Latest / The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History / The 1891-1892 Arab Campaign: Belgium's War for the Congo
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the rubber atrocities and the Force Publique's role in enforcing them, but I think it's worth stepping back to an earlier moment — before the rubber boom, before the Congo became synonymous with horror — when Belgium was still trying to physically conquer the eastern half of the Congo. I'm talking about the Arab Campaign of 1891 to 1892. Luna: The Arab Campaign — that's the war against the Swahili-Arab slave traders, right? Lucas: Exactly. The Congo Free State, under Leopold II, had claimed the entire Congo Basin at the Berlin Conference in 1885, but on the ground they controlled barely a fraction. The eastern Congo, from the Lualaba River to Lake Tanganyika, was firmly under the control of Arab and Swahili trading networks — most famously Tippu Tip, who had built a vast commercial empire based on ivory and slaves. Leopold wanted that territory, and he was willing to fight for it. Luna: But the Force Publique wasn't exactly a professional army at that point, was it? Lucas: Not at all. The Force Publique was a ragtag collection of mercenaries, local recruits, and former slaves, many of them from the Tetela and Manyema ethnic groups. And their commander was a Belgian officer named Francis Dhanis — a man who would become a colonial hero in Belgium, though he's largely forgotten today. Dhanis was just 29 years old when he led the campaign, but he was ruthless and effective. Lucas: If this episode is giving you a clearer picture of a part of history that doesn't get much attention, that's exactly what we're here for. And the way these stay ad-free is through listener support — just buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small gesture that keeps the show going without any commercial breaks. Luna: Yeah, it really does make a difference. So back to the campaign — who were they actually fighting? Lucas: The main adversary was Sefu bin Hamid, Tippu Tip's son. Tippu Tip himself had actually signed a treaty with Leopold in 1887, making him governor of the Stanley Falls district — a strategic move by Leopold to buy time. But by 1891, the relationship had soured, and Sefu was leading the resistance. The campaign was centered around the Lualaba River, with key strongholds at Nyangwe and Kasongo. Dhanis had about 2,000 men, but many were Tetela levies who had their own grievances with the Arab traders. Luna: I remember the Tetela from the Luluabourg revolt episodes. They were often pitted against the Belgians later. Lucas: Right — and in this campaign, they were fighting on the Belgian side, at least temporarily. The most famous Tetela figure involved was Ngongo Lutete, a former slave trader himself who had switched sides to the Belgians. He commanded a large contingent of Tetela warriors and was instrumental in several victories. The Belgians also used Maxim guns — the early machine guns — which gave them a terrifying edge in open battle. Lucas: The decisive engagement was the siege of Kasongo in April 1892. Kasongo was the Arab capital on the Lualaba, a fortified town with a population of maybe 10,000. Dhanis approached with his force, and after a brief but intense battle, the town fell. Sefu fled, and the Belgians captured huge stocks of ivory and ammunition. It was a turning point. Luna: What happened to the civilians in Kasongo? Lucas: That's the dark side of the victory. Belgian accounts talk about the liberation of slaves — thousands were freed — but the town was also looted and many non-combatants were killed. The Force Publique wasn't a disciplined army, and atrocities were common. Ngongo Lutete's Tetela, in particular, were known for their brutality. And just a few months later, Ngongo himself would be executed by the Belgians on suspicion of plotting rebellion — a sign of how fragile those alliances were. Lucas: After Kasongo, the campaign continued eastward, pushing the Arab traders out of the Maniema region. By the end of 1892, the Belgians controlled most of the eastern Congo. But the cost was high — not just in lives, but in the precedent it set. The Force Publique, which had been built for this campaign, would later be used to enforce the rubber quotas that led to millions of deaths. And the eastern Congo, which had been a slave-trading zone, became a Belgian rubber plantation. Luna: It's almost like the campaign was a dress rehearsal for the larger horrors to come. Lucas: Exactly. Dhanis returned to Belgium a hero, celebrated as the conqueror of the Arabs. But the methods used — forced conscription, violence against civilians, and reliance on local warlords — those became the blueprint for the Congo's exploitation. It's a story that's often overshadowed by the rubber terror, but it's essential for understanding how Belgium actually took control of the territory. Luna: Was there any resistance from the Arab side after Kasongo? Lucas: There were skirmishes for another year or so. Sefu bin Hamid was killed in action in 1893, and Tippu Tip — who was in Zanzibar by then — lost his power base. A few holdouts like Rumaliza continued fighting, but they were eventually defeated. The Arab Campaign effectively ended the slave trade in the eastern Congo, but it replaced it with something arguably worse: state-sanctioned exploitation. Luna: So the Belgians were using the abolition of slavery as a justification? Lucas: Absolutely. Leopold II presented the campaign as a humanitarian mission to end the Arab slave trade — and that narrative was widely accepted in Europe. The British, in particular, were supportive. But the reality was that Leopold wanted the ivory and the land. The anti-slavery rhetoric was a convenient cover. It's a pattern we see all through colonial history: the language of liberation masking the reality of conquest. Luna: And the Tetela and Manyema who fought for the Belgians — what became of them? Lucas: Many were absorbed into the Force Publique and later used in the rubber collection. Others, like Ngongo Lutete's followers, were resettled or executed when they proved too independent. The campaign created a class of African soldiers who were loyal to the Belgians but also deeply resentful — that tension would explode in the Tetela uprising of 1895, which we covered in an earlier episode. So the Arab Campaign isn't just a footnote; it's the origin of many of the conflicts that followed. Luna: It really puts the whole colonial project in perspective — how each step, even the 'good' ones, laid the groundwork for something terrible. Lucas: Right. And that's why I think it's important to look at these early military campaigns. They're not just battles; they're the moments when the institutions of colonial violence were forged. The Force Publique, the command structure, the alliances with local chiefs — all of it was tested and refined in the Arab Campaign. And the profits from the ivory seized in Kasongo helped finance the next phase of Leopold's exploitation. Lucas: There's also a personal story that sticks with me: Francis Dhanis was made a baron after the campaign, but he died relatively young, in 1909, just as the Congo was being transferred from Leopold to the Belgian state. He never saw the full horror of what he helped create. I wonder if he would have had any regrets. Luna: Probably not — most colonial officers didn't. They saw themselves as civilizers. Lucas: True. The propaganda machine was strong. Dhanis was celebrated in schoolbooks and monuments. It's only in recent decades that historians have really started to re-examine the Arab Campaign with a critical eye, looking at the Congolese perspective. For instance, the role of Ngongo Lutete is now being acknowledged as more than just a side note — he was a key military leader who made the Belgian victory possible, and he was betrayed for his trouble. Luna: What's the best source for someone who wants to read more about this? Lucas: There's a great book by David Northrup called 'The Arab Campaign' — actually, it's in a collection called 'Conflict in the Congo'. And Adam Hochschild's 'King Leopold's Ghost' covers it briefly but vividly. For the Tetela perspective, there's work by Jan Vansina, the Belgian anthropologist who studied the region. But a lot of the primary sources are in French or Dutch, so it's still an area where new research is emerging. Luna: I guess that's a good reminder that history is always being rewritten, especially when it comes to colonial narratives. Lucas: Exactly. The Arab Campaign is a chapter that Belgium would rather forget — it wasn't a clean war, and it didn't have a happy ending. But it's a crucial piece of the puzzle if you want to understand how a small country like Belgium ended up controlling a territory 80 times its size. That control wasn't inevitable; it was won through blood and fire in the jungles of the eastern Congo. Luna: And that's the story we keep coming back to — the human cost behind the maps. Lucas: Yeah. So next time we might look at the immediate aftermath — how the Belgian administration set up in the east and started the rubber regime. But for now, I think we've given the Arab Campaign its due. Luna: Agreed. Thanks for digging into that one.