Episodi

  • The Tervuren Museum and Belgium's Colonial Propaganda — Fexingo History

    The Tervuren Museum and Belgium's Colonial Propaganda — Fexingo History
    Apr 26 2026
    Beyond the rubber atrocities and the uranium mine, Belgium's colonial project was also a vast propaganda machine. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, originally built as the colonial exhibition of 1897. They discuss how the museum's architecture, dioramas, and ethnographic displays were designed to legitimize Leopold II's rule over the Congo Free State, presenting it as a civilizing mission. They trace the museum's evolution from a propaganda tool to a contested site of memory, and its recent efforts to confront its colonial past. Along the way, they touch on figures like the artist Charles-Henri-Joseph Cordier, the anthropologist Emile de Laveleye, and the museum's controversial 'human zoos' that displayed Congolese people in mock villages. The episode also examines the broader Belgian colonial propaganda network, including the use of postcards, school textbooks, and world's fairs, and how these shaped Belgian public opinion for decades. This is a nuanced look at how a small country built a monumental narrative of empire.

    #Tervuren #RoyalMuseumForCentralAfrica #ColonialPropaganda #LeopoldII #CongoFreeState #1897Exhibition #HumanZoos #BelgianColonialism #MuseumStudies #Postcolonialism #CharlesCordier #EmileDeLaveleye #WorldFairs #Propaganda #HistoryOfBelgium #Congo #MuseumHistory #FexingoHistory #BelgiumHistory #Brussels

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    7 min
  • The Belgian Congo's Uranium: How a Secret Mine Built the Atomic Bomb — Fexingo History

    The Belgian Congo's Uranium: How a Secret Mine Built the Atomic Bomb — Fexingo History
    Apr 26 2026
    In this episode, Lucas and Luna uncover the astonishing story of the Shinkolobwe uranium mine in the Belgian Congo. While the world knows about the Manhattan Project and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, few realize that the uranium used in those bombs came almost entirely from a single mine deep in the Congolese jungle. Lucas traces the mine's history from its discovery by the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga, through its secret transport during World War II, to its role in the Cold War. He explains how Edgar Sengier, a Belgian businessman, stockpiled uranium in a New York warehouse before the US even started building the bomb. Luna asks about the local impact and the legacy of radiation exposure. The episode also touches on the post-war cover-up and the continued struggle for compensation. It's a sobering reminder of how Belgium's colonial enterprise reached into the very fabric of modern warfare.

    #BelgianCongo #Shinkolobwe #Uranium #ManhattanProject #AtomicBomb #EdgarSengier #UnionMiniRe #Katanga #WorldWarII #ColdWar #Colonialism #NuclearHistory #Congo #Belgium #Hiroshima #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast #BelgiumHistory #LeopoldII

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    7 min
  • The Forgotten Question: Congo's Independence from Belgium — Fexingo History

    The Forgotten Question: Congo's Independence from Belgium — Fexingo History
    Apr 25 2026
    In this episode of The History of Belgium, Lucas and Luna move beyond the brutal reign of Leopold II and the rubber atrocities to explore the long, complex road to Congolese independence. They discuss Patrice Lumumba's rise as a nationalist leader, the Belgian government's belated and often cynical reforms, the Round Table Conference of 1960, and the chaotic first days of independence that led to the assassination of Lumumba. Key figures include King Baudouin, Lumumba, Joseph Kasa-Vubu, and Moïse Tshombe. The episode examines how Belgium's colonial legacy shaped the Congo's post-independence crises and why the question of Belgian responsibility remains unresolved.

    #PatriceLumumba #CongoIndependence #BelgianColonialism #1960 #KingBaudouin #JosephKasaVubu #MoiseTshombe #RoundTableConference #KatangaSecession #ForcePublique #LovaniumUniversity #ColdWar #Decolonization #BelgianCongo #History #FexingoHistory #ColonialLegacy #PostcolonialStudies #BelgiumHistory #LeopoldII

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    8 min
  • The Bula Matari: Henry Morton Stanley's Congo Legacy — Fexingo History

    The Bula Matari: Henry Morton Stanley's Congo Legacy — Fexingo History
    Apr 25 2026
    In Episode 4 of The History of Belgium, Lucas and Luna turn to one of the most controversial figures in the Congo story: Henry Morton Stanley, the Welsh-American explorer who became Leopold II's right hand in Africa. They trace Stanley's early expeditions, his brutal construction of the Matadi-Kinshasa railway, and his role in enforcing Leopold's rubber regime. They examine Stanley's own writings — like his 1890 book In Darkest Africa — and how he framed colonialism as a civilizing mission while his methods sowed mass death. They also explore Stanley's legacy in Belgium, where his statue still stands in the Parc du Cinquantenaire, and in the Congo, where he is remembered as Bula Matari — the breaker of rocks. The episode grapples with how historians assess Stanley today, from his personal ambition to his role in the Congo Free State's atrocities.

    #HenryMortonStanley #LeopoldII #CongoFreeState #BulaMatari #MatadiKinshasaRailway #RubberRegime #InDarkestAfrica #ColonialExploration #BelgianEmpire #ForcePublique #19thCentury #Imperialism #CongoHistory #Brussels #ParcDuCinquantenaire #Explorers #BelgianHistory #FexingoHistory #BelgiumHistory #Flemish

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    6 min
  • The Belgian Empire: Congo's Rubber and the Railway of Death — Fexingo History

    The Belgian Empire: Congo's Rubber and the Railway of Death — Fexingo History
    Apr 24 2026
    In this episode of The History of Belgium, Lucas and Luna explore the brutal infrastructure of empire — the construction of the Matadi–Kinshasa Railway in the Congo Free State. They discuss how Leopold II's regime used forced labor to build a 400-kilometer railway through the Crystal Mountains, with a death toll that may have exceeded 100,000 Congolese workers. The episode delves into the role of Belgian engineers, the financing of the railway by the Société Générale de Belgique, and how the railway enabled the extraction of rubber and ivory. It also covers the resistance of local peoples like the Bateke and the legacy of this railway in modern Congo. The conversation touches on the broader context of the Scramble for Africa, the Congo Reform Movement, and the Belgian colonial economy. Listeners will learn about figures like Albert Thys, the colonial entrepreneur who oversaw the railway, and the African workers who built it under horrific conditions.

    #BelgianEmpire #CongoFreeState #MatadiKinshasaRailway #LeopoldII #ScrambleForAfrica #ColonialRailways #ForcedLabor #AlbertThys #CrystalMountains #Bateke #RubberExtraction #SocieteGenerale #ColonialHistory #19thCentury #CongoleseHistory #RailwayOfDeath #History #FexingoHistory #BelgiumHistory #Brussels

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    7 min
  • The Congo Reform Movement: Belgium's Great Moral Awakening — Fexingo History

    The Congo Reform Movement: Belgium's Great Moral Awakening — Fexingo History
    Apr 24 2026
    In this episode of The History of Belgium, Lucas and Luna explore the Congo Reform Movement, a pivotal chapter in Belgian history that followed the horrors of Leopold II's Congo Free State. They discuss the courageous figures who exposed the atrocities, including Edmund Dene Morel, a British shipping clerk who noticed suspicious cargo patterns, and Roger Casement, whose 1904 report documented systematic violence against Congolese workers. The conversation delves into the role of the Congo Reform Association in building an international human rights campaign, and the eventual handover of the Congo to the Belgian state in 1908. Lucas explains how the reform movement forced a national reckoning with colonial brutality, leading to administrative changes but leaving a legacy of exploitation that continues to shape Belgium's memory of its colonial past. The episode also touches on the broader implications for modern human rights advocacy and the ongoing debate over reparations and historical accountability.

    #CongoReformMovement #EdmundDeneMorel #RogerCasement #LeopoldII #CongoFreeState #BelgianColonialHistory #HumanRights #1908 #KingLeopold #CongoReformAssociation #Atrocities #HistoryOfBelgium #Colonialism #Imperialism #Activism #History #FexingoHistory #20thCentury #BelgiumHistory #Brussels

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    6 min
  • The Accidental Nation: How Belgium Was Born — Fexingo History

    The Accidental Nation: How Belgium Was Born — Fexingo History
    Apr 23 2026
    In this pilot episode, Lucas and Luna begin at the Brussels Grand Place in 1830, where a riot at an opera sparked Belgium's revolution against the Netherlands. They trace how this tiny buffer state emerged from the Congress of Vienna, became Europe's most industrialized nation after Britain, and built a colonial empire in the Congo under King Leopold II. Lucas explains the linguistic divide between Flemish and French, the role of the Catholic Church, and the strange fact that Belgium's first king, Leopold I, was an uncle of Queen Victoria. They touch on the atrocities in the Congo Free State that forced the Belgian government to take control in 1908. The conversation sets up future episodes on both World Wars, the Rwandan genocide, and the modern tensions between Flanders and Wallonia.

    #BelgianHistory #BrusselsGrandPlace #1830Revolution #LeopoldI #LeopoldII #CongoFreeState #CongressOfVienna #IndustrialRevolution #FlemishFrenchDivide #RwandanGenocide #WorldWarI #WorldWarII #BelgianColonialism #EuropeanHistory #Afrikaner #ProtestantCatholic #History #FexingoHistory #BelgiumHistory #Brussels

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    7 min