How does Belgium play around Europe?
Not to mention that it is too long ago. Belgium has belonged to the Habsburg family since A.D. 1477. 1506, in the year of Zheng Deyuan in Ming Dynasty, Spain became the master of Belgium. Spain fought for 200 years, and Belgium "sent" it to the Habsburg family in Austria. Then there is the struggle all the way. 18 15 years, after the French occupation of Belgium for 2 1 year, Belgium hung out with its big brother in the north, the Netherlands.
It seems that this is almost a "big country abandoning its children", but it has no personality and no characteristics.
Belgium's self-reliance in sense of justice was recognized by European powers in 183 1. This year, Leopold I ascended the throne. This grandfather could have been the king of Greece, but he despised Greece. Belgium asked if you would like to be the king of our country, Leopold, and I immediately agreed.
Leopold I's first gift to Belgium was to force the Netherlands to recognize Belgium's independence after eight years of war with the Netherlands. Belgium's economy has made a great leap since 1848. Belgium is rich in coal resources, demographic dividend and industrial base. It is convenient to build a railway connecting France and Holland.
However, Belgium is too small and has limited resources. It must learn from several big robbers to grab territory overseas in order to develop "sustainably". It's too late for Belgium to talk. There is no place in Asia that Belgium can rob. Africa is basically divided up by several robbers, except the Congo River basin. The Congo River basin has not been divided up, which can be said to be the result of the balance among countries. Belgium understands this and has played a very awesome wrist.
1876 In September, Leopold II, the outstanding son of Leopold I, invited all the big European countries to Brussels and gently called for a conference on developing Africa. At the meeting, Leopold II said that China and Africa have not been "developed", and as a developed country, we have the responsibility and obligation to help them enter the civilized era. Are you familiar with these deceptive stories? That's how all kinds of bloodsucking foreign devils played in old China.
Leopold II has established a so-called China-Africa International Association for Exploration and Development, and this gentleman has the ability to open a branch meeting place in foreign countries.
Leopold I left his son150,000 francs before his death, which is a huge fortune. And Leopold II really has the courage to give this association 6.5438+million yuan, let them play the trumpet, to lift the sedan chair, and talk nonsense.
What do you mean, I can't bear to let my children catch wolves? Here it is.
Then, Leopold II found the British explorer Stanley, and they talked for a while. They shared the same rotten tastes and decided to cooperate. Under the banner of the so-called International Association for Exploration and Development in Central Africa, Stanley set up a so-called investigation point in the Congo River basin, which was actually a colonial stronghold. Stan used force to force the local chief to sign a protection treaty with him. How many/much? At least 450.
When these so-called checkpoints are connected in a line, they become Belgian territory, although they are nominally a nondescript consortium.
People in power are not stupid. Why did Belgium occupy the Congo River basin? Everyone rushed over. You occupy the estuary, I occupy the lower reaches of the Congo River, and the powers wrestle. But in this way, it will be beneficial for Belgium to monopolize the Congo River basin. Leopold II throws money everywhere to get experts and scholars to support it, and then lobbies other countries.
The effect is good. 1884165438+10 held the Berlin conference in October, mainly to solve the Congo estuary problem, also known as the Congo conference. Germany has long been dissatisfied with Britain, preferring to let Belgium, a small country, monopolize the Congo River basin, and can no longer let Britain expand its territory. As a result of the final discussion, Leopold II occupied the Congo River basin in its own name, not in the name of the Belgian state, that is, the private land of the Belgian king or the free country of Congo. The capital of Congo (DRC) is now called Kinshasa, but in Belgian times it was called Leopoldville.
Needless to say, Leopold II provided figures that experts and scholars could not refuse.
After Belgium occupied the Congo River basin with an area of more than 2.3 million square kilometers, it began to dig three feet to scrape the ground, sell black slaves, cut down forests and develop minerals. In just 20 years, Belgian colonization has reduced the population of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by 3 million, which is heinous. 1908, because the reputation of the Congo Free State is too bad. Belgium took over the so-called private land in Leopold II in the name of the country, but the Congo River basin is still owned by Belgium. Until 1960, Belgium, a small country, could not resist the increasingly powerful Congo (DRC) and simply gave up and let them become independent. Anyway, Belgium has enough money in Congo (DRC) these years.