Latest / The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History / The 1914 Force Publique Campaign in German East Africa
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've covered a lot of the Congo's internal colonial history — the rubber atrocities, the railway, the mutinies. But one thing we haven't talked about is how Belgium's colonial army, the Force Publique, fought outside the Congo's borders. Luna: You mean during World War I? Lucas: Exactly. When the war broke out in 1914, the Congo was technically part of the Allied effort, because Belgium was under German occupation. But the colony itself wasn't invaded — the Germans were busy elsewhere. Still, the Belgian government in exile saw a chance to expand their territory. Lucas: They set their sights on German East Africa — modern-day Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi. The Force Publique was mobilized under Colonel Charles Tombeur, a veteran of the Congo campaigns. But this wasn't a well-oiled machine. Luna: What was the Force Publique like by 1914? Lucas: It had about 12,000 men, mostly Congolese askaris — soldiers with African officers and Belgian commanders. They were armed with outdated rifles, and their logistics were a nightmare. To move troops from the Congo River to Lake Tanganyika, they had to march through the Rift Valley, carrying supplies on the heads of forced porters. Lucas: The porters were often conscripted from local villages, and many died from exhaustion or disease. It was a brutal system that the Belgians had perfected during the rubber era. Luna: So the campaign itself was built on forced labor from the start. Lucas: Exactly. The Belgians planned a two-pronged attack: one from the west, crossing the Rusizi River into Ruanda, and another from the south, moving toward Lake Tanganyika. But the Germans under Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck were masters of guerrilla warfare. They had about 3,000 German officers and 11,000 askaris, but they knew the terrain. Lucas: The first Belgian offensive in 1914 aimed to take Kigali, the capital of Ruanda. But the Germans ambushed them near the Rusizi River. The Force Publique took heavy casualties and had to retreat. Luna: Wait, so the Belgians lost their first major engagement? Lucas: Yes, and it set the tone. The campaign bogged down into skirmishes and raids. The Belgians did manage to control Lake Tanganyika after a naval battle — they had a small flotilla of armed steamers, and they captured the German ship Hedwig von Wissmann. But on land, they couldn't pin down von Lettow-Vorbeck. Lucas: The real turning point came in 1916, when the Allies coordinated a larger offensive. The British, under Jan Smuts, pushed from the north, and the Belgians advanced from the west. The Force Publique finally took Kigali in May 1916, and then Tabora in September. Luna: Tabora was a major German supply hub, right? Lucas: It was the administrative center of German East Africa. Capturing it was a huge blow. But von Lettow-Vorbeck slipped away again and kept fighting until the armistice in 1918. He never surrendered — he only stopped because Germany surrendered. Lucas: After the war, Belgium was awarded the mandates of Ruanda and Urundi — today's Rwanda and Burundi. So the Force Publique's campaign directly led to Belgium ruling those territories for another forty years. Luna: That's a huge consequence from a relatively small campaign. Lucas: It's one of those forgotten fronts of World War I. Most people think of the war in Europe, but here in Africa, colonial armies fought and died for territory that would shape post-colonial borders. Luna: And it all started with those forced porters and askaris who had no stake in the European conflict. Lucas: Right. And that brings up something — we put a lot of work into episodes like this. If you've been following along with us through these conversations about Europe's colonial history, and if you've gotten something out of them, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going. Buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it really helps. Every little bit allows us to keep researching and doing these deep dives. Lucas: So back to the campaign — after Tabora, the Force Publique was largely used for occupation duties. But the experience of these Congolese soldiers was different from their European counterparts. They were fighting for a colonial power that had brutalized their own country. Luna: Were there any mutinies or desertions? Lucas: There were. In 1915, a unit of the Force Publique mutinied near Lake Tanganyika, refusing to advance. The Belgians executed the ringleaders. But most soldiers stayed loyal — partly because of discipline, partly because they were fighting the Germans, who were also colonizers. Lucas: The campaign also involved the King's African Rifles, the British colonial force from East Africa. There was some cooperation, but also rivalry. The Belgians wanted to claim territory for themselves, not just help the British. Luna: So it was a colonial land grab disguised as an Allied war effort. Lucas: Exactly. The Belgians even tried to annex a strip of land along Lake Tanganyika after the war, but the League of Nations only gave them the mandates. Still, they held onto Ruanda-Urundi until 1962, when Rwanda and Burundi became independent. Lucas: The legacy of this campaign is complex. On one hand, it's a story of African soldiers fighting in a European war. On the other, it's a story of forced labor and exploitation. And the borders drawn by the Belgians — especially the ethnic divisions in Rwanda — would have devastating consequences later. Luna: It's a reminder that World War I wasn't just a European tragedy. Lucas: No, it reshaped the entire world, including Africa. And the Force Publique was a key instrument in that reshaping — a colonial army fighting for a small European power with big ambitions.