accused of exploiting his African subjects in an outrageous manner, wanted at all costs to end ...  

All this legislation was obviously discriminatory, since it concerned only the natives: the Whites had to, by themselves or by their employers, individually finance their security and their social protection. We considered that the level ...  

The most delicate problem concerned the "advanced", who considered that they had reached the level of education and training of whites. A special status was conferred on them after an investigation into their occupations and their way of life, which had to be of the "European" style. They felt that they were ...
 

Serious historians, critics of Leopold II, such as Jean Stengers; Belgian politicians who at the time of Leopold II were virulent against him, such as the great socialist leader Emile Vandervelde, all agreed that ...
 

Did one, ten, twelve or thirteen million Congolese perish during the reign of Leopold II over the Independent State of the Congo? Again, the scattering of figures ...

Let us quickly pass on the ancient colonizations: the Phoenician and the Greek had ...

On the contrary, they released them despite the violent shock of the arrival of a revolutionary lifestyle by contrast with the customs in place. For the vast majority of African societies, slavery ...

Racial discrimination is not unique to colonial societies ...

Why couldn't white people do their housework themselves, as they usually do in Europe? Didn't the "boys" actually reveal the odious character that the metropolitan ...