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| Decades: | |||||
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| See also: | 1908 in the Belgian Congo | ||||
The following lists events that happened during 1908 in the Congo Free State .
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| Decades: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| See also: | 1908 in the Belgian Congo | ||||
The following lists events that happened during 1908 in the Congo Free State .
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 15 November | Parliament of Belgium annexes the Congo Free State as the Belgian Congo. [1] |
Leopold II was the second King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908.
The Belgian Congo was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo, was a large state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by King Leopold II, the constitutional monarch of the Kingdom of Belgium. In legal terms, the two separate nations were in a "personal union". The Congo Free State was not a part of, nor did it belong to Belgium. Leopold was able to seize the region by convincing other European states at the Berlin Conference on Africa that he was involved in humanitarian and philanthropic work and would not tax trade. Via the International Association of the Congo, he was able to lay claim to most of the Congo Basin. On 29 May 1885, after the closure of the Berlin Conference, the king announced that he planned to name his possessions "the Congo Free State", an appellation which was not yet used at the Berlin Conference and which officially replaced "International Association of the Congo" on 1 August 1885. The Free State was privately controlled by Leopold from Brussels; he never went there.
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa (1998) is a best-selling popular history book by Adam Hochschild that explores the exploitation of the Congo Free State by King Leopold II of Belgium between 1885 and 1908, as well as the large-scale atrocities committed during that period. The book, also a general biography of the private life of Leopold, succeeded in increasing public awareness of these crimes in recent decades.
King Leopold's Soliloquy is a 1905 pamphlet by American author Mark Twain. Its subject is King Leopold's rule over the Congo Free State. A work of political satire harshly condemnatory of his actions, it ostensibly recounts a fictional monologue of Leopold II speaking in his own defense.
Order of Leopold may refer to:
Belgium controlled several territories and concessions during the colonial era, principally the Belgian Congo from 1908 to 1960, Ruanda-Urundi from 1922 to 1962, and Lado Enclave from 1884 to 1910. It also had small concessions in Guatemala (1843–1854) and Belgian concession of Tianjin in China (1902–1931) and was a co-administrator of the Tangier International Zone in Morocco.
François (Frans) Victor Marie Ghislain Schollaert was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.
The Order of the African Star was established by Leopold II of Belgium on 30 December 1888, in his capacity as ruler of the Congo Free State, and was awarded for services to Congo and for the "promotion of African civilisation in general". It was incorporated into the Belgian honours system on 10 October 1908 following the annexation of the Congo Free State by Belgium. The motto of the Order is "Travail et progrès". The King of the Belgians is its Grand Master; although the Congo is no longer a Belgian colony, it is still considered to be a Belgian Order by tradition.
Lieutenant-General Baron Théophile Wahis was a Belgian soldier and colonial civil servant who served as Governor-General of the Congo Free State and, subsequently, the Belgian Congo for two terms between 1891 and 1912. He was the longest ruling of Belgian colonial governors.
Belgium–Congo relations refers to relations between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The relationship started with the exploration of the Congo river by Henry Morton Stanley.
Équateur District was a former district of the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1914 it became part of former Équateur Province. The district went through various changes of extent and name over the years. The original district roughly corresponds to the current provinces of Équateur and Tshuapa.
In the period from 1885 to 1908, many atrocities were perpetrated in the Congo Free State which, at the time, was a state under the absolute rule of King Leopold II of the Belgians. These atrocities were particularly associated with the labour policies used to collect natural rubber for export. Together with epidemic disease, famine, and a falling birth rate caused by these disruptions, the atrocities contributed to a sharp decline in the Congolese population. The magnitude of the population fall over the period is disputed, with modern estimates ranging from 1.5 million to 13 million.
The Colonial Charter on the Belgian annexation of the Congo Free State was approved by the Belgian Parliament on 18 October 1908. On 15 November 1908, Belgium assumed sovereignty over the territories comprising the Congo Free State, officially making the Belgian Congo a colony of Belgium.
The following lists events that happened during 1908 in the Kingdom of Belgium.
The Districts of the Belgian Congo were the primary administrative divisions when Belgium annexed the Congo Free State in 1908, each administered by a district commissioner. In 1914 they were distributed among four large provinces, with some boundary changes. In 1933 the provinces were restructured into six, again with boundary changes. The number of districts fluctuated between 12 and 26 through splits and consolidations, first rising, then falling, then rising again.
Democratic Republic of the Congo–Turkey relations are the bilateral relations between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Turkey. Turkey has an embassy in Kinshasa since 1974, and the DR Congo opened its embassy in Ankara in 2011.
The following lists events that happened during 1908 in the Belgian Congo.
Relations between the Congo Free State and the United States began after recognition between the two states in 1885 when the Congo Free State was established. After Belgium under Leopold II annexed the Congo Free State in 1908, later becoming Belgian Congo, relations ceased between the two nations.
