Latest / The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The 1897 Tervuren Exhibition and the Making of Belgian Colonial Myth
This episode of The History of Belgium returns to the 1897 Tervuren Exhibition, where King Leopold II staged a 'human zoo' of 267 Congolese men, women, and children to promote his Congo Free State. We explore how the exhibition blended science, spectacle, and racism—featuring ethnographic displays, a 'Negress Village,' and a Congolese orchestra—while 7 of the transported Congolese died of pneumonia. Lucas and Luna unpack the role of Force Publique escort, the pseudoscientific anthropometry of Dr. Émile de Gheest, and how the event's propaganda shaped Belgium's…
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