‘David vs Goliath’: The Congo Free State Propaganda War, 1890–1909

Abstract

The Congo Free State (CFS) propaganda war was an international campaign waged between two distinct groups. On the one side, there were Leopold II, King of the Belgians, his representatives, and his supporters. Opposing Leopold was a disparate international grouping of Congo reformers representing a range of religious, social, and political positions. The propaganda war began with the first public criticism of the CFS government in 1890 and continued until official Belgian annexation in 1908. For the activists to be successful in their campaign, they had to wrestle from Leopold the meaning of the term ‘humanitarian’ and focus public attention on his misrule in the CFS. By analysing key texts produced by reformers, Leopold and his supporters, as well as the response to the propaganda in newspapers and in private letters between the activists, this article will show that Leopold’s press bureau was successful in sowing distrust of the arguments made by humanitarian activists. Additionally, this article will also demonstrate that Leopold’s strategy of sowing discord amongst his already fragmented opposition served to increase distrust in the critics of Leopoldian rule in the Congo.