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Democratic Republic of the Congo portal; Belgian Congo in World War I — in the African Theatre of World War I, now the present day Democratic Republic of the Congo. The colony was involved in the East African Campaign (1914−1918).
The German colony in East Africa was a threat to the neutral Belgian Congo but the Belgian government hoped to continue its neutrality in Africa. The Force Publique was constrained to adopt a defensive strategy until 15 August 1914, when German ships on Lake Tanganyika bombarded the port of Mokolobu and then the Lukuga post a week later.
The Force Publique (French: [fɔʁs pyblik], "Public Force"; Dutch: Openbare Weermacht) was the military of the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo from 1885 to 1960. It was established after Belgian Army officers travelled to the Free State to found an armed force in the colony on Leopold II of Belgium's orders.
German presence in Africa posed no direct threat to the Belgian Congo; however, in 1914 a German gunboat sank a number of Belgian vessels on Lake Tanganyika. [38] Congolese forces, under Belgian officers, fought German colonial forces in the Cameroons and seized control of the western third of German East Africa , advancing as far as the town ...
The main attack was from the north from British East Africa, as troops from the Belgian Congo advanced from the west in two columns, over Lake Victoria on the British troop ships SS Rusinga and SS Usoga and into the Rift Valley. Another contingent advanced over Lake Nyasa (now Lake Malawi) from the south-east. Lettow-Vorbeck evaded the British ...
The Belgian Congo (French: Congo belge, pronounced [kɔ̃ɡo bɛlʒ]; Dutch: Belgisch-Congo) [a] was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
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 government's main aim was to defend the Belgian Congo and to take control of Lake Tanganyika, Charles Tombeur was awarded the title of baron for his service in World War I. [32] Jan Smuts became Prime Minister of South Africa in 1919 and South Africa was given a Class C mandate over German South-West Africa (later Namibia).