The Story
For colonial administrators and the Belgian banks, the Belgian Congo was an immensely rich source of raw materials; diamonds, gold, manganese, oils, nuts, tobacco, peanuts, etc. One of the major forms of exploitation of the Congo was the effort to set up mining companies and to force Africans to work in the mines to extract these resources. Focusing on the most powerful of these mining companiesthe Union Minire du HautKatange, John Higginson provides a detailed history of the relationship between the company and the African workers from 1907 through 1951
Description
For colonial administrators and the Belgian banks, the Belgian Congo was an immensely rich source of raw materials; diamonds, gold, manganese, oils, nuts, tobacco, peanuts, etc. One of the major forms of exploitation of the Congo was the effort to set up mining companies and to force Africans to work in the mines to extract these resources. Focusing on the most powerful of these mining companiesthe Union Minire du HautKatange, John Higginson provides a detailed history of the relationship between the company and the African workers from 1907 through 1951
