The Belgian Empire: Congo's Rubber and the Railway of Death

In this episode of The History of Belgium, Lucas and Luna explore the brutal infrastructure of empire — the construction of the Matadi–Kinshasa Railway in the Congo Free State. They discuss how Leopold II's regime used forced labor to build a 400-kilometer railway through the Crystal Mountains, with a death toll that may have exceeded 100,000 Congolese workers. The episode delves into the role of Belgian engineers, the financing of the railway by the Société Générale de Belgique, and how the railway enabled the extraction of rubber and ivory. It also covers the resistance of local peoples like the Bateke and the legacy of this railway in modern Congo. The conversation touches on the broader context of the Scramble for Africa, the Congo Reform Movement, and the Belgian colonial economy. Listeners will learn about figures like Albert Thys, the colonial entrepreneur who oversaw the railway, and the African workers who built it under horrific conditions. #BelgianEmpire #CongoFreeState #MatadiKinshasaRailway #LeopoldII #ScrambleForAfrica #ColonialRailways #ForcedLabor #AlbertThys #CrystalMountains #Bateke #RubberExtraction #SocieteGenerale #ColonialHistory #19thCentury #CongoleseHistory #RailwayOfDeath #History #FexingoHistory #BelgiumHistory #Brussels Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo