What were the motives?
During the times of imperialism and after the Conference of Berlin ended, the Congo was a place that was wanted by a lot of European nations. Many European nations were already in control of a country and they choose other African countries over the Congo. There was one country that was very interested in the Congo and that was Belgium. The Belgian Government only agreed to the takeover of the Congo because they wanted to save King Leopold II from public humiliation. The Belgians were very underrated compared to Great Britain, Holland, France and Japan. So this was Belgium's golden opportunity to prove to the other countries that they are capable of taking control of another country.
The Belgians began to plan to go into the Congo. The Belgians were mainly after one thing when they went into Congo, and that would be there resources. The Congo was a producer of many useful items like rubber, palm oil, food, etc. The Belgians thought that all of the resources in the Congo could be used for production of items for the Belgian society and it would mean a lot more money for the Belgians. The Belgians would benefit greatly from going into the Congo but the same cant be said for the people of Congo who didn't get anything in return for letting the Belgians take all of there resources. Another big reason the Belgians wanted to control the Congo was because they wanted to spread the religion of Christianity. Christianity was the major religion in Europe and in order to really make themselves feel like they are at home when they go into a country. This can be a horrible thing because some countries are known for there religious beliefs, like India. The Congo wasn't really affected by the spread of Christianity but they knew that the only way the Belgians were going to stay in the Congo would be if they spread there main religion and that is what they did when the first arrived in the Congo. |