EARLY BELGIAN COLONIAL EFFORTS - The University of Texas at ...

The examination of the four colonial efforts herein under Leopold I provided
some insight into what changed and what did not change in the pursuit of empire. It also
offers a strong tool for analyzing the rise of the New Imperialism of the late nineteenth
century and the “Scramble for Africa” in which Belgium played such a seminal role.
Chapter II gave an overview of the predominant theories underlying the rise of
the New Imperialism. They were generally political, economic, religious, social, and
scientific. It was also stated that imperialism was the extension of nationalism overseas.
The distinction was also made between imperialism and colonialism, as the latter
involves a determined effort to transplant nationals of the mother country to the colony
on a permanent basis. The end of the reign of Leopold I encompassed the beginning of
the age of the New Imperialism. It preceded the “Scramble for Africa” at the Berlin
Conference of 1884-1885 by almost twenty years.
Did the thirty-five year reign of Leopold I, planted firmly in the aftereffects of
the Napoleonic wars and the Peace of Vienna which produced neither colony nor
empire, somehow validate or anticipate the purported roots of the New Imperialism? It
seems that the examination of these four colonial attempts, even allowing for the small
sampling, leads to a qualified yes. Does it add to a better understanding of Leopold II
and the Congo Free State? Also a qualified yes.
The main political rationale given for European expansion in Africa, and to a
lesser extent Asia, was the rising tide of nationalism that swept Europe during the
middle and late nineteenth century. Nationalism meant creating the one out of the many:
400 Richardson, 214.
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