Belgium gets a little bit of a raw deal in regards to the Askari soldiers of it’s Force Publique. This is from a misunderstanding over who was in charge when. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
Todays stamp is from a strange time in the Belgian Congo. The home country was captured after it’s neutrality was violated. A government in exile was bogged down in confusion and not giving instructions. The King had stayed in Belgium and was trying to negotiate with Germany an end to the military occupation and to allow him to form a pro German government. Into this confusion Pierre Ryckmans the Governor decided himself to cast his lot with the Allies. But his army was entirely black, Askari soldiers at the enlisted level. Whose side were they on, if any? It makes for a very mysterious stamp.
Todays stamp is issue A75, a 10 Belgian Franc stamp issued by the Belgian Congo in 1942. It was part of a 20 stamp issue in various denominations. The stamp displays a local Congolese soldier that served in the colonial army. These type of soldier were known as Askari soldiers after the Arabic word for soldier. He is seen with his khaki uniform and his Fez cap that Askari troops were known for. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.
King Leopold could not get his country interested in African colonization so he took the unusual step of setting up the colony personally. The King’s early administration very closely resembled the private companies that were sometimes charged with less important areas. As such the profit motive was of prime importance. This can be seen in the Force Publique military police force formed. The officers were of various European nations and the men were Askari. They would make sure that less than 25 percent were from the local tribe and the soldiers also had duties enforcing work quotas under contract labor agreements . This enforcement was by a chicote, which was a type of bull whip made of hippopotamus hide. This is all such a sorted business that pressure came on Belgium to take over the colony and put in a more enlightened rule.
There was at least economic progress under the Belgians and mining and rubber plantations grew the economy and allowed for some education of locals. The decision of Governor Ryckmans to side with the Allies in WWII was very beneficial. They became the primary source of rubber after the loss of the Dutch East Indies, and the uranium used in the Manhattan project came from the Belgian Congo. His efforts saw him named a Count posthumously. The Force Publique also participated successfully in the British East Africa campaign that removed Italy from Ethiopia and Somaliland.
The chicote was still in use till the end of the colony in 1960 and no Askari had completed training to be officers. Later President Maputo was only a Sargent. Upon independence the Force Publique became the Congolese Army and the intention was to retain Belgian officers. This only lasted four days. A Belgian general addressed Askari troops in a mess hall saying that nothing had changed with independence. He was perhaps calling for discipline but instead started a large mutiny. The army began looting and specifically targeting whites that remained in Congo. The remaining Belgians gathered in Katanga province and attempted to secede from Congo and civil war was the result. Katanga hired white mercenaries to fight, no longer trusting Askari. In a sad coincidence, former governor Ryckmans’ son Andre was shot down while flying in a helicopter looking for Belgians caught behind the lines. The pilot and Andre were taken prisoner by the Congo army but then tortured and killed. Andre was also posthumously made a Count.
With the end of African colonies, came the end for the most part of the end of the Askari soldier. Not entirely, in post war Iraq, Ugandans are hired by private security companies to perform security missions and are referred to as Askaris. They no longer seem to wear the fez, but hopefully they also no longer carry the chicote.
Well, my drink is empty and this is one of those times where I can’t toast the fellow on the stamp, but I will toast the senior and junior Counts Ryckmans. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting