Tag: Belgian Congo stamp

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Congo 1965, pretending independence and the army hadn’t failed

This stamp imagines a daring paratrooper assault carried out the Congo Army. Well the army had a paratroop division, so that could happen. 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.

The world was filled with stories of foreigners fighting in the Congo. Belgium, the UN, mercenaries with various backing, and even Che Guevara. Yet here we have the Congo Army fighting for itself pulling off a dangerous airborne assault. The opposite of reality.

Todays stamp is issue A113, a 9 Franc stamp issued by the Democratic Republic of the Congo on July 5, 1965. It was a five stamp issue in various denominations on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of independence. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents. This stamp set also exists imperforate, raising the value to $17.50.

Belgium had administered the colony with local Askari soldiers operating with mostly Belgian officers. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/10/10/belgian-congo-1942-can-colonials-rely-on-askari-soldiers-when-the-home-country-is-occupied/   . The function was civil defence with the additional tasks of forcing labor contracts. To do this last function, they carried chicotes, a whip made from the hide of a hippopotamus. Not a promising basis for a professional army. Only in the final years of colonial status were a few locals taken for more advanced military training. The intention was that Belgian officers would be seconded to the Congo Army until further notice. 5  days after independence the troops themselves announced that was not acceptable and mutineed. The troops rioted in the major cities specifically targeting whites. Soon copper rich Katanga declared itself independent and Belgian paratroopers landed to support that and protect it’s nationals. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/07/13/katanga-1961-mining-out-the-chaos/    .

The United Nations intervened on the side of the Congo army. The government was trying to get control of the looting army. They appointed locals as generals that had previously served as corporals and sergeants in the previous Askari force, The tide was against the Congo. The Prime Minister was arrested and turned over to “independent” Katanga where he was beaten, shot by a firing squad, and his corpse dissolved in acid. Dag Hamirgold, the UN secretary, was killed in a plane crash trying to get negotiations going.

All this quickly proved tiresome. Che Guevara found the local freedom fighters unhelpful and untrustworthy and moved on. Congo then agreed to take Katanga leader Moise Tshombe as Prime Minister to get Katanga back and restore Belgian support. A few months after this stamp, Congo General and former Askari corporal Mobutu declared himself President and Tshombe was off into exile.

Tshombe while Prime Minister of Katanga

I mentioned lack of training and effective leadership plagued the early days of the Congo Army. This line of thinking lead to lots of dubious aid to Congo. At the time of this stamp, Begians were training the Army. The British were training Army engineers. Italy was training the combat arm of the air force. The USA was training the Air Force’s transport command. Most relevant to this stamp, Israelis were training the Army’s Parachute Division. The parachute division was most important to the central government as most army units listened only if at all to local provincial leadership.

Discarded C47, jump off only while still on ground. Lesson of the day!

Tshombe tried to come back to Congo in 1968 despite having been tried and sentenced to death for treason. His executive jet was hijacked by French spy Francis Bodenan of SDECE. He ended up in Algeria where he died of “heart failure”. Europe was now supporting Mabuto. Meanwhile the Army is desperately in need of more foreign aid so it can become a force for good and achieve…… So it goes.

Well my drink is empty. Wait, up in the sky, is that the Congo Parachute Division. Oh no…  Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.

 

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Congo 1969. President Mobutu just before he became Authentic

Sometimes dictators can be fun when viewed from afar. President Mobutu wanted his country to be more authentically African. So he picked a Portuguese name to replace the Belgian one. He wanted a whole new style of clothes and found inspiration in China. Some of the changes though could have only come from him. 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.

This was a long running series of stamps. They lasted through the renaming of the country to Zaire. The launch of the new currency also called the Zaire, the renaming of President Mobutu and the devaluations of the new currency. The post offices were still selling you versions of this stamp after this style of dress had been banned by the country. The country got it’s moneys worth from the De la Rue design.

Todays stamp is issue A127, a three Franc stamp issued by the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1969. It was a 15 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether used or unused. There is also an imperforate version of the stamp, but the value only rises to 30 cents.

Joseph Mobutu was born in 1930 the son of a hotel maid that had escaped the harem of her home village chief and his father was employed as a cook of a Belgian judge, The judge’s wife took a liking to Joseph and taught him to read and write in French and when his father died secured a place for him at a Catholic Boys Boarding School. Joseph ran away to the capital Léopoldville with a girl but when the priests caught up to him, he was done with the school and joined the colonial Askari army. In the chaos that followed independence Mobutu was made a high officer as was done with many Askari corporals. Mobutu became President in a coup in 1965.

At the start of the 1970s Mobutu got serious about remaking the Congo more legitimately African, a common theme then and now. He was counseled by a Portuguese anthropologist on the importance of the Congo River to the country. He hit upon the anthropologist’s mispronunciation of the Kikongo word nzere. He realized that  in many tribal languages Zaire would be understood as the the large river that swallows the lessor ones. Mobutu decided on the the three Zs with Zaire becoming the name of the river, the country, and the new currency. The President also required the Priests in the Catholic country to stop Baptizing with western names.

The renaming got to Mobutu himself. He dropped the Joseph and added Sese Seko. His full name now translated to,” The all powerful warrior, who because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, goes from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake” The evening newscast began with a graphic of Mobutu descending from heaven. During this time the newscast was not allowed to name any other person just the title they held.

The style of clothes also changed. Mobutu was inspired by a 1972 trip to China and their style of dress. He designed a abacost, which translates into “Down with the Suit”. It was often worn with a toque hat and was to replace the coat and tie. Mobutu’s were tailor made for him in Brussels.

President Mobutu wearing his Abacost and toque

Eventually Mobutu’s popularity declined and in 1990 he was forced to allow some opposition figures into the government. For some strange reason they got the enforcement of the new rules suspended. When Mobutu was overthrown and replaced by Joseph Kabilla, the African authenticity program ended and the country reverted to it’s old name. The opposition was sure Mobutu had stole billions but after his death they only found 3 million dollars. I bet he spent it all. Kabilla turned out just as bad a ruler as Mobutu but was even worse as he completely lacked style.

Well my drink is empty. I wonder if Mobutu was still around would he be quarantined in one of his palaces only wearing the top half of his abacost while live streaming. Come again tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Belgian Congo 1923, Showing off a non existent “Ubangi Man”

I like when a colony displays through it’s stamps the local culture. Therefore I was excited to study up on the Ubangi tribe upon spotting this stamp. Except there is no Ubangi tribe. Well maybe the name changed. A little south a tribe has gone from being called hottentots to bushmen to sen. No, the tribe doesn’t exist and never has. 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.

Belgium probably knew what tribes it was dealing with in their Congo colony. A hint into how this stamp happened may be the engravers note at the bottom. The American Bank Note Company. A farm out stamp, from the place the Ubangi myth began.

Todays stamp is issue A33, a 20 Centimes stamp issued by the Belgian Congo Colony in 1923. It was part of a 26 stamp issue in various denominations displaying the local culture, economy, and animals of the Congo. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents unused.

There is a tradition among some African women to have their lower lip pierced so then it can be stretched and an ornamental disc put in. This mainly happened among the Mursi tribe of Ethiopia. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus imported a few of the women to the USA as part of their freak show of tall, short, and fat people. The circus wanted them to sound exotic. So after consulting an African map, they were named Ubangi. There is a river by that name.

Period Circus Poster
Modern Mursi woman with ornamental disc installed
Modern Mursi women showing the lower lip pierced and stretched but without disc installed. Notice also her earlobe

W. C. Fields later used the term in movies he wrote to refer to Africans. He liked to use terms unknown that sounded vaguely dirty to get around or at least lampoon the strict sexual censorship of the time. He also invented mother of pearl.

I mentioned that Ubangi really is a river. It also now refers to a group of languages mainly spoken in the Central African Republic. Yes here too, the name came from whites.

Well my drink is empty and so I will have to wait till tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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Zaire 1979, After giving up on African Authenticity, Mobutu retraced HM Stanley

Sometimes you wonder if this stuff is all a joke. A dictator forces names changed and people not to wear western suits, he nationalizes industry, and builds great gaudy palaces. Then the money runs out and the west is invited back in to recreate H. M. Stanley. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your fist sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Todays stamp is from the time when the wheels were starting to come off President Maputu’s party train. You still see him trying, with his leopard skin toque and his abacost. Indeed he was still chartering the Concorde to fly from the international airport he had built in his hometown in the jungle. Now to do it he was inviting in westerners and Chinese to get industry working and even retrace the journey into darkest Africa 100 years before by Stanley. The same man who 8 years before renamed Stanleyville Kisangani. The cheap paper of the stamp shows how threadbare it was all getting.

Todays stamp is issue A166 a 25 la Kuta stamp issued by Zaire in February 1979. It was part of an eight stamp issue in various denominations recognizing the joint British and Zairean Congo River Expedition recreating Stanley’s original 100 years before. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 40 cents. There is a version of this issue printed on gold foil that is worth $50.

Congo when Belgian had a very lucrative copper operation. So independence was difficult has there was much money floating around trying to keep  the operation going. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/03/07/a-failed-plan-de-redressement-brings-a-revolt-of-simbas-in-the-congo/, and this https://the-philatelist.com/2018/07/13/katanga-1961-mining-out-the-chaos/   . By the 1970s the operation was nationalized and there was one party rule under former Army officer and Belgian gendarme corporal Mobutu. Mobutu started a program to make Congo more authentically African. He had a new suit designed called abacost, which meant down with suits. He changed all the place names and made it a crime to baptize a baby with a western name. Speaking of names, he changed his name to include the phrase, “the all powerful warrior, who because of his endurance and inflexible will, goes from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake. This was shortened to Sese Seko. He was born with only Mobutu for a name.

One conquest Mobutu couldn’t manage was against the laws of economics. By the late 70s the west and China were invited back in to try to get things working again. That would not prove possible and the lure of getting those copper mines working again  is enough to fund rebel groups from the outside. In 1997, Mabutu was forced into exile. His tacky grandeur in now in ruins, the billions allegedly hidden away were never found and the new guys are just the old guy minus the style. The Scott catalog doesn’t recognize the modern stamps as there is no longer a provable postal service. To bad a new Belgian King Leopold can’t fund a new H. M. Stanley to start over.

A woman in the ruins of the Bamboo Palace, one of the extravagant residences built by Mobutu Sese Seko in his native village in Equateur Province.

H. M. Stanley was a British explorer in the personal patronage of King Leopold of Belgium. He wanted to find the sources of the Congo and Nile River and how they relate to Lake Victoria. His expedition down the length of the Congo River started with 228 people including 4 Europeans. By the time he reached the Atlantic 999 days later he was down to 114 and he was the only European. There are waterfalls and rapids along the route that made it difficult. As Stanley travelled he was claiming the territory for Belgian King Leopold. There however was later a falling out because Stanley’s treaties with African tribes only amounted to renting places for trading posts instead of creating a massive personal colony. The King perhaps should have listened to Stanley.

Well my drink is empty and I am afraid I wouldn’t look good in a leopard skin toque or an abacost. So I will just stick to the smoking jacket and remind you to come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Belgian Congo 1942, Can colonials rely on Askari soldiers when the home country is occupied

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