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Baudouin [a] (US: / b oʊ ˈ d w æ̃ /; [1] [2] 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993) was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his death in 1993. He was the last Belgian king to be sovereign of the Congo, before it became independent in 1960 and became the Democratic Republic of the Congo (known from 1971 to 1997 as Zaire).
A notable exception was the young King Baudouin, who had succeeded his father, King Leopold III, under dramatic circumstances in 1951, when Leopold III was forced to abdicate. [1] Baudouin took a close interest in the Belgian Congo. On his first state visit to the Belgian Congo in 1955, King Baudouin was welcomed enthusiastically by cheering ...
The failure of King Baudouin's second visit to the Belgian Congo in December 1959 which didn't allow the political tensions to be reduced. [9] The creation of a large scale Belgian-Congolese dialogue was also compatible with a speech from Belgian King Baudouin broadcast on January 13, 1959. Where he expressed the desire to "lead the Congolese ...
In 1959, King Baudouin made another visit to the Belgian Congo, finding a great contrast with his visit of four years before. Upon his arrival in Léopoldville, he was pelted with rocks by black Belgo-Congolese citizens who were angry with the imprisonment of Lumumba, convicted because of incitement against the colonial government.
At 12:01 a.m. (0101 GMT), the Belgian Congo is proclaimed independent by Belgium's King Baudouin. The new Congolese Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, then delivered an angry speech about colonial rule. [5] 30 June Belgian Congo is replaced by Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) 30 June The Comité Spécial du Katanga is dissolved. [6]
From 1908 until 1960, the Belgian Congo was a Belgian colony in Central Africa. In the first 23 years of Belgium’s ruling from 1885 to 1960, it is estimated that up 10 million Congolese died ...
The Belgian King, Baudouin, also declared for the first time that independence would be granted to the Congo in the future. International media assumed that the reforms were made in response to the riots. There is no evidence to support this, though it is possible that Baudouin's declaration was made to temper Congolese opinion. [16]
The Belgian Congo, today the Democratic Republic of the Congo, highlighted on a map of Africa. Colonial rule in the Congo began in the late 19th century. King Leopold II of Belgium, frustrated by Belgium's lack of international power and prestige, attempted to persuade the Belgian government to support colonial expansion around the then-largely unvisited Congo Basin.