Belgium's Attempt to Colonize America

[@EmperorTigerstar]

A few notes: 1) Some are mentioning that the Congo genocide was when the Congo was personally the king's property rather than Belgium's colony itself. This is true, but I merely grouped them as all of Belgium's colonies were from their monarchs' aspirations. 2) I accidentally mixed up the Hutus and Tutsis in terms of which group was placed in control. The Tutsis were kept in charge.

[@lucinae8512]

Scotland tried to make its own colony in Central America, but came across the same problems as Belgium. Talk about that next.

[@Von-Gabs]

@@lucinae8512 The Scottish attempt to colonize America (more there fail to do so) is one of the reasons why we have the UNITED Kingdom today (because the Scott's were broke afterwards)

[@HarJBeRw]

Also the policies of Tutsi supremacy control in Rwanda-Urundi were not put in place by the Belgians, but by the Germans. The Belgians did continue those policies however after acquiring Rwanda-Urundi from the Germans following the end of the first world war and seeing how effective they were

[@Sondariut]

It is quite wrong to group them. Belgian Congo and Congo Freestate are very different things even if the first was a consequence of the second. Belgian Congo is the name for Congo after parliament took away the colony from the king and functioned entirely differently from the quasi anarcho-capitalist madness of Leopold the Second.

[@criticusification]

Also naming it an genocide is not correct (I do know a huge amount of people were killed and more but it wasn't a targeted killing of a people out of desire to exterminate that people)

[@merrittanimation7721]

"Hey Texas can we make a colony on your land?" "You can send people over to settle." "So we can make a colony?" "That's not what I said."

[@Wickedonezz]

@gianni bude your "free" healthcare isn't free, you have increased taxes

[@felixbabuf5726]

@@Wickedonezz Americans have similar tax rates to Europeans, it's just that theirs go to programs that benefit ordinary citizens, while ours go to another 5 aircraft carriers.

[@FRONT-rc1qg]

@Rick K arrogant is acting like john wayne againts the world

[@jk-gb4et]

@@felixbabuf5726 the carriers are protecting Europe so that you don't have to run a large military budget

[@royisdabest]

@@jk-gb4et protecting europe from what? the carriers are mainly in the pacific near japan and south east asia because of the tensions with china. still unnecessary since both sides know the outcome of a war and free health care is better than breaking world peace

[@housesports000]

Belgium’s like that new kid at school who tries to be one of the cool kids

[@Ismail-db1vj]

Belgium also happens to be the little brother of an older kid whos also at that school.

[@ludwigvonkoopa4998]

@@Ismail-db1vj Belgium is that cute girl that secretly hide a corpse in her basement

[@Ismail-db1vj]

@@ludwigvonkoopa4998 She also has a multiple-personallity disorder.

[@gabrielaubry1334]

(Hands soaked in Congolese blood) "I just want to be part of the cool kids!" "You'll never be cool!" "Weeeeh"

[@wout.schreurs]

Putain! Putain!

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

The short lived colony of New Sweden along the Delaware. Conquered by the Dutch. I’d love to see a dedicated vid about that.

[@MrPbhuh]

Given that it was mostly a Dutch Colonial Governor who pledged allegiance to Sweden instead of the Netherlands, there is some interesting stuff there, but it shouldnt just be about New Sweden.

[@SamAronow]

@@MrPbhuh Man, there were a lot of Dutch Colonial Governors of non-Dutch colonies.

[@MK00040]

hello

[@GandalfGreyhame]

@Dr ROLFCOPTER! That isn't really true though. The Dutch fought against Sweden in the Second Northern War

[@gustavsvensson1944]

John B. At your house lol

[@zibythides5523]

The last time I was this early , Belgium was still Spanish

[@mohdadeeb1829]

Last time I was this early , Spain was still part of Roman Empire .

[@elhistoriero1227]

The best Belgium were the spanish low countries.

[@AbrahamLincoln4]

I still didn't had a beard.

[@mohdadeeb1829]

@@AbrahamLincoln4 oversimplified reference?

[@تومبدونجيري]

@papa joe stalin of Stalinist stanistan last time i was this early hafia sophia was a mosque

[@marcello7781]

This made me remember of the German colonies in Venezuela.

[@xenotiic8356]

Wait what

[@baronofbahlingen9662]

Xenotiic Some private company in the Holy Roman Empire founded a colony in modern Venezuela called “Little Venice/Klein Venedig” but it failed really quickly. I’m not sure what state funded it, or if it was funded by the emperor himself, but yeah, it existed.

[@baronofbahlingen9662]

Found out it was bankrolled by a noble family in Augsburg, purchased from Spain/the Holy Roman Emperor

[@AlexGameOver_13]

Or the Scottish ones on Panama

[@mississippiball1003]

Wait really?

[@ergegr8210]

I like how at the beginning the map of Austria-Hungary includes Belgium

[@hisstatus]

Mopscrub Haha,austria go BRRRT and eat up belgium!

[@briguy345]

It owned it for a while, Spain owned it for a while as well

[@captainjackpugh6050]

Austrian Habsburg

[@RexGalilae]

@@briguy345 I mean, both Spain and Austria were ruled by the same family so...

[@doctorballs8309]

Because it was

[@MrRemicas]

To be fair, Belgium had a pretty hands-off approach to colonisation in Congo.

[@exnihilo5087]

I see what you did there!

[@zoomertoast3703]

Oh God

[@royisdabest]

ruthless

[@ninadkashyap7573]

Based and rubber-pilled

[@imperatormaximus8952]

Eyyyyyy

[@siryeehaw8013]

Alternate World where Texas became a Belgian colony "You failed the cattle quota, YOU'VE LOST YEE HAW PRIVILEGES." "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

[@fringeflix]

It's all fun and games until you remember both Poland and Italy tried to colonize the Americas and Russia owned part of Hawaii

[@levmarchuk998]

Wasn’t Tobago technically first colonized by Latvians?

[@salvadorhenriquez4091]

@@levmarchuk998 yeah that would have been so cool

[@fringeflix]

@@levmarchuk998 at the time, New Courland (Tobago colony) was owned by regular Courland, which was basically just Latvia. It was a puppet state of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth. It could do its own things but in all aspects still was essentially a freer part of the PLC. Good catch though :)

[@xxsupersayen34xxnoe33]

history of hawai is so confusing, it's currently american, I know it was controlled by the british, I recently learned that france controlled it at some point and and learn that russia did too

[@levmarchuk998]

extrawaterplease I see, and by that measure Poland Lithuania would get to tax all colonial ventures

[@arch3223]

If their were a Belgian colony in Texas, the German Texans would march through it to get to French Mexico.

[@luishart5279]

arch3223 lmoa 🤣🤣🤣This is a criminally underrated comment

[@arch3223]

@@luishart5279 thank you I'm glad a couple people recognize my genius

[@aleksandarvil5718]

Congo: **King Leopold II's Reign Flashbacks**

[@Ismail-db1vj]

Fun Fact: There's actually a written porno with king Leopold.

[@wlinden]

@@Ismail-db1vj Rule 54: If it exits, there's porn of it.

[@marcello7781]

wasn't rule 34?

[@linkly9272]

@@marcello7781 yeah it's r34

[@CrumpetCraig]

@@wlinden It's rule 34.

[@auberginereverie]

Belgium: *attempts to colonize America* Spain, Portugal, France, and the UK (especially Americas): You're too late to the party

[@raccoon5046]

*sad dutch noises* and the spanish and portuguese where almost none existend anymore

[@eddieibarra356]

@@raccoon5046 The Belgian were attempting to colonize Mexico.

[@gargravarr2]

WW2 Belgium: "We shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, our country or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the Texan Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old."

[@DutchPlanDerLinde]

McWaffles, what a missed opportunity

[@Herstal8389]

We still made fries..there belgian fries not french fries!

[@teixeira476]

0:09 when you're sure he was going to say Portugal but then says maybe even the UNiTeD sTAtES

[@morisco56]

Portugal was the one who fought the hardest to keep their colonies. Mad respect to them.

[@thiagoveloso7610]

@@morisco56 The last Portuguese colony to fall was Macau in 1999, and they've kept all their modern colonies until 1974. By "modern colonies" I'm not including early outposts in India, Japan and Morroco, nor Brazil

[@climberly]

I wanna know more about this plan to colonize pennsylvania, a founding state of the union right in the middle of it. How exactly did they intend to pull that off?

[@JohnSmith-wx9wj]

No way they could even think to afford to buy it. And that's besides that the government would never sell it for any amount.

[@merrittanimation7721]

@@JohnSmith-wx9wj Especially since the U.S's main goal at the time was "get more land".

[@StatiusLegioen]

Frank Bixler Dude, if ‘Belgium’ itself is possible...anything is possible! Hence, it is not a question if or how...but when. ;)

[@beu9245]

@@StatiusLegioen Wether Belgium is possible is still up for debate, they exist as a country but due to their crappy systems it takes them a long while to form a government

[@floriandebontdelbarre2700]

@@beu9245 downsides of democracy my dude. The US delegate-system ain't much better.

[@cowboymooman8776]

the idea of "Belgian Texas" is enough to send shivers down my spine

[@thomasvan3786]

Why ? Not so different from French Luisiana, Spanish Florida and English Virginia if you ask me.

[@cowboymooman8776]

@@thomasvan3786 yeah. but its belgium. BELGIUM

[@jonasbuyle1341]

@@cowboymooman8776 Yes Belgium is Belgium , what do you mean , tell me i live in the country.

[@mammilainen9003]

I think belgian texas are the best thing for Texas

[@jonasbuyle1341]

@@mammilainen9003 You must be living in Texas , but actually a merge between the corevalues of TXS and BLG could be a great system , Texas better healthcare and we get to carry some guns , i will inform our" prime minister" , but she wouldnt understand me , she speaks worse Dutch then i speak French. Democracy is a complete farce over here , you wouldnt believe....

[@ShudowWolf]

*Sees territory Leopold wanted in America* Me: "Um what? What is this Leopold? State-sponsored border-gore? This was an early sign of the atrocities to come."

[@mariodangelo9768]

Yeah I'd be curious what are the explanations for the individual ones for that map

[@math3000]

I feel like HOI4 AI were based on Leopold I

[@johnstrader4606]

the first place Belgium chose was Texas makes absolutely a hundred percent sense

[@ceph2187]

I would give a hand but it seems I've lost mine

[@jiiiyyyaann1210]

I see what you did there ;)

[@WhatifAltHist]

I think at 2:08 it's "commerce Exterieur" and not "ommerce Exterieur"

[@appleslover]

Hi

[@charlesphilippaerts7610]

True "Du commerce extérieur" (I'm half French, half Belgian).

[@charlesphilippaerts7610]

@Juicebox Honestly, I'm good on history but not in Colonies. So I don't think I'll schedule it xD

[@charlesphilippaerts7610]

@Juicebox Ye I'm sry I just realized..

[@argon7479]

On the topic of small countries having colonial empires, I'd love a video about Courland's attempts at colonies since that is the most obscure and tiny nation

[@thewestisthebest6608]

Lot's of Europeans founded cities in Texas after the Revolution. We have towns founded by Italians, Czech's, Dutch, and most notably the Germans who founded a colonial society and many cities in Texas such as Fredericksburg, Schulenberg, and the largest being New Braunfels. For a long time German was actually the third most spoken language in Texas after English and Spanish due to these colonies until the language and the German culture were kind of repressed during both World Wars as Germans were the enemies in those wars. Though German Texans remained loyal to the US including my Great Grandfather who jumped with the 82nd airborne on D-Day and Admiral Chester Nimitz who was born and raised in Fredericksburg, Texas. If you're ever in the area there's a really cool museum dedicated to him in the town that you could check out.

[@ABtheButterfly]

wait he wanted territories that were already states? so he wanted Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Republic of Texas, which is now part of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming, and Kansas and then other territories in Latin America, he just looked at central America and said "mine" I find it funny he didn't want any territory from Canada but being that Canada was still part of the British empire he didn't want to go to war with the British

[@BloodRider1914]

It would be amazing if they actually taught this in Texas school. It would've made 7th grade a bit more interesting

[@royisdabest]

texas history was underwhelming. it was half about the texan revolution and then half about the rest of the world's history

[@axelmaldonado2642]

@@royisdabest Don't forget about how the Civil War was about muh states rights (owning slaves)

[@BloodRider1914]

@@axelmaldonado2642 I remember that we just sort of glossed over the Civil War, but maybe we were just running out of time or something

[@timpauwels3734]

@@BloodRider1914 in the same way my British education...glossed over... the American Revolution...

[@ertugrulgazi389]

@@axelmaldonado2642 you’re one of those No sense of national pride

[@LCTesla]

dutch perspective: ok belgium we've left you alone for a few decades, lets see if you've been a good b... GODSKOLERE

[@crazyboris1625]

A correction: Belgium didn't put in place the system where the Hutus were in charge in Rwanda, the Hutus themselves set that up centuries beforehand.

[@jacobsarvathayaparan2337]

Do you mean the Tutsis?

[@superduperfreakyDj]

The tutsi were in charge mate?

[@martinsriber7760]

Centuries beforehand there was not Rwanda and Tutsis with Hutus were just different classes of same people.

[@sonnyocad287]

Imagine what insane combination of luck and skill would've been required for Leopold I to have gotten all those American colonies.

[@user-vs8kj7pl8p]

He had to be very handy to pull that off

[@math3000]

Leopold I rolled a Nat 20

[@floriandebontdelbarre2700]

Even as a Belgian, i must say i'm happy that didn't happen.

[@floriandebontdelbarre2700]

@@math3000 damn, the very first king of Belgium rolling a nat20? that's luck for life. Sadly enough Leopold II then rolled a nat 1 on his colonization check and his international reputation saving throw.

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

I feel bad for Belgium that they had to pretend they had Guatemala. They need some Juche

[@morisco56]

Long live kim il sung!!!

[@apfelmator]

I love how frequently I find the Supreme Leader in the comment section.

[@darthplagueis3488]

Apfelmator long live the supreme leader

[@ewoudalliet1734]

@@apfelmator I know right.

[@Ali-bu6lo]

1:02 you made a mistake they set uo the system that put the Tutsis in charge of Hutus

[@greattimurempire7596]

Hello

[@appleslover]

Hi

[@narthex1681]

Hey, fellow belgian here, I didnt even know we tried to get land in Texas, it was really inrerresting ! But careful when documenting about Hutus and Tutsis. When we aquired Rwanda, the Germans had already made the racial segregations, thus setting the groundwork for the genocide.

[@cranmzvg]

Funny how even though Leopold was the favorite candidate to be king of Peru, right after its independence before he was crowned king of Belgium, he doesn't consider Peru on his ambitions in América

[@funnySIMON99]

He was a candidate to be King of Greece too

[@bitou592]

@@funnySIMON99 he declined the offer

[@haroldlawson8771]

First leopold not the second

[@haroldlawson8771]

He was married to someone to was to be queen the ku before she died too

[@inovakovsky]

King Leopold II personally owned the Congo as his private property before it was turned to the Belgian government because of public outrage of atrocities that occurred there, so the worst of the slave labor occurred while not having anything to do with the Belgian government.

[@lapland123]

@vicky 2 gaming look at it this way: Not every american liked the Vietnam skirmish problem thing in the 60's - 70's....It's of all ages.

[@jao581]

Mah boy tigerstar posted bout a interesting subject for the thousand time

[@Moghwacy723]

Maybe he will do a video on hidden colonies of the Ukraine? ;)

[@linkly9272]

imagine the poor soul that dug through hundreds and hundreds of records just to find out that his direct ancestors were belgian-american

[@Brams2777]

I wonder how the relationship between Mexico and Belgium would have been if the former had kept it's (second) monarchy and Belgium had gotten it's American colonies, considering that the Empress of Mexico was a Princess of Belgium.

[@eddieibarra356]

Mexico will probably be speaking French.

[@Edmonton-of2ec]

Correction, the King engaged in genocidal atrocities. Belgium can only be held responsible for actions taken after 1909, since before then, it was the personal property and personal responsibility of King Leopold II

[@Edmonton-of2ec]

Ma Pa My point being, it isn’t the responsibility of the country before 1909, but after, a whole hell of a lot of crap sure is

[@outerspace7391]

Yeah but it wasn't just King Leopold doing everything by himself, he had some *Belgians* execute his orders.

[@angst.]

Outer Space bruh by your logic every serial killer was ordered to kill people by their governments

[@Sondariut]

@@outerspace7391 There were around a thousand Belgians in the entirety of the Congo, which is about a quarter of the size of the entire USA. Most of them being something akin to a governor. Attrocities were rarely *directly* commited by Belgians. Obviously, those on top still have responsibility.

[@generalpengu3748]

@marios gianopoulos source?

[@nieldoesyt]

**insert joke about me being a Belgian here** Also what is this music called i love it

[@warrenlehmkuhleii8472]

NieldoesYT I just call classic educational KZbin music.

[@nieldoesyt]

@@SirGrass ok thanks :)

[@morisco56]

@@warrenlehmkuhleii8472 finnally something that isn't hip hop

[@beu9245]

As a Dutchman i would make fun of you but i'm not certain wether you're Flemish or a Walloon

[@nieldoesyt]

@@beu9245 Flemish

[@renaatsenechal]

Belgium under Leopold I sent a lot of poor unemployed people from my area to the region of Verapaz in Guatemala. In rememberance of that, the city of Ghent named a new bridge the Verapazbridge. I visited the construction site yesterday.

[@compatriot852]

Glad you got back to work. Wouldn't want one of my favorite history/geography KZbinrs to lose a hand

[@JorgelShmorgel]

Others have probably mentioned this already about the Congo: the Belgian government did not want a colony and they refused to have one. Belgium was extremely wealthy at that time because of industry and a new colony would only cost money. The king, Leopold II, then acquired with the help and approval of other colonial powers the Congo Basin as his "personal colony". The name was the Congo Free State. The Belgian government was forced to take control over that Colony in 1908 because of the atrocities and the international scandal. They did not want it but there was no other country willing to take control.

[@Fummy007]

1:00 People have probably mentioned already that it was the other way around, Tutsis over the Hutus. Shows you didn't really know what you were talking about but just wanted to make Belgium look like they caused the genocide. IRL the Tutsi had been the dominant tribe in the country since precolonial times.

[@normalhuman78-53]

Wow, those territorial ambitions are wierd. I’d like to see how they were going to colonize Wisconsin

[@timpauwels3734]

Slowly taking over Wisconsin, 1 brewery at a time...

[@GetMeOutOfMyMisery]

As a Mexican I'd like to know how they would try to get a part of modern Mexico lol

[@SaveznaRepublikaJugoslavija]

@@GetMeOutOfMyMisery Mexican with Jugoslavija flag? Nice 🇷🇸🤝🇲🇽

[@GetMeOutOfMyMisery]

@@SaveznaRepublikaJugoslavija yuh

[@SaveznaRepublikaJugoslavija]

@@GetMeOutOfMyMisery May I ask why you take interest in Yugoslavia?

[@matiasbarraquero9347]

Argentine litoral exists in the 1830 European empires: IT'S FREE REAL ESTATE

[@gustavodm9752]

Back in that time wasn't argentinian it was land of the Mapuche's nation

[@QuestionEverythingButWHY]

“War does not determine who is right - only who is left.” ― Anonymous

[@TheDarkDoritoWasTaken]

Didn't Churchill say that?

[@CrumpetCraig]

I saw you in the comment section of a psych2go video an hour ago

[@jjnn2]

@@TheDarkDoritoWasTaken good ol anonymous churchill

[@thehistoryguy987]

Think Different - Thought Provoking Ideas You just spam quotes on everyone’s videos

[@appleslover]

Bot deteced

[@Kornilovite]

0:57 you have it backwards, it was the Tutsis who ruled the Hutus

[@edgelord8337]

Belgium isn't good at colonizing Oh wait we don't talk about when they did do that in Africa as late as the 1960s.

[@morisco56]

Till the congo crisis

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

In WHEN WE WERE KINGS, the documentary about the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle boxing match, they mentioned that George Foreman brought his pet German shepherd to Congo (then Zaire), only to find out that the locals had unpleasant memories of Belgians sicking German shepherds on their subjects!

[@czerocontract5484]

I wouldn‘t say Belgium specifically. Every country used slaves for their own benefits. Slave trade and racism were sadly common in those times.

[@KR-jt4ut]

"as late as the 1960's"... Congo became independent in 1960. Loser.

[@floriandebontdelbarre2700]

Congo was independent in 1960, what the hell are you talking about? You're confusing the Congo Crisis (which Belgium didn't even involve itself in) and the Belgian rule in Congo under Leopold II. Not only that, you're lumping the colonial regime of Leopold II in with the colonial regime under the Belgian government. Nearly every colonial power made use of slavery and genocidal regimes against slaves, the notion of "oh wait we don't talk about what they did" is as stupid as one toad calling another toad slimy.

[@hedgerowclose]

It was actually the King Leopold 2 who owned privately the colony known as 'Belgian Congo' during the time of the atrocities and enslavement of the locals. When the Belgians learned about this, there was a huge scandal and the King had to let go of his possessions and the slavery ended.

[@bigboijoni4328]

Belgium put him in charge

[@patstudios1184]

You should talk about New Luxembourg 🇱🇺 next

[@appleslover]

@@turco-taiwanasegamer4852 Luxembourg is its surrounding countries' tax haven and a warehouse

[@lapland123]

Don't forget Andorra's claim to Siberia!

[@michaelthompson679]

Love your channel man

[@DellDuckfan313]

1:57 And the reasoning used by Germany and Italy, of course...

[@shrimpology]

I don’t want to live in a world where BELGIAN TEXAS is a thing

[@poivre5384]

"Archives du ministère des Affaires Étrangères et *due ommerce* Extérieur"

[@nassimdjebaili5876]

Je croyais être le seul à l'avoir remarqué ._.

[@matthewjay660]

🙋🏻‍♂️ Moi aussi. Prof de français ici. 🇧🇪🇫🇷🇺🇸 Et sans blague, je suis texan aussi.

[@Natogoon]

hon hon oui le baget

[@---uf2zl]

The cringe was too real

[@walterpfannschmidt8449]

Quelqu'un va-t-il redresser le mensonge des prétendues atrocités de Léopold 2 ? Il les a dénoncées et arrêtées quand il en a eu connaissance.

[@lavo-ld4wm]

2:03 it's mispelled ! It should be "Archives du Ministère des Affaires Étrangères et du Commerce Extérieur" (Archives of the Foreing Affaires and External Trade Ministry).

[@vancetheseas3471]

“I’m still confused on what Belgium is.”

[@morisco56]

Waffles

[@jojojojo4332]

South-netherlands

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

Us Canadians understand...

[@floriandebontdelbarre2700]

@@jojojojo4332 oh nice, so south-netherlands and north-netherlands are part of the Spanish lowlands yeah?

[@floriandebontdelbarre2700]

@the Belgian Yes but Belgica was sadly enough not geographically placed where modern day Belgium is. Belgica was a region more in the region of France.

[@evinusiii]

Livingstone, Stanley, Mackinnon, de Winton, Sanford, Conrad, Ward, Barttelot, Johnston, Stairs, Moloney, Bodson, and the list goes on. Most of the colonization of the Congo Free State was done by British people, often personally hired by King Leopold II. By 1900 only half of the 3000 Europeans in Congo were Belgian, mostly mercenary soldiers. When the Belgian Government took over in 1908 most of the brutal exploitation was ended. But of course colonization is colonization and that was and is an utterly negative thing. As the British and other historic world powers have proven over and over again in the history of colonization by committing atrocious genocides all over the world.

[@DatTransChick]

No no no, you can't just show a map saying Belgium wanted Wisconsin or Pennsylvania or Missouri and not talk about it, lol.

[@lazygongfarmer2044]

Exactly! I wanted to know what that was about, but i guess Tigerstar wanted a shorter video. The Texas thing was really interesting, though. I'm Texan, but i had never heard of it

[@Lukejb2Butterworth]

Notice how they only mention European colonial states , Turkey is ignored as are China and Indonesia 2 states that still occupy other peoples

[@maximeblondeau7991]

Damn, my country sucks, we either suck at colonizing or else we are doing way too hard

[@jaykaufman9782]

Come on, this isn't fair. The Belgian king Leopold II was responsible for the Congo's misery, as a private citizen; the Belgian government stepped in to stop his monstrous regime. And blaming the Belgians for the Hutu-Tutsi mutual massacres is also absurd. The Belgians were guilty of colonialism, but they kept the peace between Hutus and Tutsis, cannot be blamed for fomenting hatred between the two, and the ethnic, racial violence erupted after decolonization.

[@DugrozReports]

5:25 -- "On a diplomatic mission to . . ." - brain says "Alderaan"

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

Leopold I almost became Great Britain's Prince Consort, like Prince Albert: he married George IV's daughter Princess Charlotte, but she died in childbirth. (He was Queen Victoria's uncle, and both came from the House of Saxe-Coburg.)

[@czerocontract5484]

We didn’t really “cause” the Rwandan genocide. In the 1950s, Belgium imposed a democratic course on the country and allowed the original inhabitants, the Hutus, to share power. This new policy experienced a strong headwind from the then ruling Tutsis. The Tutsis, who wanted to keep their power at all costs, fought bloody ethnic wars with the Hutus. Us, Belgians, tried to restore peace, but sadly also caused us tragic deaths.

[@dekwadeheydevanhoudt3382]

so we caused it

[@czerocontract5484]

@@dekwadeheydevanhoudt3382 The cause of the genocide must be found in the relations between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority. The Rwandan Genocide is the sum of decades-long processes of political legitimacy and decision-making, deep-seated views of ethnicity, a culture of social exclusion and impunity, and international ambiguity and hypocrisy. Another (underlying) factor was overcrowding. Due to better medical care and hygiene, and the cultivation of new crops, the Rwandan population had grown significantly during the 20th century. The gap between rich and poor grew because larger landowners could easily survive and buy cheap land from the ailing smaller farmers. In addition, an increasing proportion of the population was chronically undernourished by overcrowding and crop failure (due to erosion). An aversion grew from poor to rich: impoverished younger sons who had nothing left to lose, found their way to radical Hutu-militias. The number of lawsuits and conflicts over land ownership also increased in the run-up to the genocide. Belgium banished the Germans from Rwanda in 1916 and then were partly responsible for developing the country. Rwanda had a terrible economy back then. It’s important to know that unemployment and poverty causes fear and so creates (civil) wars.

[@lapland123]

@@dekwadeheydevanhoudt3382 Nee, man jullie Belgen hebben wel een deel aan het onderliggende probleem, maar de hutu's en tutsi's zijn volwassen mensen met hun eigen beoordelingsvermogen en hun eigen keuzes. Of hebben de Belgen geschoten in de jaren '90? Het is nogal arrogant en denigrerend om te denken dat "jullie" dat hebben veroorzaakt, en legt de verantwoordelijkheid niet bij de volwassen mensen die de genocide hebben uitgevoerd. Er hadden ook andere keuzes gemaakt kunnen worden, maar er werd gekozen voor genocide.

[@milesmartens9635]

well as a belgian i didn't knew it, thank you for this piece of history my country.

[@SenorEscaso]

You aren't gonna talk about how he wanted to just take the state of Pennsylvania?

[@parmentier7457]

Leopold II was less patient and wanted to invade and conquer the Netherlands! Belgium would then become a major colonial power with the (Dutch) colonies in Asia, Africa and Americas. In 1854, an extensive Belgian espionage mission traveled to the Netherlands. They returned with sketches of all important Dutch fortresses and reported to Leopold II that the Dutch army was much weaker and smaller than the Belgian one. However, the Netherlands invested heavily in its armies in the colonies. The Netherlands was involved in wars in the Asian regions of Paderi, Java and Aceh. In addition, a lot of the money also went to the Dutch navy. This played no significant role for Belgium, as it would have been useless in an invasion by land. Ultimately, the plan of Leopold II was not implemented. The French disagreed with the (secret) invasion plan and did not want to support the Belgians. Napoleon III was also afraid that the Prussians and British would intervene. And King William II of the Netherlands was also married to the daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia at that time. Also Belgian spies showed that the Dutch in the south of the Netherlands were loyal to the Orange family. Leopold II hoped that the Catholic southern provinces in the Netherlands would see the (Catholic) Belgians as liberators. nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plannen_van_Leopold_II_voor_een_aanval_op_Nederland

[@bigboijoni4328]

Whats the point of this long paragraph he isnt going to read it

[@alexanderlehigh]

Dang, Belgium had plans to colonize my home state?!

[@thomaskloos6409]

To be fair, you could have put pictures. There's exceptions to certain disturbing media as long as they hold educational/historical/etc value

[@chrosvl6584]

Well, that's one part of the colonisation history of my country I never saw in class.

[@AyubuKK]

Imagine what _Belgium_ would’ve done to the Native Americans had they managed to manifest their destiny across the continent. Nightmare fuel.

[@Sondariut]

Honestly, probably less horrible than what the Americans did. Not enough people to make a demographic shift away from the natives possible. Assuming you mean Belgium and not Leopold.

[@garythemoth8049]

We truly live in the worst timeline

[@DeRegelaar]

Around 46 sec you have the name wrong, the period you refer too is congo free state, it was the personal property of king leopold 2. Belgian congo was the name after the Belgian state took control becausr off the attrocities committed by the regime of the king. Belgian congo is 1908 and leopold congo freestate is 1885 till 1908. Just so you know so you can chane that name at 46 sec. Huge difference.

[@jaojao1768]

Then again much of the mistreatment of the natives continued, even if the worst atrocities were stopped, even in the Belgian Congo

[@DeRegelaar]

Sir Jaojao belgian congo had the most hospitals and schools in Africa, i know it was very paternalistic colonialism but you cant compare congo free state leopold 2 with the Belgian Congo. Two very different systems.

[@AdriLeemput]

Just one remark (and a mistake way to many history people make): the monstrosities in Congo were done in the Congo Freestate when it was a personal possession of Leopold II. After his death Belgium took over the colony from the royal family.

[@markarren7480]

They might've stopped chopping off hands, but that doesn't mean there were no further atrocities committed. Please inform yourself before speaking.

[@P4Tri0t420]

0:08 Germany!? Hallo!? *FRECHHEIT!* :D

[@martinhenrard]

i'm from belgium, but you learn me a lot ^^

[@ianhilmer2673]

Sorry to point out a discrepancy on you’re map at 2:24 but the 1830’s map of North America shows the border’s of Labrador that wouldn’t be established until 1929😕, as for the rest of the map , ummmmm………9 out of 10😉😅.

[@fredhuybens2783]

Interesting video. I like your pronunciation of ‘Pirson’ as if it were ‘Pierson’.

[@semkoops]

Weren't the atrocities committed in the Congo in the 19th century by Leopold II's henchmen (because it was his private possession) rather than the Belgian state (and consequently the Belgian people) itself? Congo became a colony of Belgium from 1908 onwards but people tend to blame the Belgians as a whole for the atrocities committed there before 1908. Is there any reason to blame the country of Belgium for crimes against humanity before 1908 in the Congo? Or was what happened there the product of Leopold II's personal reign? Just asking out of curiosity and because I never saw this questions asked before, since most people assume the interests of Belgium in the Congo were identical to the interests of Leopold II.

[@gertvandenberghe5914]

Even though I'm Belgian, this is a story I haven't heard much about

[@TR7626]

7:58 I hate to think of what they would have done to the Comanche

[@williammagoffin9324]

2:23 He wanted to colonize some random rectangle in the Gulf of Mexico?

[@serbiastronk1544]

As a belgian, I don't want to know what would have happened to Texas and Belgium. Maybe guns, pick-up trucks and country music in Europe and Texas the chocolate capital of the world instead of the firearms capital. Most of these colonial ambitions are ignored in history class.I might send this to my history teacher, maybe he'll like it.

[@crazyciler50]

Well back in those days a lot of Belgians were well armed, we had just fought a war for independence and culturally it was accepted to have weapons, the disdain for personal weapons is actually quite new, barely 100 years old... accelerated by industrialiation and don't forget the 2 German occupations and mass dis-armaments.

[@eddieibarra356]

The Belgian were that close to colonize Mexico. I wonder how Mexico will look if the Belgian colonize Mexico. Mexico will be speaking French.

[@daviddechamplain5718]

3:08 Pennsylvania? Really? I'm from Pennsylvania and would love to know about that.

[@xXTheoLinuxXx]

I know that there were pioneers from Sweden and The Netherlands, and a bit later on Germany in PA. Perhaps they thought 'Amai! That is easy we have Dutch/German speakers too' LOL

[@CommissarMoody1]

I don't know if any one has done a video on the Klein-Venedig colony in Venezuela. But I think it would be interesting.

[@QuestionEverythingButWHY]

“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” ― Voltaire

[@MrFosite]

"Kill one man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill them all, and you are a god. " ― Jean Rostan

[@math3000]

7:55 Alternate History Hub: Allow me to introduce myself

[@_chew_]

It's a good thing Belgium didn't end up colonizing Texas. How would Texans draw pistols at high noon without hands?

[@zacharyhenderson2902]

Something tells me the phrase "ultimate territorial acquisition" meant, to the Belgians, potential colonial territory. That is to say the phrase "ultimate territorial acquisition" meant potential colonial territory.

[@chase4leafclover597]

Small error I think you said the Belgians put the Hutus in charge over the Tutsis. It was a Tutsis minority ruling a Hutu majority.

[@flimpeenflarmpoon1353]

When you mention Sweden and Austria and not the Netherlands feelsbadman

[@MarshallMori]

They had a pretty big colonial empire for their size tho

[@ivanivanofivansson8551]

small? Bruh

[@chasesearle556]

Haha, WOW. Nice one, Texas. This is almost as absurd to me as the first time I heard the Order of FRICKING MALTA had colonies.

[@MaviAntwerp]

Belgium has a new colony now, it’s called the European Union.

[@RaiderRich2001]

A group of Belgians did settle along the Colorado River and established the settlement of Waterloo Then Mirabeau B. Lamar moved the Republic's capital there and named it Austin.

[@hebl47]

2:22 That looks like my EU4 colonizing where I quickly try to grab 5 provinces in each area to block all other catholics with the magic of Tortillas. And also just grab the most developed and resource rich provinces.

[@matthings4133]

Belgium also partially controlled tangiers / had a part of the famous tianjin city and lateron got rwanda AND burundi with the treaty of versailles

[@TheManFromWaco]

In some alternate universe, Texans are known for being fanboys for Fabrique Nationale instead of Colt and Winchester.

[@icrushchildrensdreams4556]

Barbeque flavored belgium waffles would be a nightmare

[@pooter-zn2hm]

dude, your videos are really nice to watch but couldn't you invest in a better mic/ foam pads around your walls so it doesn't sound so echoey? besides that, your content is great.