Latest / The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
Belgium's 1926 Katanga Mining Decree: The Birth of Corporate Colonialism
In 1926, Belgium issued a decree that reshaped the Congo forever: the Katanga Mining Decree. It gave Union Minière du Haut-Katanga—a consortium of Belgian, British, and American capital—near-sovereign control over a territory the size of France. This episode tells the story of how a single legal document, signed by King Albert I, turned the Katanga region into a corporate fiefdom, fueling the industrial revolution in Europe while crushing Congolese labor under the Force Publique. We follow the rise of the Bwana Mitumba—the 'Man of Copper'—and the role of figures like Edgar Sengier…
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