A Concrete State: Constructing Materials and Building Ambitions in the (Belgian) Congo

When on the 18th of October 1908, the Belgian parliament voted in favor of the Belgian takeover of the Congo Free State from the Belgian king Léopold II, this was far from a unanimous decision. The advocates of the reprise had held up prospects of great gain by referring to the enormous mineral wealth of the colony, whereas the adversaries acutely remarked that the colony would only remain profitable if Belgium would continue on the same plundering elan as their internationally condemned king.