Genocide in the Congo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Genocide in the Congo - Essay Example sults from the conjunction of influences and actions widely present in the world today, it needs to be addressed directly, and understood, not neglected.†(Newbury, 1998). It is estimated that, since the beginning of twentieth century, about 6,100,000 people have been killed under the label of genocide. Surprisingly, in most of these cases, particularly in the Congo Genocide, the international community preferred to remain silent. In August 1939, Hitler ordered his Army commanders "to kill without pity or mercy all men, women and children of Polish race and language." (www.historyplace.com). In the Nazi holocaust, from 1938 to 1945, about 6,000,000 people were massacred by the German dictator. Probably, he had Stalin as his Guru in this cruel act. Through forced famine, Stalin eliminated about 7,000,000 men, women, and children. Thus, this savage impulse in man that linked him to organized crime seemed to have already got established in history. Men needed only a flimsy excuse to grab the opportunity and unleash this evil impulse to wreak havoc on his fellow men. Congo Genocide is a chilling example of what happened when man was stripped of his civilized nature, if at all there was any. Africa is a dark continent and, as Joseph Conrad rightly called, Congo is ‘the heart of this darkness’. Its history is simply miserable. After the period of colonization, from 1867 to 1885, a free state was formed, named Congo Free State. A brutal and an arbitrary ruler, King Leopold II became its Head, and he made murder and starvation part of Congonian life-style. In 1908 Congo came under Belgian rule. A free election was held in1960 and Congo came to be known as the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, the democratically elected Prime Minister, Lumumbo, remained in power for only a short while, as the power-crazy president, Mobuto, took over the rule after assassinating him. Looting the country to amass personal