Dead Countries

Belgian Congo
Issued 1895

BELGIAN CONGO (1884-1960): If any state manifested the worst qualities of imperial colonization, it was the Belgian Congo. By treaty, the whole of the Congo was the personal property of Belgian King Léopold II and existed solely to enrich that monarch. His administration invested very little in either the infrastructure of the country or education of its natives, in order to squeeze the maximum of profits from its material wealth and workers. Conditions were little improved after Léopold died and the Belgian Government took over the colony. Harsh discipline could only maintain European control until 1960. Having been neglected for so long, the newly independent Republic of Congo was ill-prepared to self-rule and quickly sunk into violence and civil war that continues to this day.