The formation of the image of the Free State of the Congo in world public opinion

Despite the fact that the first contacts of Portuguese seafarers with the peoples of Central Africa living on the Atlantic coast are dated con. XIV - beg. XV centuries., Ser. XIX century the vast interior of the Congo Basin has not yet been explored by European pioneers.

The period of the 1870s - 1880s. became the beginning of the process of active territorial division of the African continent between European states. Many factors served as a prerequisite for this, such as the expected economic benefits from the exploitation of new territories rich in natural resources, the possibility of opening new markets for European products, the prestige of owning overseas colonies, the intensification of the missionary activity of Europeans, etc. ^[1] Observed in Europe and the USA in the 1870s. a period of prolonged economic crisis and recession, called the Long Depression , only spurred the desire of the European powers for new conquests in Africa.

One of the most active participants in the so-called the race for Africa was the king of Belgium Leopold II, who ascended the throne in 1865. The idea of ​​owning overseas colonies was not popular among the Belgian public, which could not be said about the king of the country. Over the years, he made plans to acquire a colony in order to realize his ambitions and find a new source of income for himself - but his attempts to buy the Philippines and Taiwan, investing in the construction of the Suez Canal and railways in China ^[2] ended in nothing . Leopold drew attention to Central Africa under the impression of the book of traveler Georg August Schweinfurt “In the heart of Africa”, in which he proposed the idea of ​​creating a Negro state under a European protectorate ^[3] . The uncertainty of the political affiliation of this region in the context of the beginning of the process of its study by Europeans prompted Leopold II to make every effort to create a colony in Africa.

Geographic Conference in Brussels

Leopold initiated the holding of a geographic conference in Brussels in September 1876 on African exploration. It was attended by 34 foreigners and 13 Belgians, and the well-known Russian researcher Pyotr Semyonov (future Semyonov-Tien Shan), who was little versed in African problems, was elected chairman of the conference. These circumstances enabled the king to manipulate the course of discussions in his favor ^[4] .

The main motive for organizing this conference for Leopold was the formation in the world public opinion of the image of the king as a philanthropist, for whom the only goal of building a separate state in Africa is to introduce local peoples to the "benefits of civilization" and "free trade", resolve conflicts between them peacefully, fight with the Arab slave trade in the region, as well as new scientific discoveries, rather than financial gain ^[5] .

During the conference, possible ways of exploring the areas of the Congo Basin were identified, as well as the approximate location of research bases. However, the main decision of the conference was the establishment of the International African Association (French Association Internationale Africaine), the chairman of which was elected Leopold II himself, and the representatives of the royal houses of Europe were elected chairmen of its national committees. Under the auspices of this organization, it was planned to organize research expeditions to Central Africa ^[6] .

Congo Free State Process

In August 1877, a three-year expedition led by researcher Henry Morton Stanley ended, during which he was able to trace the entire course of the Congo River from its origins to its confluence with the Atlantic Ocean ^[7] . The end of this journey was a sensation. The importance of opening new waterways into the continent was appreciated by King Leopold. He decided to use Stanley's fame to advance his own interests. In a letter to the Belgian Ambassador to Great Britain, Leopold wrote: “I’m sure that if I openly give Stanley the task of acquiring separate territories for me in any part of Africa, the British will stop me ... Therefore, I believe that a research expedition should be organized under Stanley’s leadership which will not alert anyone and as a result of which bases will be created that we will capture a little later ” ^[8] . In addition, Stanley was well known for being a supporter of the establishment of a British colony in the Congo Basin.

In 1878, during a personal meeting, Leopold invited Stanley to collaborate with the newly formed International Association for the Study and Civilization of Central Africa. Stanley gave a positive answer. In 1879, Stanley went on a new expedition to the Congo, financed from the funds of the Belgian king. Her goal was to establish the actual power of the Leopold agents on the shores of the Congo by concluding agreements with the leaders of the local tribes and the elders of the villages, as well as the construction of land roads along the river and river crossings. In per. floor. 1880s Leopold was also sponsored by Herman Wisman's expedition to explore the Kasai River Basin, one of the tributaries of the Congo ^[9] .

In parallel with the organization of expeditions, Leopold launched an active campaign to promote his own “philanthropic” aspirations in the media and through his agents of influence in various countries. One of them was the former US ambassador to Belgium, Henry Shelton Sanford , who spoke to the American public in which he extolled the king and his achievements in Africa. In addition, Leopold organized the publication of articles on research in Africa and their goals in newspapers in various European countries. In his own speeches, the king especially emphasized the desire to create a “confederation of free Negro republics,” which he himself will protect, as well as to ensure freedom of trade in the vast territories of Central Africa, and therefore the opening of a natural resource-rich internal market for capitalist expansion, which impressed the public and business circles of European countries and the United States ^[10] .

However, for the final consolidation of the Congo river basin in the hands of Leopold II, legal registration of its claims was required. To do this, the king used the contradictions between the powers of Europe: first of all, between Britain and France, which could seriously limit the size of the territory that Leopold considered his own, as well as Portugal and Germany, who also began to expand their colonial possessions in Africa. Leopold ceded to France part of the northern basin of the Congo and concluded an agreement with her that he would give France the priority right to purchase the territory of the Congo if the king considered it possible to sell it. He made concessions to Portugal as well, giving her part of the territory south of the mouth of the Congo. The British government was satisfied with the king's promises to maintain a free trade regime and conclude profitable contracts with British companies in the future. It was possible to agree with the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck ^[11] .

The first country to officially recognize Leopold’s claim to Congo was the United States. On April 22, 1884, the US Secretary of State issued a declaration that “... the US government announces its support and endorsement of the humane goals of the International Association for the Study and Civilization of Central Africa ... and recognizes the flag of the International African Association as the flag of a friendly state” ^[12] . This recognition was the result of active lobbying by Leopold spokesman Henry Sanford, who was able to enlist the support of American senators and US President Chester Arthur . In the United States, the idea of ​​creating an independent African state under the tutelage of a European country was popular among some elites in the southern states who were afraid of an uncontrolled increase in the US black population after the abolition of slavery and sought to resettle some of them to Africa. This position was shared by the chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, John Tyler Morgan, who became one of the main supporters of Leopold

^[13] .

The recognition of the United States allowed the King of Belgium to have full reason to participate in the Berlin Conference on Africa , which took place in November 1884 - February 1885. The final act of the conference of February 14 (26), 1885, in fact recognized the establishment of Leopold’s authority over the territory of the Congo Basin and determined its approximate boundaries. The regime of free trade and freedom of navigation was confirmed, as well as the absence of import duties, and Article VI of the Act obliged “all powers ... to vigilantly take care of preserving the native population and improving their moral and material situation", and also proclaimed special patronage of the activities of Christian missionaries in Africa ^[14] .

Despite the fact that the decisions of the Berlin Conference and individual countries officially recognized the activities created by the king of the International African Association and the International Association for the Study and Civilization of Central Africa, on May 29, 1885 a decree of Leopold II proclaimed the creation of the Free State of Congo, which became personal possession of the Belgian King, but not a colony of Belgium.

Thus, Leopold, using the methods of public diplomacy, namely the slogans of "civilizational activity" and assurances about the free access of representatives of all countries to the resources of the Congo Basin, was able to substantiate and secure his claims to a vast territory in Africa.

Colonial exploitation system in the Congo Free State

The first ten years of the existence of the Free State of the Congo (1885-1895), the income from activities on its territory could not cover the costs of it, which forced Leopold II to spend his own money to support the Congo administration and research expeditions, issue shares and borrow money from the Belgian government ^[15] . These circumstances required a change in approaches to the organization of trade and exploitation of resources on the territory of the Free State.

Leopold used the holding of the International Conference on Combating the Slave Trade in 1889-1890 in Brussels. in order to partially change the conditions of the Berlin Conference. The propaganda of the efforts of the agents of the Free State of the Congo aimed at combating Arab slave traders in the east of the country is largely symbolic, as this was not the main goal of the king’s policy, in addition, numerous facts of redemption by agents of the Free State of slaves from slave traders for using them as porters or soldiers were noted, and in 1887 the king even appointed one of the main slave traders in the region Tippu Chiba governor of the eastern province ^16] - allowed him to justify the introduction of duties on goods imported into the Congo ^[17] .

1890s characterized by the approval of a system of colonial exploitation, the basis of which was "the creation of an army strong enough to force the natives to pay the tax with ivory and rubber " ^[18] . Ivory and wild-growing rubber became the basis of exports from the Free State of the Congo (for example, in 1900 the export of these goods accounted for about 95% of the total export ^[19] ). The main beneficiaries of income from the extraction of natural resources of the Congo were King Leopold, who personally earned tax revenues from state lands and who was a shareholder of many companies operating in the Free State, as well as the heads of these concession companies.

The collection of wild rubber required a lot of time and effort. Using as justification the thesis about the mental and moral inferiority of Africans, as well as their predisposition to a lazy way of life, because of which they cannot learn “the whole transformative power of creative labor” ^[20] , the forced labor of the local population was widely used to collect rubber, when carrying goods and building railways. Moreover, all these types of work were characterized by a high mortality rate, with which the colonial authorities did not fight in any way. For example, during the construction of the railway along the Congo River in 1890-1898. only according to official data, 1800 local residents died, but some researchers indicate that there were many times more victims ^[21] .

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  Photograph of Congo residents with their hands cut off as a punishment, approx. 1900

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  Punishment in the Free State of Congo

For the period of the collection of rubber, colonial agents took hostage women and children of workers with the aim of forcing the latter into exhausting work without the right to rest. The total amount of in-kind tax was not established and therefore determined by local officials, which led to numerous abuses on their part, because for large volumes of collected rubber or ivory, they received cash bonuses from the central administration ^[22] . As punishment for insufficient volumes of collected rubber, chopping off of hands or flogging was often used, often ending in the death of the punished.

There were frequent cases of the destruction of rebellious villages and the murders of their inhabitants.

To suppress the numerous uprisings of the tribes living in the Congo against the terror of the colonial administration, in 1888 Social Forces were organized (French Force Publique), into whose ranks local residents were forcibly sent. The officers in the troops were Europeans hired in various European countries ^[23] . To the beginning XX century in the ranks of the Social Forces there were 19 thousand people, which made them the most numerous armed forces in Central Africa ^[24] .

The First Revealing of Leopold Propaganda

The first person to openly protest against the colonial terror in the Congo was the American black journalist and historian George Washington Williams , who traveled to the Free State in 1890. Prior to that, he had personally met Leopold II and spoke approvingly of the king's activities, nurturing recruitment ideas African-Americans to work in Africa, where they could get rid of the oppression that they have so far suffered in the USA ^[25] .

Having witnessed the real order in the Leopold colony, he published an “Open Letter to the King of Belgium and the Ruler of the Free State of the Congo,” and a little later, a “Report to the President of the United States on the Free State of the Congo,” in which he described numerous facts of abuse of state agents and concession representatives Africans, as well as deceiving local rulers in order to convince them to sign treaties unfavorable for them with Europeans. He openly condemned violent management practices and defined them as crimes against humanity; He called the free state "Siberia of the African continent" ^[26] . Williams proposed creating a new state entity on the territory of the Congo Basin, which would be self-governing and would be under the protectorate of the international community.

The Open Letter was published as a separate brochure, which was published in numerous editions in Europe and the USA and became the subject of wide discussion among the public. Numerous articles have been published in American and European newspapers, raising the question of the need to organize an investigation into the facts cited by Williams. Leopold, through the organization of publications in various print media, mainly the Belgian ones (for example, Journal de Bruxelles, Le Mouvement Geographique), as well as the publication of a special report on the situation in the Congo by representatives of the colonial administration, launched a campaign to refute Williams's allegations , as well as his discrediting using some unseemly facts of his biography. In the end, Williams died on August 2, 1891, and never managed to draw enough public attention to this problem.

In addition to Williams, numerous Christian preachers were also witnesses of atrocities against the local population, who were among the first to condemn the colonial order in the Free State of the Congo. And while Catholic missionaries, taking advantage of the king’s special patronage, were actually part of the colonial administration and, for example, were involved in the forced removal of children from families and used them as free labor ^[27] , then Protestant preachers from the USA, Sweden, and Great Britain were freer in their actions, and their work caused certain concerns among the authorities.

One of those who actively spoke out against the governing system in the Congo in the European and American press was the Presbyterian priest William Shepard, who became the first black preacher in the Congo ^[28] . For about 20 years, he published numerous letters and articles in missionary newspapers and delivered public speeches describing the true state of affairs in the colony and exposing the actions of the colonial administration. In 1909, he and the head of the Presbyterian mission in the Congo, William Morrison, appeared in court in Leopoldville on charges of slandering employees of one of the firms operating in the country ^[29] .

Other prominent critics of Leopold were the Swedish Baptist missionary Edward Wilhelm Sjöblom and chairman of the Aboriginal Defense Society Henry Richard Fox Born.

Fiction also became a kind of protest against the king. Based on his impressions of his six-month stay in the Congo in 1890, an English writer of Polish descent Joseph Conrad wrote and published in 1899 his story Heart of Darkness , which described individual examples of the cruelties of the colonial regime.

Leopold effectively fought against the revelations from the preachers, using pressure on the leadership of the missions and threatening them with all sorts of obstacles and restrictions that the colonial administration could impose on their activities in the country. In addition, the king made official statements that he was shocked by the facts of cruelty against the inhabitants of the Congo, and interpreted them as separate episodes that in no way reflect the whole picture of what is happening there. To completely prevent all future accusations in 1896, Leopold appointed a Commission for the Protection of Aborigines, of which three Catholic and three Protestant missionaries became members. However, the commission’s work did not actually take place, as its members were not able to visit the areas where the compulsory collection of rubber was most actively practiced ^[30] .

In 1897, the World Exhibition was held in Brussels, during which a separate exhibition of achievements was organized to familiarize the people of the Congo with the benefits of "civilization". This strengthened Leopold II's reputation as a philanthropist.

E.D. Morel and R. Casement. Congo Reform Association Activities

The initiator of a truly international public campaign against the system of cruel exploitation of the population of the Congo was an employee of a trading company that carried out sea transportation of goods to the Free State and back, Edmund Dene Morel . He gained access to Congo's trade statistics, from which it followed that valuable goods — ivory and rubber — were exported from the country, while the main import items were supplies — mainly weapons and ammunition ^[31] . Moreover, the official statistics of the Free State did not correspond to the data contained in the reports of the company in which he worked. All this raised doubts about the true state of affairs in the colony.

Morel began to publish articles on the Congo in a British newspaper specializing in African affairs, but faced with restrictions on the choice of topics for articles by its editor-in-chief, in 1903 he established his own periodical, the West African Mail, which for many years became the main source of revelations in Congo ^[32] .

In his articles and pamphlets, Morel cited numerous facts of abuse by the representatives of the colonial administration against the inhabitants of the Congo. Information was provided to him by informants who worked directly with government agencies in the Congo (for example, Hezekiah Andrew Shanu, who was eventually exposed and committed to suicide) or had access to the Free State archive located in Brussels (like for example, veteran of the Social Forces Raymond de Greuze). In addition, official documentation of companies operating in the Congo, as well as testimony of Protestant missionaries, served as sources of information ^[33] .

Edmund Morel also wrote about the total number of victims of colonial arbitrariness in the Congo: “... According to rough estimates, the size of his (Congo's Free State) population varied from 20 to 40 million people. No one cited figures below 20 million ... A thorough study shows that 10 million people became victims of this system, according to conservative estimates ” ^[34] .

Morel's activities contributed to the start of the discussion of cases in the Congo, not only in the Belgian, but also in the British Parliament. Morel also received support from human rights organizations such as the Aboriginal Defense Society and the Anti Slavery Society.

A particular impetus to the discussion about the state of affairs in the Congo was given by the report of the British Consul in the Congo, Roger Casement, on the situation in the Free State, which he presented to the British Foreign Office in 1903. For several months he traveled to remote inner regions of the country and collected eyewitness accounts of cruelty colonial administration. The conclusions of the report fully confirmed the information that Morel cited in his articles and speeches ^[31] . The report, presented to the general public in 1904, however, was released only with certain abbreviations.

Чтобы не допустить преждевременного окончания обсуждения положения в Конго, Кейсмент и Морель решили объединить свои усилия. В ноябре 1903 г. была учреждена Ассоциация по проведению реформ в Конго (англ. Congo Reform Assosiation), руководителем которой стал Морель. Деятельность Ассоциации была сосредоточена на финансировании публикаций, содержащих критику системы управления в Конго, а также оказании давления на правительства Бельгии, Британии и США с целью проведения реформирования колониального управления в Свободном государстве.

В этот период Морель выпустил несколько книг и брошюр о положении в Конго («The Congo Horrors» (1903), «The Congo Slave State» (1903), «Red Rubber» (1904) и др.). Они активно обсуждались в европейской и американской прессе. Помимо печатных изданий также использовались и другие средства обработки общественного мнения – например, фотография. Безусловно, многочисленные изображения людей с отрубленными руками или закованных в кандалы женщин и детей вызывали волну негодования в мировом общественном мнении. Мощным каналом воздействия были и журнальные и газетные карикатуры на короля и его «цивилизаторскую» деятельность. Например, на одной из карикатур в журнале «Punch» Леопольда сравнивали с султаном Османской империи Абдул-Хамидом II , которого так же обвиняли в геноциде национальных меньшинств в Турции.

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  Карикатура из журнала "Punch", 1906

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  Титульный лист книги Э.Д. Мореля "Red Rubber" ("Красный каучук")

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  Фотографии жителей Конго с отрубленными руками (из книги М. Твена "Монолог короля Леопольда в защиту его владычества в Конго")

Антилеопольдовская критика приняла общемировые масштабы – в 1902-1912 гг. в американских и европейских газетах было выпущено в общей сложности около 4194 статей и графических изображений, которые тем или иным образом затрагивали тему жестокостей колониального режима в Конго ^[35] .

Вскоре после образования Ассоциации по проведению реформ в Конго её национальные комитеты были сформированы во многих странах мира. Ряд акций в поддержку действий Ассоциации были проведены в странах Европы, США, Австралии и Новой Зеландии. К движению протеста присоединились такие общественные деятели, как писатели Анатоль Франс , Артур Конан Дойль и Марк Твен , британский премьер-министр Эдвард Грей , президент США Теодор Рузвельт и др. ^[36]

Контрпропаганда Леопольда II

В качестве ответа на критику Леопольд решил использовать уже многократно опробованные методы. В газетных статьях, опубликованных за счёт короля, сообщалось, как например в «La Tribune Congolaise», что «несчастные, которым отрубили руки, были больны, и удаление руки стало необходимой хирургической операцией» ^[37] . Леопольд также отправлял своих агентов для сбора информации о фактах жестокостей по отношению к местному населению в британских колониях, чтобы с их помощью поднять волну критики против самих англичан.

Кроме того, король в 1905-1906 гг. организовал для британских публицистов Уильяма Маунтморреса и Мэри Френч Шелдон поездки в Конго, по результатам которых под их авторством были опубликованы путевые заметки, в которых опровергались жестокости колониального режима и в целом деятельность властей Свободного государства оценивалась положительно ^[38] .

С целью недопущения утечек информации был установлен режим наблюдения за миссионерами, путешественниками и чиновниками, подозреваемыми в передаче информации о положении дел в Конго Морелю и его сторонникам ^[39] .

В сентябре 1904 г. в Брюсселе было создано Пресс-бюро, которое тайно спонсировало публикацию нескольких газет и журнала «Новая Африка – Правда о Конго» в Эдинбурге. За счёт Леопольда было издано множество брошюр, положительно освещавших жизнь в Конго; корреспонденты газет «Times of London» и «Kölnische Zeitung» в Брюсселе писали хвалебные статьи о Конго, будучи платными агентами Леопольда ^[40] . В США профессор Чикагского университета Фредерик Старр опубликовал в газете «Chicago Daily Tribune» несколько статей, позднее изданных в качестве отдельной брошюры под названием «Правда о Свободном государстве Конго», в которых опровергались обвинения против созданной королём системы эксплуатации в Конго ^[41] .

Леопольд также занимался и политическим лоббизмом и пытался склонить ряд американских сенаторов на свою сторону, даровав им отдельные концессии в Конго ^[42] . В 1906 г. благодаря информации, предоставленной газете «New York American» одним из лоббистов Леопольда в США Генри Ковальски, была вскрыта сеть влияния короля на членов Конгресса США ^[43] .

Под нажимом критики власти Свободного государства Конго периодически устраивали показательные суды над отдельными офицерами Общественных сил или чиновниками администрации, обвиняемыми в злоупотреблениях и массовых убийствах. Однако обычно обвиняемые приговаривались к незначительным срокам заключения, а зачастую выходили на свободу даже раньше его окончания ^[44] . Все эти меры не могли привести к прекращению систематической жестокой эксплуатации жителей Конго.

В 1904-1905 гг. в Конго работала специальная комиссия по расследованию фактов злоупотреблений колониальной администрации, фактическим руководителем которой был итальянец, который многие годы работал судьёй в Конго, Джакомо Ниско. Комиссия была образована по распоряжению короля с целью «независимой» проверки всех сведений о жестокостях колониальных чиновников. Однако к большому огорчению Леопольда в докладе комиссии были полностью подтверждены многочисленные факты издевательств и злоупотреблений в Свободном государстве. В ноябре 1905 г. сильно сокращенный доклад был представлен публике ^[45] . Лишь в 1980-е гг. была опубликована его полная версия с личными показаниями свидетелей ^[46] .

Преобразование Конго в бельгийскую колонию. Завершение кампании

В конце концов, находясь под шквалом критики, обоснованной неопровержимыми фактами, король вступил в переговоры с бельгийским парламентом о передаче Конго во владение Бельгии. Специальным декретом Леопольда II от 15 ноября 1908 г. Свободное государство Конго было объявлено колонией Бельгии ^[47] .

После 1908 г. в течение нескольких лет под эгидой Ассоциации по проведению реформ в Конго осуществлялись отдельные акции в поддержку изменений системы управления в колонии, однако они привлекали всё меньшее количество сторонников. В июне 1913 г. Морель и руководство Ассоциации объявили о прекращении её деятельности ^[48] .

С формальной передачей Конго во владение Бельгии система жесточайшей эксплуатации населения бассейна реки Конго видоизменилась, однако не прекратила полностью своего существования. Практика принудительного труда для сбора хлопка, каучука и др. на плантациях наблюдалась и после 1908 г. Помимо этого, налоговое бремя на местное население постоянно росло, что негативным образом сказывалось на развитии сельской местности ^[49] .

Отмечается также, что основными выгодоприобретателями от антилеопольдовской кампании являлись деловые круги европейских стран и США, которые были недовольны ограничениями, наложенными властями Свободного государства на деятельность концессионных компаний и свободу торговли и судоходства в стране в целом. Последователи такой трактовки полагают, что международное движение, возглавляемое Э. Морелем и Р. Кейсментом, фактически представляло интересы европейских и американских монополий и уничтожало барьеры на пути к дальнейшей эксплуатации Конго – таким образом, деятельность Ассоциации по проведению реформ в Конго лишь способствовала новому переделу сфер влияния на внутреннем рынке колонии ^[36] .

Исследователи отмечают также ограниченность кампании против режима эксплуатации в Свободном государстве Конго только проблемами одной территории, в то время как злоупотребления и жестокость по отношению к местному населению со стороны представителей колониальной администрации происходили в африканских колониях повсеместно (например, аналогичные бельгийским методы управления практиковались на территории соседнего Французского Конго), однако они не попали под прицел критики со стороны общественности. Так, Эдмунд Морель главной целью руководимого им движения считал осуждение методов управления в Конго, противопоставляя их, как он полагал, «узаконенной» колонизации африканских земель англичанами, уважавших права собственности местного населения на землю и способствовавших свободе обмена между африканцами и европейцами. Таким образом, кампания против Леопольда была фактически направлена на оправдание более гибких и действенных форм эксплуатации ^[50] .