How did the Congo gain independence and how did the horrific past lifestyle effect the Congolese?
The Congo finally gained independence on June 30th, 1960. It took a long time for the Congolese to finally gain independence and it wasn't easy for them to make it possible. In 1908, the Belgian Parliament took Leopold's control of the Congo away from him because of the brutal things he did to the Congolese and the Parliament took over making it slightly better than the Congo Leopold had control of. In 1959, major nationalist riots took place to threaten the Belgian control of the Belgian Congo. In 1960, the final year of the Belgian Congo, A group of protesters called Mouvemont National Congolais or MNC won the parliamentary elections naming Patrice Lumumba prime minister and Joseph Kasavubu president of the Congo. After these two men were elected, the Congo was starting to become a better nation and then finally, on June 30th, the Congo gained its independence.
The people of the Congo will probably never forget the past and what the Belgians did to them. Although most of the things the Belgians did to the Congolese was horrific, there were some positives of the Belgian takeover. The whole takeover was mostly negative and the reasons for it being horrible for the Congolese is that people were brutally abused by the Belgian officers. Everyone there was treated like the Belgians slaves because they basically chained them up, abused them, made them do there own work and give them no pay whatsoever. People's religious beliefs were threatened by the Belgians because they tried to spread Christianity everywhere and the people of Congo were forced to believe in it. The Congo was overall poorly managed because the Belgians only went there for the resources and did little for the people. There are a few positives of the takeover. There was many schools that people could go to for more education and that really ended up helping a lot of younger and older Congolese. There was medical advancements in the Congo because if a Congolese got injured, the Belgians would lose a worker so they needed to improve the medical supplies. The Belgian Congo will never be forgotten by the Congolese and they are now living a better life in the new Congo than the one they used to. |