Towards Independence: 1945-1960
In the early 1950s, political emancipation of the Congolese elites, let alone of the masses, seemed like a far cry. Nonetheless, it was clear that the Congo could not forever remain immune from the rapid changes that, after the Second World War, profoundly affected colonialism around the world. The independence of the British, French and Dutch colonies in Asia shortly after 1945 had little immediate impact in the Congo, but in the United Nations pressure on Belgium (as on other colonial powers) was stepped up. Belgium had ratified article 73 of the United Nations Charter, which advocated self-determination, and both superpowers put pressure on Belgium to reform its Congo policy. However, the Belgian government tried to resist as best it could what it labeled 'interference' with its colonial policy.
All the same, it was clear to the colonial authorities that something needed to be done to ameliorate the situation of the Congolese. Since the 1940s, the colonial government had experimented in a very modest way with granting a limited elite of so-called évolués more civil rights, holding out the eventual prospect of a limited amount of political influence. To this end "deserving" Congolese could apply for a proof of "civil merit", or, one step up, 'immatriculation' (registration), i.e., official evidence of their assimilation with European civilisation. To acquire this status, the applicant had to fulfill strict conditions (monogamous matrimony, evidence of good behaviour, etc.) and submit to stringent controls (including house visits). This policy was a failure. By the mid-1950s, there were at best a few thousand Congolese who had successfully obtained the civil merit diploma or been granted "immatriculation". The supposed benefits attached to it—including equal legal status with the white population—proved often more theory than reality and led to open frustration with the évolués. When Governor-General Pétillon began to speak about granting the native people more civil rights, even suffrage, to create what he termed a “Belgo-Congolese community”, his ideas were met with indifference from Brussels and often with open hostility from some of the Belgians in the Congo, who feared for their privileges.
It became increasingly evident that the Belgian government lacked a strategic long-term vision in relation to the Congo. This was due partly to the fact that ‘colonial affairs’ did not generate much interest or political debate in Belgium, so long as the colony seemed to be thriving and calm. A notable exception was the young King Baudouin I of the Belgians, who had succeeded his father, Léopold III, under dramatic circumstances in 1951, when Léopold was forced to abdicate because of his wartime role. Baudouin took a lively interest in the Congo. On his first state visit to the Belgian Congo in 1955, he was welcomed enthusiastically by cheering crowds of whites and blacks alike, as captured in André Cauvin’s documentary film, Bwana Kitoko. Foreign observers, such as the international correspondent of The Manchester Guardian, remarked that Belgian paternalism “seemed to work”, and contrasted Belgium’s seemingly loyal and enthusiastic colonial subjects with the restless French and British colonies. On the occasion of his visit, King Baudouin openly endorsed the Governor-General’s vision of a “Belgo-Congolese community”; but, in practice, this idea progressed slowly. At the same time, divisive ideological and linguistic issues in Belgium, which heretofore had been successfully kept out of the colony’s affairs, now began to make themselves felt in the Congo as well. These included the rise of unionism among workers, the call for public (state) schools to break the missions’ monopoly on education, and the call for equal treatment in the colony of both national languages: French and Dutch. Until then, French had been promoted as the unique colonial language. The Governor-general feared that such divisive issues would undermine the authority of the colonial government in the eyes of the Congolese, while also diverting attention from the more pressing need for true emancipation.
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