European colonial rule, based on overwhelming
military power, established common patterns of
control. Resistance to authority was harshly sup-
pressed, and equal rights and opportunities were
withheld from the African majority. British,
Belgian, French and Portuguese colonial govern-
ment each had its distinctive features and the
European nations hoped that these would form
the basis of government in independent Africa.
The influence of the colonial period was never
obliterated, but each newly independent African
nation developed along its own path. Much
depended on the dominant African leadership, on
the accident of the personality and outlook of the
most powerful man or group, on whether his or
their prestige survived the struggle for independ-
ence or whether new groups and leaders seized
control in a separate struggle for power. Africa
abounds with examples of the influence of the
individual on history. This at least in part accounts
for the very different evolution of Tanzania, Kenya
and Uganda after Britain relinquished colonial
power.
The Belgian Congo in Central Africa could
not remain isolated from the new nationalism
sweeping through British and French West Africa.
But it was a latecomer as far as black nationalism
was concerned. When it came to 1960 the trans-
fer of power was sudden, and the least successful.
For years afterwards this huge country was rent
by internal conflict; to make matters worse it
became the focus of international Cold War
rivalry. Yet in one sense the Belgians had been
among the more enlightened colonial administra-
tors in Africa, once the Belgian Parliament had
taken responsibility for the country in 1908. This
paradox requires some explanation.
The Congo’s real capital was Brussels. The
colony was governed from Europe in a highly cen-
tralised way by Belgian administrators, with no
African participation. The 100,000 or more
Belgians in the Congo, unlike the whites in the
British settler colonies, had no local political
rights. For this there was no one simple reason;
before 1957 there was no elective body or legisla-
ture in existence in the Congo. The idea was that,
until the Africans were judged capable of exercis-
ing the vote, no one should have it, thus hopefully
avoiding white-settler domination. In 1949 the
Belgian Parliament approved a ten-year plan for
the economic and social development of the
Congo and for raising African living standards.
Primary education was the best in Africa and liter-
acy the highest. This was largely due to the mis-
sionaries and to Belgian official encouragement.
But there was practically no advanced schooling.
The very first African graduated at a Belgian uni-
versity only in 1956, nor was there a single black
officer in the Congolese police or in the military or
in the Force Publique, responsible for public
order. Independence was a distant prospect.
The most important economic developments
in the Congo were concentrated in the province
of Katanga on the borders of Rhodesia andChapter 64
FREEDOM AND CONFLICT IN CENTRAL
AND EAST AFRICA