Geographical Conference in Brussels
The geographical conference in Brussels took place at the invitation of the Belgian king, Leopold II , from September 12 to 14, 1876 in the Royal Palace .
Attendees
Several high-ranking politicians, scientists and the military from Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Austria and Russia accepted Leopold II's invitation. These included, for example, Henry Creswicke Rawlinson as President of the Royal Geographical Society , Henry Bartle Frere , Rutherford Alcock , Ferdinand von Richthofen as President of the Geographical Society Berlin , Vice Admiral Camille Clément de La Roncière-Le Noury as President of the Société de Géographie , Gustav Nachtigal , Gerhard Rohlfs , Victor de Compiègne , James Augustus Grant , Verney Lovett Cameron , Thomas Buxton as President of the Society against Slavery and for the Protection of Natives , John Kennaway as President of the Church Mission Society and entrepreneur William Mackinnon .
course
Overall, the conference should have a humanitarian purpose. Under the chairmanship of the Russian geographer Pyotr Petrowitsch Semjonow-Tjan-Schanski , discussions were held on how to open up Africa in terms of transport technology, how to abolish slavery and how to establish harmony between the chiefs. Although no concrete decisions were made, the International Africa Society ( French Association Internationale Africaine, AIA ) was founded to coordinate the development of Africa. The conference participants unanimously appointed Leopold II as its president.
literature
- Émile Banning : Africa and the Brussels geographical conference. London 1877.
- Martin Ewans: European Atrocity, African Catastrophe. Leopold II, the Congo Free State and its Aftermath. London u. a. 2002, pp. 39-46.
- Georg Königk: The Berlin Congo Conference 1884-1885. Essen 1938, pp. 23–31.
- Adam Hochschild : Shadows over the Congo. The story of one of the great, almost forgotten crimes of humanity. Stuttgart 2012, pp. 63-67.
- Ruth Weiss / Hans Mayer: Africa for the Europeans. From the Berlin Congo Conference in 1884 to the Africa of the new colonization. Wuppertal 1984, p. 21ff.