Colonialism: New Imperialism, the Congo, and Legacies
Periodization and global context
The third and final part of the lecture series on colonialism covers the period of high/new imperialism, beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century. It emphasizes the unprecedented rapidity and magnitude of colonial occupation in Africa.
In Hobbesbawm’s terms, Africa’s “petition of the world” was strikingly new.
From about 1880 to the First World War, there was a systematic push to translate industrial and military supremacy into formal conquest, annexation, and administration.
Geographic scope of formal domination by 1914:
By 1870, only about 10\% of Africa was under formal European control.
By 1914, roughly 90\% of Africa was under formal European control, with Ethiopia and Liberia remaining independent.
In the Pacific, by the end of the nineteenth century there were no independent states left; territory was divided among France, Germany, and the Dutch.
The same pattern applied beyond Africa, particularly in the Pacific, where imperial powers consolidated control by the end of the nineteenth century.
Four core drivers of the scramble for colonies (the lecturer’s framing):
Resources (e.g., tin, copper, oil, rubber, timber, ivory, diamonds, gold).
National prestige and the desire for consolidation and aggrandizement.
Rivalry among European powers fueling competition and urgency.
Search for new markets as several economies faced saturation at home.
The Berlin Conference is described as the mechanism for channeling and managing hostilities outward, turning rivalry into a formalized partitioning of Africa.
Religious and missionary zeal remained a significant driver, linked to a broader civilizing mission. The lecture notes this as a long-standing influence that often preceded formal conquest.
The churches aimed to convert populations deemed heathen to Christianity.
The period is characterized as a classic era of grand missionary endeavor, closely aligned with civilizing missions.
Despite missionary expansion, most clergy remained white; notable gaps included the Catholic church not consecrating its first Asian bishops until the interwar period.
The process of carving up Africa culminated in 1884 at the Berlin Conference, organized by Otto von Bismarck, then-chancellor of Germany, who sought to prevent wars over Africa by formalizing claims.
Transition from informal imperialism to formal direct rule in the late nineteenth century:
Britain promoted indirect rule (administrative control through local structures).
The British model presented indirect rule as a humane, collaborative approach (a “humane colonizer” outlook).
Nigeria is highlighted as a successful case of indirect rule under Lord Lugard/Lugard (spelled variably in the lecture).
The Berlin Conference and the General Act (the conference’s outcome):
Defined spheres of influence and aimed to end slavery by African and Islamic powers.
Guaranteed free trade for the 14 signatories and free passage on the Niger and Congo rivers.
Underpinned by the principle of effective occupation.
The principle of effective occupation (definition and significance):
A power could acquire rights to colonial lands if it possessed them by effective occupation.
This meant possession through treaty, raising a flag, or establishing an administration with the intent to govern.
This concept connected colonial expansion to evolving international law, with ideas of discovery and possession shaping sovereignty claims.
Related ideas include terra nullius (land belonging to no one) and concepts of virgin soil, used to justify occupation elsewhere (e.g., Australia).
The Congo focus: the Berlin Conference’s humanitarian rhetoric and exploitation
The partition of Africa often carried philanthropic and humanitarian undertones used to justify expansion (“preservation of native races” and “amelioration of their condition”).
Darwinian language framed the expansion as a civilizing mission justified by benevolent aims.
Leopold II and the Congo Basin
Leopold II had previously created a philanthropic front, the International African Association, which he converted into the Congo Free State.
He framed aims as suppressing the slave trade, uniting native tribes, modernizing people, spreading religion, and advancing the region’s economy.
With the Berlin Conference’s consent of major powers (including the UK, France, and the US), Leopold gained trusteeship of a vast region under the pretense of ending the slave trade.
Exploitation colonialism
What followed was a stark example of exploitation colonialism: foreign armies conquering a country to control and capitalize on its resources and people.
Colonial institutions often lacked protections for private property or checks against expropriation; the primary aim was resource extraction with minimal investment and maximum control under an authoritarian regime.
The Congo regime prioritized rubber and ivory extraction.
Economic and social mechanisms of rubber extraction
Rubber is abundant in Central Africa but difficult to harvest; rising rubber prices increased coercive extraction.
Leopold faced competition from Asian producers with cheaper rubber, intensifying the demand for high productivity at low cost.
Forced labor, draconian quotas, and coercive methods were employed, including threat or use of violence.
Brutality and human costs
The regime is estimated to have caused up to about 10 million deaths among Congolese people (official counts are unclear).
Practices included torture, murder, rape, arson, and village destruction; infamous policy of amputations when rubber quotas were unmet.
Imperial humanitarianism and anti-slavery reform currents
Amalia Fornacl (likely Amalia Forclas in the transcript) discusses how humanitarian anti-slavery sentiments were revived during 1880s–1940s, contributing to transnational advocacy against empire and for native welfare.
This humanitarianism was embedded in European contexts, with Britain, France, Switzerland, and Italy consolidating control while promoting humane treatment and civilizing justifications.
Growing criticisms and the Morell-Casement axis
Public debate intensified due to reports of exploitation and abuses; the British Crown appointed Roger Casement to investigate.
Edmund Dean Morell, a shipping clerk turned journalist, noticed discrepancies in Congo trade accounting and concluded force was used; he launched a campaign and set up The West African Mail to publicize abuses.
Nathan Alexander notes Morell’s crusade reflected a broader view that Leopold’s regime violated modern standards of colonialism.
Morell’s activism drew in humanitarian networks, missionaries in the Congo, members of the Antislavery and Aborigines Protection Society, commercial and political elites, and even political figures abroad.
Leopold countered through propaganda and attempted to restrict information flow, while Morell publicized findings across media.
The campaign gained international momentum when Morell sought American support and gained Roosevelt’s backing.
Coalition for reform and the eventual transfer of the Congo
A broad coalition formed, including liberals, the Catholic Church, and members of the Labour Party, along with missionaries and anti-slavery societies.
Pressure culminated in Leopold being compelled to establish a commission of inquiry; natives and missionaries provided crucial testimony.
The Morell campaign helped publish the commission’s evidence in newspapers, pushing Belgium to act.
Ultimately, Leopold ceded the Congo Free State to Belgium; the territory became the Belgian Congo and Leopold faced costly consequences for his regime.
The Belgian Parliament paid compensation (the lecture mentions a substantial sum and notes Leopold’s attempts to hide or burn archives; the transfer is historically dated to around 1908).
Notable sources and recommendations
The lecture recommends Adam Hochschild’s book King Leopold’s Ghost as a detailed account of these events, including Morell’s role and the broader human-rights context.
Legacy and long-term impact
The twin processes of colonialism and imperialism fundamentally shaped the modern world, affecting political borders, cultural practices, and global economic networks.
Specific legacies include:
Persistent labor exploitation and long-term poverty in many former colonies, with lasting effects on political and economic development.
Artificial borders that cut across ethnic groups and natural boundaries, leading to dispossession, family breakups, ethnic tensions, and enduring borderland instability.
The cultural and psychological impact of colonial domination, including disrupted languages and cultural identities, and the ongoing process of Westernization in some contexts.
The argument (as framed by Franz Fanon) that colonial domination warped personal and collective identities, extending beyond political control to shape language, culture, and psychology.
A paradoxical legacy where education and Westernization created conditions for anti-imperialist leadership while the empire’s structures had created long-standing grievances.
Orientialism (as discussed by Said) describing how the West has historically framed the East in ways that justified imperial attitudes and governance.
The resilience of a particular ideology that claimed colonialism served a benevolent or civilizing purpose, a narrative that persists in various forms and rhetorics in contemporary discourse.
The idea of “unfinished business”: the past continues to shape present politics and social justice struggles, with ongoing demands for truth-telling and restitution from minority and indigenous communities.
Contemporary echoes and examples
The Black Lives Matter movement is cited as evidence of ongoing reckoning with the colonial past and its legacies.
The lecture points to ongoing debates around truth-telling, redress, and restitution as part of addressing historic injustices.
The removal of Leopold statues during modern anti-colonial and anti-racist movements is used as a symbol of confronting imperial legacies.
Concluding reflections and links to broader themes
The discussion situates colonialism and imperialism as the origins of many modern political borders and global economic structures, while also highlighting the ethical and humanitarian critiques that emerged alongside, and sometimes in opposition to, imperial expansion.
The narrative invites students to connect these episodes to broader debates about empire, civilization, and the limits of humanitarian justifications for domination.
The series closes with a reminder that the colonial past is not merely historical but remains an active, contested part of contemporary politics and identity formations.
The lecture references for further reading
Adam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa (recommended for a detailed account of Morell and Leopold’s Congo regime).
The broader theoretical frameworks referenced include the civilizing mission, imperial humanitarianism, orientalism, and postcolonial critiques (e.g., Fanon, Said).
Key terms and concepts to review
New/High Imperialism; effective occupation; terra nullius; civilizing mission; imperial humanitarianism; indirect rule; direct rule; spheres of influence; General Act (Berlin Conference 1884); Congo Free State; Force Publique; extraction colonialism; anti-slavery/aborigines protection movements; truth and restitution in postcolonial contexts.
Numerical anchors to remember
Africa under formal European control: from ~10\% in 1870 to ~90\% in 1914.
The signatories and framework: 14 signatories; free trade and passage on major rivers (Niger and Congo).
Estimated deaths in the Congo under Leopold: ≈ 10\times 10^6 (ten million).
Financial settlement: the transfer and compensation to Leopold involved a substantial sum (the lecturer cites \$50{,}000{,}000).
Suggested synthesis questions for study
How did the Berlin Conference restructure international law and sovereignty through the principle of effective occupation?
In what ways did humanitarian rhetoric both justify and criticize colonial violence, particularly in Leopold’s Congo?
How did indirect rule differ from direct rule in practice, and what were Britain’s claimed humanitarian justifications?
How do concepts like orientalism and Fanon’s critique illuminate the long-term psychological and cultural legacies of empire?
What are the contemporary implications of artificial borders created during the colonial period, and how do they relate to current debates on restitution and redress?