The Congo State: Or, the Growth of Civilisation in Central Africa

by Demetrius Charles Boulger

Overview

Written by the historian and biographer Demetrius C. Boulger (1853–1928), this history of early Belgian rule in the Congo was first published in 1898. The book documents nineteenth-century colonial activity after King Leopold II (1835–1909) assumed private control of the Congo Free State following the Berlin Conference in 1884. Exposed by the Casement Report of 1904, Leopold's controversial administration of the territory has become infamous for its exploitation of the local people and natural resources. Boulger's pro-Leopold account describes the Congolese population and environment, the presence and decline of the slave trade in the area, interaction with other European colonial powers, and the introduction of technologies such as the railway and telegraph. Including more than fifty illustrations, this book offers a fascinating insight into nineteenth-century colonial zeal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108050692
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	06/07/2012
Series:	Cambridge Library Collection - African Studies
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	436
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.98(d)

Table of Contents

1. The conception of the Congo state; 2. The first Belgian expeditions; 3. The founding of the state; 4. The Congo and its affluents; 5. The slave trade and its horrors; 6. The earlier campaigns; 7. The operations on the Lomani; 8. The second Brussels Conference and the king's will; 9. The Arab campaign; 10. The later diplomatic arrangement; 11. The extinction of the slave trade; 12. The advance to the Nile; 13. The Congo Public Force; 14. The Batetela mutinies; 15. The state administration; 16. The revenue and the trade of the state; 17. Railways and telegraphs of the Congo; 18. The peoples of the Congo state; 19. The state and its neighbours; 20. Belgium and the Congo; Appendix; Index of subjects.