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

attitude or the impulse to advance European superiority. Belgians saw themselves as a
hard working people even among Europeans.
The need for a strong military and specifically a viable navy is one of the
strongest examples to illustrate why the efforts of Leopold failed. Palmerston’s words
concerning Belgium’s inability to adequately protect and regulate any claim to
Nicaragua surely echoed in Leopold’s mind as underlining the constant need for the
two- if not one-ship Belgian navy to constantly cruise to Guatemala, Rio Nunez, China,
Algeria, and the like. The nature of conquest, even economic, required the ability to
protect and impress. The Belgian navy, although quite professional considering its size
and longevity, simply was not enough. In fact, its constant use, especially in view of its
perceived unconstitutional pursuits in Rio Nunez, contributed to its extinction. Like the
European nations later in the New Imperialism Belgium used its military in colonial
ventures as Pirson in Texas, Petit and De Puydt in Santo Tomas, Van Lede (national
service aside) in Santa Catarina, and van Haverbeke on the Rio Nunez attested.
In terms of scientific and medical abilities to expand imperialism, the
experiences in Guatemala and Rio Nunez attest to the need for sophisticated scientific
and medical expertise in the New Imperialism. The devastating climate and ubiquitous
presence of malaria and other tropical diseases absolutely doomed the Rio Nunez effort
and essentially crippled the Santo Tomas colony. The military and technical advances
of the late nineteenth century such as the repeating rifle, steel navy, railroad, and the
telegraph were necessary but would have been of no use without the medical advances
made. Belgium possessed none of these advances during the period in question. It was
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