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April 10, 2026
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"But it would not be reckless to say that from the start the King dreamed of founding a Belgian colony. Many times I have heard him say, when the Independent State emerged from its swaddling clothes like a newborn baby trying to walk: "I work there for Belgium"."
"This part of the State, that is to say the east of the Congo, is inhabited by happy blacks who often and without bringing them there, compared before me the happy present with the misery and the terror of when the Arabs had established themselves as slave traders in the region."
"The Tambatamba, Bokusu, Batetela, and other followers of Arab families are congregated at Stanley Falls on both banks as far down as'La Romee. These two latter tribes live in large mud wall houses, detached, with yards or courts. They are both farmers and stock breeders. The former are clean, clothed, and polite, while the latter are like the Arabs, superior in appearance, dress, and manners in fact, the aristocracy of the land. Their fields are tilled by women and dependents and slaves. They are not true Arabs, though there are a few of these too among them. In all things except religion the Tambatambas follow their Arab conquerors of earlier days, but of religion they have only the superstitions without the bonds, rules, or system of worship of the Mahommedans."
"Having a proper sense of her duty, and the means to carry it out, Belgium has mapped out her own course, and intends to keep to it. It entails a policy of humanity and progress. To a nation whos only aim is justice, the mission of colonization can only be a mission of high civilization: a small nation proves it greatness by carrying it out faithfully. Belgium has kept her word."
"Brilliant reception at the station. Children are tidied up as soon as they enter the mission grounds. There is perfect order. The mission makes a big impression."
"The reception was enthusiastic and brilliant. The city appears largely mapped out, too bad there are so many ugly buildings that make it look like a city in the American Far West."
"A real city, well laid out, with pretty houses, 1500 whites, it makes an excellent impression, better than Elisabethville. Here they are serious people, harnessed to a grandiose enterprise."
"Visit of the incomparable and impressive installations of Union Minière. We go up the hill. The sight is prestigious: the station, one of the most important in Africa, the buildings, the Europeans with the houses surrounded by gardens, the vast chessboard of the native city. The Negro workers that we see do not look unhappy, they are in good health."
"The chief comes to greet us, he is a handsome Baluba negro, dressed as a European with a white helmet; shame."
"What a beautiful breed these Wagenias and how friendly."
"I am struck that quite a few black workers do not greet us and watch us pass by with folded arms. There are dances in the evening, not very lively. We feel that the strain of hard woodworking weighs on the morale of the natives."
"The companies are complaining, but they have not done what is necessary to retain their workforce. They have relied too much on the obligation that the administration placed on the population."
"The negro workers are still unaware of the force that can give them union organization; happy industrialists."
"It is indisputable that the blacks have benefited from certain benefits of civilization."
"In view of the rapid changes taking place in the world today, it seemed to me desirable to preserve in picture and sound some reflection of the surviving vestiges of the ancient life of the Congo, there is a communion between the man of the forest and his natural surroundings which inspires us in a sense of respect a recognition of spiritual heritage, I thank all those who have helped me to achieve this task which combines beauty and scientific truth."
"Production is ensured by the native working no longer as an employee, but as a free peasant, owner of his land."
"For eighty years Belgium has sent your land the best of her sons, first to deliver the Congo basin from the odious slave trade which was decimating its population. Later to bring together the different tribes which, though former enemies, are now preparing to form the greatest of the Independent states of Africa."
"The Belgians are setting about the task of combating the shortage of labour with almost Teutonic thoroughness and far-sightedness."
"The natives while working on the mines are very well treated. They live in compounds, which appeared to be run on model lines. I was told that there had been cases of brutality and ill-treatment, but the compound managers concerned had been instantly dismissed. The Union Minière are strongly opposed to anything in the nature of brutal treatment of the natives."
"Speaking generally, it may be said that the authorities of the Union Minière are in advance of the Mining Companies in this Territory [Rhodesia] in the care and attention they give to recruited labour."
"One of the consequences of the Second World War was the collapse of the colonial system. All the old colonies, often under pressure, obtained the recognition of their independence. Belgium also granted autonomy to Congo."
"Our mission has been favorably impressed by the material develpment brought about the native welfare fund. I have personaly observed how the native population apreciates Belgium"s efforts in this direction and how it has understood the benefits of derived by Ruanda-Urundi from the activities of this institution."
"After having elaborated a vast plan of action for the benefit of the native but, to a large extent, outside his knowledge and comprehension, we must gradually obtain his acceptance and make him ever more conscious of it, as well as actively engaged in his own uplift. Gaining the native conscious and active acceptance of our civilizing ideal must be the primary object of our task of teaching and education in Belgian Africa."
"The British exploited differences between the Hindu and Muslim communities in the sub‐continent, creating deep resentments and divisions that persist today due to the 1947 Partition. Similarly, differences between the Hutus and Tutsis that led to the Rwandan genocide were created and exploited by Belgian colonizers."
"Burundians, Rwandans, and outside specialists of the region disagree almost totally on the nature of precolonial social…[and on] the impact of colonization...There is no scholarly consensus on answers to these questions."
"Our mission has been favorably impressed by the material development brought about the native welfare fund. I have personally observed how the native population appreciates Belgium's efforts in this direction and how it has understood the benefits of derived by Ruanda-Urundi from the activities of this institution."
"Leopold II was able to push through his imperial wish and obtained that the fate of what would then be called the Congo Free State was linked to his own. He gave Congo its shape and dimensions, as well as a financial-capitalist structure. However, the debt burden that had become too heavy meant that the king handed over his colony to Belgium, a gift that the parliament was hesitant about but did not dare to refuse."
"In 1885, the whole of Africa was colonized or placed under trusteeship, but Congo climbed to the podium of the three existing sovereign countries. The borders that have been, since 1894, the crucible of Congolese identity were acquired, by treaty, by Leopold II. Thus, Congo has absolutely no debt to Belgium for its international existence. Later, it was through a bilateral treaty, between two sovereign states, regularly ratified, that the Kingdom of Belgium became the metropolis of the Belgian Congo (1908-1960). The little-known truth is that in 1960, Belgium did not grant Congolese independence, but it returned it."
"Belgium has partially failed in its role as guardian. While the French and British took their duty to safely channel the urge for independence that arose after the Second World War, we remained passive. Hence the not entirely unfounded doubt and fear of letting the pupil walk on his own two feet now. A Congolese nation never existed. Once upon a time there was an old kingdom of Congo, but the borders of that negro kingdom did not coincide with those of “our” Congo. The whites have done little or nothing, beyond the strong tribal consciousness, to create a general Congolese mentality, a Congolese sense of nationality. What we still call Belgian Africa today is a construction of the whites, a conglomerate of very different areas and peoples, put together as it was customary in the days of the colonial touts around the green conference tables of Wiesbaden and Berlin."
"Who sees his life's work in jeopardy before it stands on solid ground. While Minister Buisseret and Governor-General Pétillon endear themselves to the blacks by expressing themselves energetically in this sense, the best of the whites argue that the Congo is far from ripe for independence, moreover they believe that a too strong emphasis on the emancipation policy will deter the white element, which is still so desperately needed, to such an extent that it will inhibit and damage further evolution. Ultimately to the detriment of the short-sighted, hot-headed blacks themselves."
"It is clear that the white man did not only come to the Congo out of sheer philanthropy. Large companies settled there to earn a lot of money. But that capitalism immediately realized grandiose social works, from which hundreds of thousands of blacks now profit. Native friends in Leo and elsewhere agree that the balance for the black is not completely in deficit, but, they added, the time has now come for us to hand over the helm."
"Although the celebration on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Belgian colony did not occupy the motherland for long, the significance of 50 years of Belgium in Africa can hardly be overestimated. It means that for half a century the black tribes have not been able to kill each other, however much they would like to do it today. It means they are no longer starving to death, rotting away from syphilis or dying from sleeping sickness. It means that schools, dispensaries, bridges, harbors were everywhere, in short, the beginning of the infrastructure of a modern state. It means that the grandsons of the losers, who were sold on the slave market by Tippo Tip and his Arabs, are now studying at university, Roman bishop, judge, journalist and mayor, and tomorrow doctor, lawyer and engineer."
"They always smile, even in the face of adversity. They are enthusiastic people who are affectionate."
"The Belgians were there to educate the negroes, for the agriculture, for everything. But missionaries are also to blame; It's their fault there are so many children there. Condoms didn't exist either, but the women put the pill in their guy's soup."
"Portugal is controlled by a government which does not even accept the idea of democracy and individual freedom for the people of metropolitan Portugal. Consequently it is inconceivable that it would voluntarily accept the idea that colonial peoples like ourselves should have these rights, much less independence."
"In time, the multiracial character of slavery in the Arab world virtually ceased to exist and became almost exclusively black. In this respect, it differed little from slavery in the New World. ... As long as slavery maintained a multiracial cast, Arab and Turkish slave owner favored white slaves over blacks in so far as work assignments and what might be called career prospects were concerned. White slave girls were preferred as concubines over black girls; and among the latter, the fairer-complexioned Abyssinians were shown partiality over their darker-skinned African sisters."
"The change which has occurred in the political condition of the African Coast, today calls for common action on the part of the Powers responsible for the control of that Coast. That action should tend to close all foreign slave markets and should also result in putting down slave hunting in the interior. The great work undertaken by the King of the Belgians, in the constitution of the Congo State, and the lively interest taken by His Majesty in all questions affecting the welfare of the African races, lead Her Majesty's Government to hope that Belgium will be disposed to take the initiative in inviting the Powers to meet in Conference at Brussels, in order to consider the best means of attaining the gradual suppression of the slave-trade on the Continent of Africa and the immediate closing of all the outside markets which the slave-trade daily continues to supply."
"The time has now fully arrived when the several nations of Europe who, at the Congress of Vienna, in 1815, and again at the Conference of Verona, in 1822, issued a series of resolutions strongly denouncing the slave-trade, should take the needful steps for giving them a full and practical effect. And, inasmuch as Ike Arab marauders (whose murderous devastations are now depopulating Africa) are subject to no law, and under no responsible rule, it devolves on the Powers of Europe to secure their suppression throughout all territories over which they have any control. This meeting would, therefore, urge upon Her Majesty's Government, in concert with those Powers who now claim either territorial possession or territorial influence in Africa, to adopt such measures as shall secure the extinction of the devastating slave-trade which is now carried on by those enemies of the human race."
"All I can say in my solitude is, may Heaven's rich blessing come down on every one American, English, Turk who will help to heal this open sore of the world."
"All over Africa, dried human skeletons show that the slave-trader has passed."
"As long as Europe is not strong enough to follow up the results already obtained by her voyages of discovery, the explorer can never be satisfied with his work; it will have injured rather than benefited the native races. People hesitate before resorting to extreme measures, but they lose sight of the fact that, if their efforts were concentrated on a single object, more would be done in a day for the real welfare of Africa than has been accomplished in past decades, nay even in past-centuries."
"The first step towards the regeneration of the black man is the destruction of the destroyer of the African race, of the adventurer whose power daily increases, in a word, of the Arab."
"In the west much has been done of late years to bring about a more rational and humane state of things; but in the east the Arab advances continually followed by a procession of misery and desolation and growing stronger from day to-day to the detriment of the natives. How long will Europe permit this shame, how long will she be fooled by these scoundrels?"
"Every proposition having for its object the establishment of trade in Africa and the improvement of the black race, said Sir Samuel Baker, will remain Utopian as long as the slave-trade exists"