Latest / The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The 1900 Force Publique March on the Aruwimi: Belgium's Ivory War
In this episode of The History of Belgium, we travel back to 1900—a pivotal year in the Congo Free State's brutal ivory rush. Lucas and Luna uncover the story of a Force Publique expedition into the Aruwimi River basin, ordered by Leopold II's Governor General Théophile Wahis. The mission: crush local resistance and secure a steady flow of ivory to fund the king's building projects in Brussels. But the Aruwimi campaign was no simple military affair. We meet two key figures: the Anglo-Belgian trader John Henry Harris, who later became a whistleblower, and the Mangbetu chief…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.