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The 1895 Tetela Revolt: When Congo's Own Soldiers Turned on Belgium
In 1895, the Force Publique—King Leopold II's colonial army—faced its gravest challenge yet, and it came from within its own ranks. This episode tells the story of the Tetela revolt, a mutiny that erupted in the eastern Congo when Congolese soldiers, led by Sergeant Kandolo, turned their guns on their Belgian commanders. We trace the roots of the rebellion to the brutal campaign against the Arab-Swahili slave trade, the broken promises of the Congo Free State, and the simmering resentment of the Tetela and other peoples who had been forcibly conscripted into the Force Publique. The…
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