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  • Belgium's 1908 Annexation of the Congo Free State

    Belgium's 1908 Annexation of the Congo Free State
    2026/06/08
    In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the 1908 annexation of the Congo Free State by Belgium, a pivotal moment that ended Leopold II's personal rule and transferred the vast territory to the Belgian state. They discuss the international pressure from the Congo Reform Association, led by E.D. Morel and Roger Casement, and the 1904 Commission of Inquiry that exposed the rubber atrocities. The episode covers the 1908 Colonial Charter, which promised reforms but largely maintained the extractive system, and the role of figures like Leopold II, who fought to retain control, and the socialist leader Émile Vandervelde, who pushed for parliamentary oversight. Lucas explains how the Force Publique was theoretically reformed but remained a tool of coercion, and how the annexation paved the way for continued exploitation under 'benevolent colonialism' until independence in 1960. The conversation also touches on the fate of the chicotte and the illusion of change for Congolese people. #CongoFreeState #LeopoldII #BelgianCongo #1908Annexation #CongoReformAssociation #EDMorel #RogerCasement #ForcePublique #Chicotte #EmileVandervelde #ColonialCharter #RubberAtrocities #Belgium #ColonialHistory #Africa #History #FexingoHistory #Imperialism Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 分
  • Belgium's 1951 Visit to the Congo: A King's Apology That Never Came

    Belgium's 1951 Visit to the Congo: A King's Apology That Never Came
    2026/06/08
    In 1951, King Baudouin of Belgium visited the Congo for the first time. It was a carefully choreographed tour designed to showcase colonial progress and loyalty. But beneath the pageantry, Congolese veterans of the Force Publique demanded recognition, évolués pushed for political rights, and the king's silence on past atrocities spoke volumes. This episode walks through the itinerary — from Léopoldville's grand boulevards to the rubber plantations of Équateur — and examines what Baudouin saw, what he didn't say, and how the visit foreshadowed the unraveling of Belgium's African empire. Drawing on colonial archives and Congolese memoirs, we explore a moment when a handshake might have mattered more than a speech. #BelgianCongo #KingBaudouin #ForcePublique #évolués #colonialvisits #Léopoldville #Équateur #1951 #decolonization #BelgianHistory #CongoHistory #RoyalTour #RubberPlantations #Abako #JosephKasaVubu #PatriceLumumba #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 分
  • Lovanium 1925: Congo's First University and the Colonial Mind

    Lovanium 1925: Congo's First University and the Colonial Mind
    2026/06/07
    In 1925, the first stone of Lovanium University was laid in a hillside near Leopoldville. Conceived by Belgian Catholics as a civilising mission, it became an unlikely forge for Congo's future elite — and its most vocal critics. This episode traces the university's early years: the tensions between the church and the colonial administration, the 'évolué' status that granted educated Congolese a sliver of legal recognition, and the campus debates that incubated independence leaders like Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Patrice Lumumba. We discuss the curriculum, which offered classical humanities alongside agricultural science; the forced labour controversies that shadowed the institution; and the paradox of a system that taught equality yet practised segregation. From the first Congolese PhD to the 1950s student strikes, Lovanium emerges as a microcosm of Belgium's colonial contradictions — a place where the seeds of decolonisation were planted, however inadvertently. #Lovanium #Congo #BelgianCongo #ColonialEducation #Evolues #Leopoldville #Kinshasa #JosephKasaVubu #PatriceLumumba #UniversiteLovanium #ColonialHistory #Decolonisation #CatholicMissions #1920s #1950s #History #FexingoHistory #Belgium Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 分
  • Léopoldville 1944: The Force Publique Mutiny That Shook Belgium

    Léopoldville 1944: The Force Publique Mutiny That Shook Belgium
    2026/06/07
    In February 1944, while World War II raged in Europe, a mutiny erupted in the heart of the Belgian Congo. Congolese soldiers of the Force Publique stationed in Léopoldville rose up against their white officers, demanding better pay and an end to racial discrimination. The revolt was sparked by a simple but explosive grievance: African soldiers were paid a fraction of what their European counterparts earned, even though they were fighting for the same colonial power. Lucas and Luna explore the events of the 1944 Léopoldville mutiny, from the simmering tensions in the Force Publique to the violent crackdown that followed. They discuss the role of the évolués, the influence of Allied propaganda about freedom and democracy, and how the mutiny exposed the contradictions of Belgium's colonial project. This episode also touches on the broader context of wartime Congo, including the uranium shipments that fueled the Manhattan Project, and the growing aspirations for independence among Congolese elites. A pivotal moment in Belgian colonial history that is often overlooked. #Léopoldville #ForcePublique #Mutiny1944 #BelgianCongo #ColonialHistory #WWII #CongoHistory #Évolués #Kinshasa #Belgium #Africa #LéopoldII #RacialInequality #ManhattanProject #Uranium #Decolonization #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 分
  • The 1930s Luluabourg Railroad Strike: Belgium's Colonial Labour Revolt

    The 1930s Luluabourg Railroad Strike: Belgium's Colonial Labour Revolt
    2026/06/06
    In 1931, Luluabourg in the Belgian Congo erupted in a strike by African railroad workers that exposed the brutal contradictions of colonial labour policy. This episode explores the strike's origins in the construction of the Port-Francqui railway, the role of the Luba and Kuba peoples, and the violent suppression by the Force Publique under Colonel Léon Fiévez. We examine how the strike forced Belgium to negotiate with its subjects and set a precedent for later independence movements. The conversation touches on the chicotte whip, the Bula Matari system, and the emergence of African trade unions. #Luluabourg #BelgianCongo #RailroadStrike #ForcePublique #Luba #Kuba #PortFrancqui #LéonFiévez #BulaMatari #chicotte #ColonialLabour #1930s #CongoHistory #AfricanResistance #LabourHistory #Colonialism #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    11 分
  • The 1927 Lovanium Medical Faculty: Belgium's Colonial Healthcare Paradox

    The 1927 Lovanium Medical Faculty: Belgium's Colonial Healthcare Paradox
    2026/06/06
    In 1927, the Catholic University of Louvain opened a medical faculty at Lovanium in Léopoldville, training Congolese évolués as doctors. But behind the progressive veneer lay a deeply segregated system: Belgian physicians treated European patients with advanced medicine, while Congolese doctors were restricted to African clinics with limited resources. This episode explores the life of Dr. Thomas Kanza, one of the first Congolese medical graduates, who later became a key figure in independence. We examine the racial hierarchies in colonial healthcare, the role of the Force Publique in enforcing medical segregation, and how the Lovanium experiment inadvertently created a generation of educated Congolese leaders. The episode also touches on the 1930s sleeping sickness campaigns and the controversial use of African patients as research subjects. A nuanced look at how colonial benevolence and exploitation coexisted. #Lovanium #Congo #ColonialMedicine #ThomasKanza #ForcePublique #Evolues #SleepingSickness #Leopoldville #BelgianCongo #KatholiekeUniversiteitLeuven #MedicalApartheid #1920s #Africa #History #FexingoHistory #Colonialism #Healthcare #Race Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    9 分
  • The 1930s Belgian Congo Uranium Rush

    The 1930s Belgian Congo Uranium Rush
    2026/06/05
    This episode dives into the little-known story of Belgium's control over the global uranium supply in the 1930s, centered on the Shinkolobwe mine in the Katanga province of the Belgian Congo. Discover how a radium mining operation accidentally became the world's primary source of high-grade uranium ore, the secrecy surrounding the find, and how this resource would later shape the Manhattan Project. We explore key figures like Edgar Sengier, the Belgian mining executive who stockpiled uranium in New York, and the colonial dynamics that kept the mine's true value hidden. We also touch on the human cost: the forced labor in the mine, the health effects on miners, and the strategic game between Belgium, the United States, and the Congo Free State's legacy. A story of resource extraction that bridges colonial history and the atomic age. #Shinkolobwe #Katanga #BelgianCongo #EdgarSengier #uranium #radium #ManhattanProject #ForcePublique #Luba #AlbertI #Léopoldville #UnionMinière #1930s #ColonialHistory #AtomicAge #Mining #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 分
  • The 1950s Belgian Colonial Housing Crisis in Leopoldville

    The 1950s Belgian Colonial Housing Crisis in Leopoldville
    2026/06/05
    In the 1950s, Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) underwent a dramatic transformation as tens of thousands of Congolese moved to the city, straining the colonial administration's ability to control urban life. This episode delves into the infamous 'cités indigènes' — segregated African neighborhoods like Kintambo and Matonge — where overcrowding, police surveillance, and the hated chicotte coexisted with the birth of the Congolese jazz scene and the emergence of a literate African elite. We explore the 1957 municipal elections, the first democratic vote for Africans in Belgian Congo, and how the housing crisis radicalized figures like Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Patrice Lumumba. The episode also examines the 'Plan d'Urbanisme' of 1952, which tried to impose European-style order on African quarters, and the backlash it sparked. A story of urban planning as colonial control, and its unintended role in forging a nationalist consciousness. #Leopoldville #Kinshasa #Kintambo #Matonge #BelgianCongo #1950s #colonialurbanism #citesindigenes #JosephKasaVubu #PatriceLumumba #chicotte #CongoJazz #PlanUrbanisme #1957elections #segregation #colonialhousing #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 分