![Recognizing the Swahili-Arab presence east of the Lualaba River,
Stanley seems to have convinced King Leopold to leave this area out of
their Ostend map of the Congo. He justified his respect for Arab
authority by the fact that ‘we have come in presence of a people who
might with some justice present [a] counterclaim to the territory, were
we to cross the Lualaba’. 33 Moreover, the king, on Stanley’s advice, did
collaborate with the Swahili-Arabs, as the latter provided the CFS with
‘freed slaves’ as labourers and soldiers in exchange for money, while the
two sides were also united in exploiting rivalries between the major
powers. 34 Competition over the control of ivory, and not humanitarian
impulse, pushed Leopold to change his Arab policy from collaboration
to confrontation. Thus, between 1892 and 1894, the war against Swahili-
Arab economic and political power was disguised as a Christian anti-
slavery crusade by a colonial state whose brutal regime exceeded the
worst horrors of Arab slavery.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:p7sqtnmsxwxg6tp6q2nlpw7v/bafkreiaqpzcmu5evoyt6trhwgiladnsduujoesfufe66pb7sj3uwe7iz5a)
Recognizing the Swahili-Arab presence east of the Lualaba River, Stanley seems to have convinced King Leopold to leave this area out of their Ostend map of the Congo. He justified his respect for Arab authority by the fact that ‘we have come in presence of a people who might with some justice present [a] counterclaim to the territory, were we to cross the Lualaba’. 33 Moreover, the king, on Stanley’s advice, did collaborate with the Swahili-Arabs, as the latter provided the CFS with ‘freed slaves’ as labourers and soldiers in exchange for money, while the two sides were also united in exploiting rivalries between the major powers. 34 Competition over the control of ivory, and not humanitarian impulse, pushed Leopold to change his Arab policy from collaboration to confrontation. Thus, between 1892 and 1894, the war against Swahili- Arab economic and political power was disguised as a Christian anti- slavery crusade by a colonial state whose brutal regime exceeded the worst horrors of Arab slavery.
Contrary to the free trade provisions of the Berlin Act, King Leopold proceeded to establish an economy controlled by the royal family and a few powerful trusts, including the Société générale de Belgique (SGB) and the Baron Empain banking group. 35 Although his preference was for Belgian capital, the emerging globalization of capitalist exploitation and the king’s own interest in maintaining good relations with the major powers did provide an entry to the vast riches of the Congo for the bourgeoisies of other imperialist countries. Given the time it takes to build railroads, harbours and mining facilities, the economic role of most trusts yielded dividends only in the post-Leopoldian era. During his tenure, the king derived much of his wealth from the collection of rubber and ivory through forced labour.
The invention of the pneumatic or inflatable rubber tyre by the Scottish veterinary surgeon John B. Dunlop in 1887–88 and Edouard Michelin’s patent of the tyre in 1891 resulted in the mass production of bicycles and the much-needed supply of a major component for the motor vehicle. These two developments created a large market for rubber tyres in the world economy. 36 King Leopold sought to capitalize on the abundance of rubber trees in the Congo to reap the rewards of the high demand for rubber on the world market.
Copy of The Congo from Leopold to Kabila - Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja
An excerpt from The Congo from Leopold to Kabila - by Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja #DRC #freeDRC
