Africa Central Imperialism
Many places have been affected by imperialism over the years. Places like the Americas and Australia are included. Central Africa is no exception. Over the years, the countries of central Africa have been ruled by many other overseas countries. An example of this is the Congo (both of the Congos; the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo) were ruled by the Belgians. Most of us know the atrocities that went down there.
But what most of us don't know is the lasting effect imperialism had on Africa. I'm not going to talk about all of Africa, that would take too long. I'm just going to briefly talk about the the effects imperialism had on Central Africa.
So what you are probably thinking about is: what were some of the lasting effects imperialism had on Central Africa? Well, I'm going to tell you now. One of the problems imperialism brought was, when it was taken away, it left the people of central Africa with no idea of how to run a government. Let's look at what happened to the Congolese people. Belgium came in and took over all of the land and forced the Congolese into service to them for years upon years. They never let the Congolese have a say in anything, especially in government. Then one day the Belgiums decided to leave the Congo and grant the Congolese people their independence. After they set up a hastily thrown together government and an election for the Congolese people, the Belgian government left. Isn't that just nice? The Congolese have become independent; Belgium has finally left them alone. That's fine and dandy and all except that the Congolese had no idea how to run a country, and after two weeks of being independent, the Congo was thrown into civil war. Well, after years of being independent, both of the Congos are not stable. They are run by warlords and dictators. What I am trying to say is that, because of imperialism, the Congo and other countries like it don't have stable governments.
Since the countries in central Africa didn't have a stable government due to imperialism, that means they also didn't have a stable economy. Lets look at the Congo again to see examples of this. When King Leopold ruled the Congo, he had an economy set up so that only he made money. By doing this, he kept the Congolese in a position where they were dependent on him to survive. That's nice, but when Leopold and the Beglian government left the Congo, they left the Congo with no stable economic system. So on top of Beglium leaving the Congo without teaching them how to run a government, they left them without an economy or really a good idea on how to hold a stable economy as well. So without a stable economy or government, a country tends to fail and die. Plus all of the problems that come with not having a stable economy, like famine and poverty, came from imperialism.
Can you see some of the lasting effects imperialism has had on central African countries? Most of the effects that came out of imperialism were bad, which I told you some examples of these, but don't get me wrong, there were some good things that came out of the imperialism of central African countries that you can still see today. For example, they have better medicine now than they used to thanks to imperialism. But I'm not going to go into detail about those things now. That's a topic for another time.
But what most of us don't know is the lasting effect imperialism had on Africa. I'm not going to talk about all of Africa, that would take too long. I'm just going to briefly talk about the the effects imperialism had on Central Africa.
So what you are probably thinking about is: what were some of the lasting effects imperialism had on Central Africa? Well, I'm going to tell you now. One of the problems imperialism brought was, when it was taken away, it left the people of central Africa with no idea of how to run a government. Let's look at what happened to the Congolese people. Belgium came in and took over all of the land and forced the Congolese into service to them for years upon years. They never let the Congolese have a say in anything, especially in government. Then one day the Belgiums decided to leave the Congo and grant the Congolese people their independence. After they set up a hastily thrown together government and an election for the Congolese people, the Belgian government left. Isn't that just nice? The Congolese have become independent; Belgium has finally left them alone. That's fine and dandy and all except that the Congolese had no idea how to run a country, and after two weeks of being independent, the Congo was thrown into civil war. Well, after years of being independent, both of the Congos are not stable. They are run by warlords and dictators. What I am trying to say is that, because of imperialism, the Congo and other countries like it don't have stable governments.
Since the countries in central Africa didn't have a stable government due to imperialism, that means they also didn't have a stable economy. Lets look at the Congo again to see examples of this. When King Leopold ruled the Congo, he had an economy set up so that only he made money. By doing this, he kept the Congolese in a position where they were dependent on him to survive. That's nice, but when Leopold and the Beglian government left the Congo, they left the Congo with no stable economic system. So on top of Beglium leaving the Congo without teaching them how to run a government, they left them without an economy or really a good idea on how to hold a stable economy as well. So without a stable economy or government, a country tends to fail and die. Plus all of the problems that come with not having a stable economy, like famine and poverty, came from imperialism.
Can you see some of the lasting effects imperialism has had on central African countries? Most of the effects that came out of imperialism were bad, which I told you some examples of these, but don't get me wrong, there were some good things that came out of the imperialism of central African countries that you can still see today. For example, they have better medicine now than they used to thanks to imperialism. But I'm not going to go into detail about those things now. That's a topic for another time.