Belgium's ruthless exploitation of the Congo, first as the private property of King Leopold II and later as a Belgian colony, provided the foundational capital and raw materials that fueled Europe’s Industrial Revolution and enabled its modern luxury industries.

This was not a mutually beneficial relationship but a one-way transfer of wealth achieved through a system of state-sponsored terror, forced labor, and mass atrocities.

The Original Sin: Ivory and Rubber

The exploitation of the Congo began in the late 19th century under King Leopold II, who, with the approval of other European powers at the 1884-1885 Berlin Conference, claimed the territory as his own private property, calling it the Congo Free State. This land, 76 times the size of Belgium, was not a colony but a business venture. Its stated mission of “civilization” was a façade for a brutal system of resource extraction.

The initial target was ivory. With the decline of ivory from other sources, the Congo's vast elephant herds became a primary global supply. Ivory was a prized luxury good in Europe and America, used for piano keys, billiard balls, combs, and intricate carvings. Leopold's agents, backed by a private army known as the Force Publique, forced local populations to hunt elephants and deliver a quota of tusks. Those who failed were subjected to extreme violence.

The true scale of the exploitation, however, came with the global rubber boom of the 1890s. The invention of the bicycle tire, and later the automobile, created an insatiable demand for rubber. The Congo's wild rubber vines became a goldmine. To maximize profits, Leopold's administration established a system of quotas, demanding an impossible amount of raw rubber from each village. This "red rubber system" relied on a reign of terror. Villages that did not meet their quotas were burned, men were killed, and women and children were held hostage. The most infamous tactic, however, was the use of mutilation, particularly the severing of hands, as proof that an officer's quota-enforcing soldier had not wasted a bullet. This gruesome practice became a symbol of the regime's barbarity and was documented by human rights activists and missionaries, eventually leading to international outcry.

The sheer volume of rubber and ivory extracted from the Congo, at a horrifying human cost, was immense. The profits flowed directly to Leopold, who used the money to fund lavish public works projects in Belgium, earning him the nickname "the Builder King." These projects included the Royal Museum for Central Africa, the Cinquantenaire Arcade, and numerous palaces and parks that still define Brussels today, all built on the wealth plundered from the Congo.

The Belgian Congo: From Rubber to Minerals

In 1908, under international pressure and facing mounting evidence of atrocities, the Belgian state took over control of the Congo from Leopold II. This new era, known as the Belgian Congo, saw a shift in focus from wild rubber to industrial-scale mining. While the grotesque violence of Leopold's regime was somewhat curtailed, the system of forced labor and brutal exploitation continued in the mines.

The Congo was found to possess a "geological scandal"—a vast concentration of valuable minerals. The country's southeastern province, Katanga, was particularly rich in copper and cobalt. Other areas yielded diamonds, gold, tin, and zinc. These minerals were essential to Europe's industrial expansion and the emerging technologies of the 20th century.

• Copper was crucial for electrical wiring, plumbing, and machinery. Belgian companies like Union Minière du Haut-Katanga, which became a powerful global mining conglomerate, dominated this sector. The company was instrumental in building Belgian industries and provided significant tax revenue to the Belgian government.

• Cobalt became a vital component for high-strength steel alloys used in jet engines and industrial tools. Today, it's a key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries, a fact that ties the Congo's colonial past directly to our modern-day reliance on electronics.

• The Congo also supplied uranium to the United States during World War II. The uranium used in the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki came from the Shinkolobwe mine in the Congo. This single transaction underscores how the colony's resources were leveraged on a global stage, giving Belgium a key role in the era of nuclear power.

The profits from these mineral extractions, along with cash crops like palm oil, cotton, and coffee, were funneled back to Belgium. They powered Belgian industries, enriched corporations and shareholders, and funded infrastructure in the home country. The Congolese people, who performed the back-breaking labor, saw none of this wealth. Their living conditions remained squalid, and they were denied education, healthcare, and political rights.

The Enduring Legacy

The wealth extracted from the Congo not only benefited Belgian industries but also cemented Belgium's position as a modern, developed nation. The Congo's resources fueled its industrial growth and built its public infrastructure, all while the Congolese were subjected to dehumanizing conditions and deprived of the means to develop their own nation.

This history explains why, decades after independence in 1960, the Democratic Republic of Congo remains one of the poorest and most politically unstable countries in the world, despite its vast mineral wealth. The colonial system deliberately created a state with no functional infrastructure, no educated workforce, and a political elite trained to serve foreign masters. The institutionalized corruption and resource conflicts that plague the DRC today are a direct and tragic inheritance of this predatory colonial history.

In essence, the story of Belgium and the Congo is not just about a colonial power but a profound moral failure. It’s a stark reminder of how the foundations of European wealth and industrial might were built on the brutal and systematic exploitation of a continent, with the Congo serving as a stark and painful example. The luxury of the colonizers was purchased with the suffering and lives of millions of Congolese.