Latest / The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The 1897 Congo Free State Railway: Leopold’s Iron Road to Ruin
In this episode of The History of Belgium, Lucas and Luna explore the construction of the Congo Free State Railway, an engineering nightmare built on the backs of forced African labor. The Matadi–Kinshasa line, completed in 1898, was Leopold II's desperate attempt to bypass the cataracts of the Congo River and ship rubber and ivory to Europe more efficiently. But the cost was staggering: thousands of African workers died from disease, malnutrition, and brutal conditions. Lucas details the role of colonial engineers like Albert Thys, the strategic importance of the rail link for the…
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