Latest / The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The 1911 Congo Rail Strike: When African Workers Shut Down the Katanga Mines
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the 1911 railway strike in the Belgian Congo, when African workers on the Katanga railway line — mostly Luba, Bemba, and Lunda laborers — downed tools to protest brutal conditions, low pay, and the hated chicotte whip. The strike spread from Elisabethville to Bukama, crippling the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga's copper exports for weeks. We meet key figures like the Belgian governor Félix Fuchs, who vacillated between negotiation and force, and the African foreman Kabongo wa Tshilombo, whose role in organizing the walkout was later erased from…
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