Episode 172: Congo's Nightmare Part IV - The Rubber Boom

As a result of a worldwide rubber boom where rubber became a highly demanded economic resource, the agents of the Congo Free State kicked off efforts to gain as much rubber and profit as possible-leading to some of the worst human rights violations in history. Forced labor, slavery, disease, and death highlight this part of the story.

This episode is Part 4 in a series on the Belgian Congo. It discusses the impact of the late 19th century rubber boom on the people of Congo, the resulting human tragedy, the death toll in the Congo, the psychology of a typical Force Publique officer, and more. Future episodes will discuss resistance and protest movements that contributed to the end of the Congo Free State.

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Episode 63: The Bosnian War Part II-The Siege of Sarajevo

For well over two years, Bosnian Serb forces bombarded Sarajevo in an attempt to destroy the city and break the spirit of the people who lived there. Thousands of civilians (including children) were k...

7 Loka 201939min

Episode 62: The Bosnian War Part I-The Perils of Nationalism

No one who lived through it will ever forget what happened in Bosnia during the 1990's. What had been a unified and (mostly) peaceful region only a few years before melted down into war, chaos, and ge...

16 Syys 201947min

Episode 61: Chance, Randomness, and Luck in History

Historians, philosophers, and armchair historians have often pondered the role of chance in history. To what extent does randomness or luck dictate what happens to us? Are the events of history just a...

26 Elo 201927min

Episode 60: The Fall of the Roman Republic Part VI-Death by a Thousand Cuts

When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon to ignite yet another Roman Civil War, nobody at the time knew that this was the end of the Republic. Caesar's victory in his clash with the forces of Pompey, hi...

5 Elo 201951min

Episode 59: The Fall of the Roman Republic Part V-The New Normal

With the Republic rebuilding after the wreckage caused by Marius and Sulla, a new cast of political characters was taking power in Rome. Julius Caesar, Pompey, Crassus, Cicero, Cato, and others are al...

15 Heinä 201956min

Episode 58: The Fall of the Roman Republic Part IV-You Win or You Die

As violence increasingly became a tool at the disposal of corrupt and cynical Romans, it also became a last resort for frustrated and hopeless Romans and Italian Allies. As a result of the Republic's ...

24 Kesä 201942min

Episode 57: The Fall of the Roman Republic Part III-The Gracchan Revolution

Many historians have cited moral decline that began after the Punic Wars as a leading cause in the decline of the Roman Republic. While there are different interpretations of this idea, the conflict b...

3 Kesä 201936min

Episode 56: The Fall of the Roman Republic Part II-The Long Defeat

The Roman Republic's victory over Carthage in the Punic Wars established Rome as the dominant power in the Mediterranean. But not without cost. In order to defeat Carthage, Rome had to resort to it's ...

13 Touko 201947min