#OtD 22 Jul 1913 after German parliament approved a huge military bill, Rosa Luxemburg gave a speech saying that parliamentarianism wasn't enough to defend workers and that political mass strikes were a vital weapon in our arsenal. More by and about Rosa: shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/...
13/
Imperialism smiles while it kills. But it always ends the same: Dead leaders. Dead children. Wealth for the few.
12/
The U.S. didn’t just destroy a democracy.
It destroyed a future for profit.
Lumumba’s dream was buried with his body.
11/
Today, Congo still supplies the West with minerals especially for batteries, phones, and electric cars. Much of it is mined by children. The neocolonial machine never stopped.
10/
By the 1990s, Congo was bankrupt and broken.
Mobutu fled during civil war.
But the chaos the U.S. helped create never ended. Millions have died in wars over the resources Lumumba tried to protect.
9/
The U.S. wasn’t defending democracy.
It was protecting access to minerals especially cobalt and uranium, critical for weapons and tech.
8/
Mobutu banned political opposition. He jailed or killed dissidents. He lived in gold palaces while the people starved. Washington kept the money flowing.
7/
After Lumumba’s murder, the U.S. backed a military strongman: Joseph Mobutu.
He ruled Congo (renamed Zaire) for 32 years stealing billions while U.S. presidents praised him as an “ally.”
6/
The U.S. and Belgium covered it up.
Lumumba’s family was never allowed to bury his body.
All that remained was a single gold tooth, stolen as a trophy by a Belgian officer.
5/
The CIA tried poisoning him.
When that failed, they turned him over to Belgian-backed rebels, who tortured and executed him on January 17, 1961.
His body was dissolved in acid.
4/
The CIA labeled Lumumba a “dangerous communist” though he wasn’t. President Eisenhower reportedly gave direct approval to have him assassinated.
3/
Within weeks of independence, the U.S. and Belgium moved to destabilize the new government.
They funded mutinies.
They backed breakaway regions like Katanga, where U.S. and Belgian corporations had mining interests.
2/
Why?
Lumumba refused to be a puppet. He wanted control of Congo’s vast resources: cobalt, uranium, diamonds.
The same uranium that powered the Hiroshima bomb came from Congolese mines.
1/
In 1960, the Congo won independence from Belgium.
Its first elected Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, dreamed of a united, self-determined Africa.
The U.S. and Belgium saw him as a threat.
🧵 The U.S. Murdered Congo’s First Elected Leader Then Backed a Dictator for 30 Years
14/
The Philippine-American War wasn’t an accident. It was the birth of American empire built on invasion, torture, genocide, and lies.
13/
The war is rarely mentioned in U.S. history books.
No war memorials. No presidential apologies.
But it was one of America’s deadliest, most racist, most brutal wars.
12/
The war officially “ended” in 1902. But the U.S. stayed for nearly 50 more years, running the Philippines as a colony.
Rebellions and resistance continued for decades.
11/
President Theodore Roosevelt called the war a success.
He praised U.S. troops for their "valor" and "restraint" even after news of atrocities spread.
He covered for war criminals and celebrated empire.
10/
By 1902, between 200,000 and 300,000 Filipinos were dead.
Most were civilians. This was mass death a war crime on a national scale.
9/
The U.S. created concentration camps where civilians were imprisoned.
Disease, hunger, and neglect killed thousands.,
It was a war not just on rebels but on the people themselves.
8/
General Jacob Smith ordered troops in Samar to:
“Kill everyone over 10.
Make the island a howling wilderness.”
This was not rogue behavior.
It was official policy.
7/
The U.S. military used the "water cure" an early form of waterboarding on prisoners.
Men were tortured until they drowned, or confessed.
It was systematic and widespread.
6/
U.S. troops were ordered to burn villages, kill suspected rebels, and take no prisoners.
Letters from soldiers spoke of “hunting” Filipinos like animals.
Entire towns were razed.
5/
Thus began the Philippine-American War a brutal war of occupation.
One side fought for freedom.
The other for empire.,
4/
In 1899, Filipinos declared independence.
Aguinaldo told the Americans: "Thanks for the help now go."
The U.S. refused.
Instead, it invaded.
3/
After Spain surrendered, the U.S. didn’t leave. It bought the Philippines for $20 million as if a nation was property.
President William McKinley said God had told him to "Christianize and civilize" the Filipinos who were already Christian.
2/
In 1898, the U.S. entered the Spanish-American War.
Filipinos welcomed American help, believing they were allies in the fight for freedom.
They were wrong.
1/
In 1896, Filipinos began a revolution against Spanish colonial rule. Led by Emilio Aguinaldo, they were fighting for independence and they were winning.
Then the U.S. showed up.
🧵 How the U.S. Crushed a Filipino Revolution and Tried to Erase It