Shows / The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
Belgium: a patchwork of Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia, a cobbled-together buffer state that punched far above its weight. In its short 1830s independence, it carved out a brutal African empire under King Leopold II—a personal colony that became a byword for atrocity in the Congo Free State (1885-1908). The show traces the arc from the Burgundian and Spanish Habsburg rule, through the Austrian Netherlands and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, to the revolutionary…
Episodes
The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo HistoryAlbert Luthuli: The Congolese Prophet of Resistance
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the life and legacy of Albert Luthuli, a Congolese prophet who led a nonviolent uprising in the Kwango region in 1921…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
Belgium's 1955 Tshibumba Oil Refinery Strike
In 1955, Congolese workers at the newly built Tshibumba oil refinery in the Belgian Congo walked off the job, sparking a strike that would expose the deep…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The 1928 Antwerp Olympic Village and Belgium's Civilizing Mission
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the 1928 Antwerp Olympic Games through the lens of Belgium's colonial propaganda. They focus on the so-called…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The 1897 Tervuren Exhibition: Belgium's Colonial Propaganda
In 1897, King Leopold II staged a massive colonial exhibition in Tervuren, just outside Brussels, to sell the Congo Free State to the Belgian public. Lucas and…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The 1921 Bena-Dibele Revolt: Tax, Rubber, and Resistance in Belgian Congo
In 1921, the Bena-Dibele people of the Belgian Congo rose up against colonial tax collectors and forced rubber quotas. This episode explores the revolt's…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
Belgian Congo's 1959 Coquilhatville Prison Break
In this episode of The History of Belgium, Lucas and Luna delve into the dramatic prison break at Coquilhatville in 1959, a pivotal yet often overlooked event…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The 1959 Kisangani Christmas Riots: Congo's Forgotten Prelude
In the weeks leading up to Belgium's 1960 decision to grant Congo independence, a violent uprising erupted in Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville) over a…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
Belgium's 1946 Mining Strike at Élisabethville
In 1946, a strike by African mine workers at the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga in Élisabethville (modern Lubumbashi) shook Belgian colonial authority and…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The 1959 Stanleyville Mutiny: Belgium's Last Stand in Congo
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the 1959 Stanleyville mutiny, a pivotal but often overlooked event in the dying days of Belgian colonial rule. They…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
Belgian Congo's 1944 Élisabethville Mutiny and the Rise of Unionism
In this episode, Lucas and Luna delve into the 1944 Force Publique mutiny at Élisabethville (now Lubumbashi), a pivotal yet often overlooked rebellion that…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Belgian Congo's 1958 World's Fair Village
In 1958, Brussels hosted Expo 58, the first major world's fair after World War II, and Belgium used it as a final showcase for its colonial project. The…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Belgian Congo's 1959 Léopoldville Riots: Independence's Spark
In January 1959, a peaceful political meeting in Léopoldville's African quarter turned into a full-blown riot that killed hundreds and forced Belgium to…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
Belgium's Colonial Education: The Évolué System and Its Legacy
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Belgian colonial education system in the Congo, focusing on the 'évolué' policy—a program meant to create…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The 1931 Pende Uprising: Belgium's Congo Genocide
In 1931, the Pende people of the Belgian Congo rose up against forced labor and brutal colonial administration under the Force Publique. This episode dives…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Belgian Congo's 1895 Batetela Rebellion: A Revolt of the Empire's Own Soldiers
In 1895, the Force Publique—the Belgian colonial army that enforced King Leopold II's brutal rule in the Congo—faced a mutiny from within. The Batetela…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The 1892-1894 Arab-Swahili War: Belgium's Congo Alliance with Tippu Tip
Long before the rubber terror and the Force Publique mutinies, the Congo Free State fought a bitter war against Arab-Swahili slave traders in the eastern…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Belgian Congo's Hidden War: The 1895 Batetela Rebellion
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Batetela Rebellion of 1895-1897, a major uprising in the Belgian Congo that has been largely overlooked in colonial…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Belgian Congo's 1944 Force Publique Mutiny at Luluabourg
In February 1944, a mutiny erupted at the Luluabourg military camp in the Belgian Congo, led by a Congolese soldier named Antoine Émile Nkay. This episode…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Belgian Congo's 1931 Pende Uprising: A Forgotten Rebellion
In 1931, the Pende people of the Belgian Congo rose up against colonial oppression in what became known as the Pende Uprising. This episode explores the brutal…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Belgian Congo's Rubber Terror: The Kasai-Velu Campaign of 1904
This episode dives into the Kasai-Velu Campaign of 1904, a brutal but lesser-known chapter of Belgium's colonial atrocities in the Congo. Lucas and Luna…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Belgian Congo's Youngest Martyr: The 1893 Luluabourg Massacre
In 1893, a rebellion broke out in the Kasai region of the Congo Free State. The Luluabourg Massacre saw the Force Publique crush a revolt of the Luba people…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Congo's Railroad War: Building Belgium's Iron Spine
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the brutal construction of the Matadi–Kinshasa railway, the iron spine of Belgium's colonial Congo. They focus on…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The 1958 World's Fair: Belgium's Colonial Showcase
The 1958 Brussels World's Fair, or Expo 58, was Belgium's moment to shine on the global stage after the devastation of World War II. But beneath the…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Belgian Congo's Last King: Baudouin's Colonial Dilemma
In 1960, King Baudouin of Belgium faced an impossible choice: let go of the Congo or fight to keep it. This episode explores the monarch's personal…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Belgian Missionaries Who Defied Colonial Atrocities
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a lesser-known chapter of Belgium's colonial history: the role of Catholic missionaries in the Congo. While the…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
Belgium's Forgotten Colonial Army: The Force Publique
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Force Publique, the colonial army of the Belgian Congo. They discuss its origins under King Leopold II as a brutal…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Patron Saint of Flanders: How a British Martyr United Belgium
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the surprising story of Saint George — yes, the dragon-slayer — and his unexpected role as the patron saint of…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
Belgium's Forgotten Genocide: The Congo's 1931 Pende Uprising
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a dark chapter largely omitted from standard histories of Belgian colonialism: the Pende Uprising of 1931 and its…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Tervuren Museum and Belgium's Colonial Propaganda
Beyond the rubber atrocities and the uranium mine, Belgium's colonial project was also a vast propaganda machine. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Belgian Congo's Uranium: How a Secret Mine Built the Atomic Bomb
In this episode, Lucas and Luna uncover the astonishing story of the Shinkolobwe uranium mine in the Belgian Congo. While the world knows about the Manhattan…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Forgotten Question: Congo's Independence from Belgium
In this episode of The History of Belgium, Lucas and Luna move beyond the brutal reign of Leopold II and the rubber atrocities to explore the long, complex…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Bula Matari: Henry Morton Stanley's Congo Legacy
In Episode 4 of The History of Belgium, Lucas and Luna turn to one of the most controversial figures in the Congo story: Henry Morton Stanley, the…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Belgian Empire: Congo's Rubber and the Railway of Death
In this episode of The History of Belgium, Lucas and Luna explore the brutal infrastructure of empire — the construction of the Matadi–Kinshasa Railway in the…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Congo Reform Movement: Belgium's Great Moral Awakening
In this episode of The History of Belgium, Lucas and Luna explore the Congo Reform Movement, a pivotal chapter in Belgian history that followed the horrors of…
- The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The Accidental Nation: How Belgium Was Born
In this pilot episode, Lucas and Luna begin at the Brussels Grand Place in 1830, where a riot at an opera sparked Belgium's revolution against the…