Failure to meet the rubber collection quotas was punishable by death . ... There were even small wars where villages attacked neighboring villages to gather hands, since their rubber quotas were too unrealistic to fill. One junior European officer described a raid to punish a village that had protested.
What happened to those who didn’t meet their rubber quota?
Failure to meet the rubber collection quotas was punishable by death . ... There were even small wars where villages attacked neighboring villages to gather hands, since their rubber quotas were too unrealistic to fill. One junior European officer described a raid to punish a village that had protested.
What is a rubber quota?
But when worldwide demand for rubber boomed, Leopold cashed in. ... Villages were set quotas of rubber and the gendarmerie were sent in to collect it – a process that was sped up by looting, arson and rape . If a village failed to reach its quota hostages would be taken and shot.
What was a frequent punishment if a Congolese did not meet their rubber quotas?
Failure to meet the rubber collection quotas was punishable by death . Meanwhile, the FP was required to provide the hands of their victims as proof when they had shot and killed someone, as it was believed they would otherwise use the munitions (imported from Europe at considerable cost) for hunting.
Why did Leopold need rubber?
To satisfy the industrial growth European powers looked outward to produce rubber. Belgium’s leader King Leopold turned his attention to Central Africa where a rubber vine from the genus Landolphia grows.
Why did they cut off hands in the Congo?
To make up for the low production, troops began to use hands as currency – chopping them was a way of punishing workers who did not fulfill their quotas , and, at the same time, served to show that soldiers were doing their part in exerting pressure over the local population to ensure the fulfillment of these quotas.
Why did Leopold chop off hands?
In some instances a soldier could shorten his service term by bringing more hands than the other soldiers, which led to widespread mutilations and dismemberment. Leopold II reportedly disapproved of dismemberment because it harmed his economic interests. He was quoted as saying “Cut off hands—that’s idiotic.
Is rubber native to Africa?
| Landolphia owariensis | Clade: Asterids | Order: Gentianales | Family: Apocynaceae | Genus: Landolphia |
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Was there slavery in the Belgian Congo?
Granted to King Leopold II of Belgium, the Congo was a “personal” concession for the King, rather than a colony. ... The Congo’s wealth, which included its numerous rubber trees, was brutally extracted using what was basically slave labor .
What was the rubber trade?
The natural rubber trade underwent several radical transformations over the period 1870 to 1930. First, prior to 1910, it was associated with high costs of production and high prices for final goods ; most rubber was produced, during this period, by tapping rubber trees in the Amazon region of Brazil.
Was the Congo Free State a genocide?
The colony – which was the personal property of the monarch – became known as the Congo Free State. And although all the European colonial powers decimated the areas of the African continent they had control over, the genocide carried out in King Leopold’s name is usually pointed to as the most devastating.
What bad things did King Leopold do?
From the beginning, Leopold ignored these conditions. Millions of Congolese inhabitants, including children, were mutilated, killed or died from disease during his rule. He ran the Congo using the mercenary Force Publique for his personal enrichment. Failure to meet rubber collection quotas was punishable by death.
How did the Congo Free State end?
Finally, indignation among people in Britain and other parts of Europe grew so great that Leopold was forced to transfer his authority in the Congo to the Belgian government. In 1908 the Congo Free State was abolished and replaced by the Belgian Congo , a colony controlled by the Belgian parliament.
Why did Belgium want the Congo?
Leopold financed development projects with money loaned to him from the Belgian government. The king’s stated goal was to bring civilization to the people of the Congo , an enormous region in Central Africa. (Believing one people is more civilized than another is wrong.)
What was the red rubber terror?
“The Rubber Terror” is what activists at the time dubbed the situation in central Africa . The Congo was, from 1885 to 1908, the private colony owned by (though never visited by) King Leopold II of Belgium. ... Rubber coating made possible the spread of electrical wiring to every urban building.
Does the Congo still produce rubber?
The majority of rubber in the Congo came from vines , which eventually died off. In order to increase the supply of rubber being produced, agents insisted that women and children gather rubber as well.
