Women Rights - Dissertation Example

The reason for violence in DRC till today dates back to the days of penetration by European mercantilism where Congo-Kinshasa was politically organized into several major kingdoms: the Kingdom of Kongo, the Luba Empire, the Lunda Empire, the Lele and Kuba societies, and the Bola Group. The period of colonial conquest began during the latter half of the 19th century when King Leopold II of Belgium acquired the Congo Basin under the Treaty of Berlin in 1885. He was recognized by the European powers as the Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo.

By the mid-1890s Leopold established control in most areas and aggressively pursued development plans for the exploitation of natural resources. Lacking sufficient funds to continue development, Leopold requested and received loans from the Belgian parliament, which annexed the Congo in 1908. Although such atrocities as forced labor, committed during Leopold's reign, ended under Belgian rule, the Congo was still subjected to European dominance. The colonial administration gave no significant roles in the government to Africans.

They formed the labor force for the European-managed plantations and mining operations. The establishment of Christian mission schools throughout the country contributed to an increase in the literacy rate, but not until the 1950s, when two universities opened, were there Congolese educated past the primary level. Economic expansion from the sale of strategic mineral resources during World Wars I and II led to a general transformation of Congolese society. . This became the Belgian Congo. Although such atrocities as forced labour, committed during Leopold's reign, ended under Belgian rule, the Congo was still subjected to European dominance.

The colonial administration gave no significant roles in the government to Africans. They formed the labour force for the European-managed plantations and mining operations. The establishment of Christian mission schools throughout the country contributed to an increase in the literacy rate, but not until the 1950s, when two universities opened, were there Congolese educated past the primary level. Economic expansion from the sale of strategic mineral resources during World Wars I and II and the Korean War led to a general transformation of Congolese society.

In spite of an increased population and urbanization, active participation in the colonial political system by Africans did not occur until 1957. Congolese villages were then divided administratively and Africans given secondary responsibilities in the governing of their villages. This decentralization and regionalization of the Belgian colonial structure created an ethnically divided and politically stifled African elite. Unlike many Africans under British and French colonial rule, the Congolese lacked a national ideology.

The ethnic association of the Kongo people, however, was the basis for the formation of one of the first African political parties in the Congo, the Alliance des Ba-Kongo (ABAKO), under the leadership of Joseph Kasavubu. It was not until 1958 that the Mouvement Nationale Congolais (MNC) formed and began to work toward independence. Fast-growing political unrest led to independence on June 30, 1960, with Kasavubu as president and Patrice Lumumba as prime minister. However, less than