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Congo Democratic Republic of the Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
Congo Democratic Republic of the Quizzes, Trivia

Congo, Democratic Republic of the Histor Trivia

Congo, Democratic Republic of the Histor Trivia Quizzes

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2 quizzes and 20 trivia questions.
1.
  A Tale of Two Congos   best quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times". Sadly, for Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the latter more often has been true. Let's explore the history of these two nations.
Average, 10 Qns, PDAZ, Aug 30 09
Average
PDAZ gold member
1295 plays
2.
  'The Horror, The Horror:' Congo/Zaire    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Questions about a suffering nation whose agonizing history over the last two centuries has led many thoughtful observers to question just how far homo sapiens has actually progressed, at least on the moral plane.
Tough, 10 Qns, coolupway, Jan 09 13
Tough
coolupway
2202 plays
Related Topics
  Congo [Movies] (2 quizzes)

  Congo [Geography] (2 quizzes)

  Democratic Republic of the Congo [Geography] (3 quizzes)


Congo, Democratic Republic of the Histor Trivia Questions

1. A long time ago, on a continent far, far away (unless you live there), an indigenous population lived in the countries now known as the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By what name are these diminutive people known?

From Quiz
A Tale of Two Congos

Answer: Pygmies

By definition, pygmies are a native population where the males average less than five feet in height. There is some debate as to whether pygmies were the original inhabitants in the area, but they constituted the main population until somewhere between 3000 B.C.E. and 1000 C.E. (Sources vary on the dates). Pygmies still live in the forests and jungles of the two countries, but as with most short people, they are a repressed minority. Disturbingly, they have been the victims of cannibalism by some Congolese who believe pygmy flesh and organs have magical powers.

2. Between 1885 and 1908, who owned the Congo?

From Quiz 'The Horror, The Horror:' Congo/Zaire

Answer: King Leopold II of THE BelgIANS

It is almost impossible to conceive of a nation of the Congo's size (and mineral wealth) as having been owned by one man, but owned by one man it was. The definitive account is Adam Hochschild's "King Leopold's Ghost--A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa", published in 1998. According to Hochschild, Leopold never even so much as set foot in the the vast tropical domain which was his personal property.

3. What chilling words did Mr. Korzeniowski's (fictive?) European imperialist write at the end of a seemingly benign report to the "International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs"?

From Quiz 'The Horror, The Horror:' Congo/Zaire

Answer: "Exterminate all the brutes."

Conrad, no literary piker, wrote that Kurtz' scrawled words were "luminous and terrifying like a flash of lightning in a serene sky." Conrad thus reduced the great bulk of the European colonial experience in Africa into a phrase which has become part of the modern moral vernacular. Swedish author Sven Lindqvist recently used it as a title for his book about the history of European genocide.

4. In the 1800s, much of the interior area surrounding the Congo River was explored by Europeans for the first time. Which journalist, credited with uttering the famous words, "Doctor Livingstone, I presume", led the expeditions?

From Quiz A Tale of Two Congos

Answer: Henry Morton Stanley

Welsh by birth, Stanley traveled to the United States in his teens and fought first for the Confederacy and then the Union in the American Civil War. (He had been captured by the Union troops and apparently decided if you can't beat them, join them). After returning to Britain, he took a job as a journalist and was sent to Africa to locate David Livingstone, a Scottish explorer who hadn't been heard from for a number of years while on an expedition to locate the source of the Nile. Together, Stanley and Livingstone explored much of eastern Africa, and after Livingstone's death, Stanley continued his exploration, moving to western Africa where he is credited with mapping the course of the Congo River. Incidentally, his famous quote may have been concocted; Livingstone never mentioned it.

5. Was there in fact a real-life model for the grotesquely evil Kurtz, and if so, who was he?

From Quiz 'The Horror, The Horror:' Congo/Zaire

Answer: Yes, Léon Rom, head of the 'Force Publique'.

"Apocalypse Now" fans, take note: according to Hochschild, Rom had a fence around his office with a human skull on each post, as well as a number of rotting heads about the property. Conrad's descriptions of depravity, interpreted for many years as metaphorical, actually turn out to have been clinically reportorial.

6. In 1884, representatives from the major world powers met in Germany for an extensive forum. What was the main purpose of the Berlin Conference (a.k.a. Congo Conference)?

From Quiz A Tale of Two Congos

Answer: To divide Africa up amongst the European powers

The division of the continent continued into the 20th century as borders were re-drawn and the colonial nations exchanged parcels of land. The conference had long term effects on the African continent. Besides subjecting the indigenous populations to colonialism, the countries were established without regard for ethnicity, culture or language divisions, resulting in internal conflicts within the new nations. These conflicts created turmoil for not only the colonial overlords but also for the independent nations that emerged during the next century. The repercussions were felt in the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as inter-tribal violence continued to plague the nations into the 21st century.

7. Which two neighboring countries had colonial control over the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, respectively, into the 20th century?

From Quiz A Tale of Two Congos

Answer: France and Belgium

The area surrounding the Congo River was battled over for a number of years, with the Portuguese, French, Belgians and English all trying to take control of it. The French were successful in gaining the land north of the Congo River to include present-day Gabon and named the area French Congo. By 1910, they had expanded their holdings to include the area of present-day Chad and the Central African Republic, and they renamed the entire colony as French Equatorial Africa. King Leopold II of Belgium gained control of the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo and called it the Congo Free State. He ran the country so oppressively that, according to a Belgian government commission, half the population of the country perished during his rule. The Belgian parliament took control of the country in 1908 and changed the name to the Belgian Congo. French has remained the official language in both countries although many other indigenous languages exist, and the two countries have remained separate despite overlapping ethnic groups.

8. What former sergeant in the colonial army took control of the Congo in a coup in 1965, and went on to lead this mineral-rich nation into utter economic ruin during his three decades in power?

From Quiz 'The Horror, The Horror:' Congo/Zaire

Answer: Joseph Mobutu

Mobutu, whose name has become virtually synonymous with kleptocracy, snuggled up to the West, and the US in particular (the extent, if any, of CIA involvement in the '65 coup is still debated) and stole his own country blind. He fled the country in 1997 and died shortly thereafter in Morocco. At his death and for some time prior thereto, he was one of the world's richest men.

9. Who were the Republic of the Congo's Andre Matsoua and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Patrice Lumumba ?

From Quiz A Tale of Two Congos

Answer: Nationalist leaders who died under mysterious circumstances

Andre Matsoua had originally trained as a priest in the early 20th century but instead decided to pursue political activities. He founded an organization called Amicale with the goal of self-improvement and unionization for citizens in the Republic of the Congo; this didn't go over very well with the colonial government, and he was repeatedly imprisoned. He died in prison, reportedly from natural causes, but due to the fact that he was buried secretly, his followers were never satisfied with that explanation. He has become legendary since his death, with Matsouanism emerging as a mixture of political activism and religion. Like Matsoua, Patrice Lumumba was also a promoter of unionization and spent time in prison. He was directly involved in the attainment of independence for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was the first elected Prime Minister, but he was forced out of office within a few months and imprisoned. He was secretly executed thereafter, although the official report stated that he was killed during an escape attempt.

10. What was the response of the notoriously corrupt president of starving, prostrated Zaire when he was asked at a press conferfence if he was the second wealthiest political leader in the world?

From Quiz 'The Horror, The Horror:' Congo/Zaire

Answer: "It's a lie. It's a lie. I am only the fourth richest."

You can't make this stuff up. Mobutu, who was by then calling himself Mobutu Sese Seko Wa Zabanga, Marshal of Zaire, amassed an astonishing financial empire. Though evil in sub-Saharan Africa has often had a white face, Mobutu ransacked his huge and underdeveloped country no less rapaciously than King Leopold II had.

11. In which swinging decade did the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo obtain their independence from their respective colonial overlords?

From Quiz A Tale of Two Congos

Answer: 1960s

Both countries celebrated their independence in 1960. Unfortunately, they both decided to take the name Republic of Congo, which resulted in some confusion; hence the Republic of the Congo was known as Congo-Brazzaville or simply Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo was known as Congo-Kinshasa or The Congo. In 1966, the latter country adopted Democratic Republic of the Congo as its name only to be renamed Zaire in 1971. Both countries were affected by much internal turmoil following independence as the different factions within tried to grab control of the countries, not only along tribal lines but also on ideological grounds, with Communism being pursued by some leaders.

12. On a rare positive note, who has contributed over three million dollars toward construction of the first hospital built in the Congo in nearly 40 years?

From Quiz 'The Horror, The Horror:' Congo/Zaire

Answer: Dikembe Mutombo

A good guy who also happens to be one of the greatest defensive centers in the history of basketball. Mutombo came to Georgetown U. and John Thompson from Kinshasa, Zaire. He has not forgotten his people's moving plight.

13. In the early 1990s, changes in the world political scene also affected the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. What changes occurred in these countries, at least on paper?

From Quiz A Tale of Two Congos

Answer: Adoption of democracy

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Communist factions within the countries found themselves without funding, reducing their activities. Meanwhile the conversion of many of the former Communist dictatorships to democracy was also mimicked in the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, although it was largely symbolic, particularly in the latter. The dictator, Joseph-Desire Mobutu, who had been in control of that country since the 1960s, retained his position until 1997 when he was forced out. The country name was then changed from Zaire back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to remove any connection with him. The Republic of the Congo started off on the right path, with elections and a change of leadership in 1992, but suppression of political opposition and disputed elections in future years led to the establishment of several rebel groups. A peace agreement with most of the rebel groups was signed in 1999, but elections continued to be disputed into the 21st century.

14. What onetime communist was at least theoretically at the head of a group that engineered the overthrow of the corrupt Zairois president in 1997, and then himself took over the presidency?

From Quiz 'The Horror, The Horror:' Congo/Zaire

Answer: Laurent Kabila

It is not entirely clear whether Kabila, a onetime protege of Che Guevara, enlisted Rwandan and Ugandan support for the coup, or whether the tail was in fact wagging the dog. He held the presidency for less than four years, and was assassinated by a bodyguard on 1/16/01.

15. Unfortunately, armed conflicts continued to be waged in the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo into the 21st century. Which nearby countries sent troops into both nations in the late 1990s/early 2000s?

From Quiz A Tale of Two Congos

Answer: Angola, Namibia, Uganda and Rwanda

The nations surrounding the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo took sides in the internal strife in these countries. Some provided military assistance at the behest of the ruling parties; others supported rebel factions in the hope of gaining access to the abundant natural resources in the countries. The mid-1990s conflict in Rwanda spilled over into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with Hutu refugees fleeing into the latter, and Hutu militia conducting raids in Rwanda from the refugee camps. Oppression of Congolese Tutsis followed. According to an International Rescue Committee survey, over five million people were estimated to have died during these conflicts.

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