Batetela Rebellions

Flag of the Batetela rebels

The Batetela Rebellions were a series of uprisings by the Batetela people that occurred between 1895 and 1908 against the government of the Congo Free State.

The rebellions began as a response to the 1893 execution of Batetela leader Gongo Lutete during the 1892-1894 war in the Eastern Congo, but soon spread to other tribal groups and was a manifestation of widespread African discontent with the colonial authorities. The first outbreak, in 1895, was put down by Francis Dhanis, and was followed by another from 1897–1899, which was more difficult to put down. Scattered pockets of resistance persisted and were not put down until 1908.

References

• Renton, Dave; Seldon, David; Zeilig, Leo (2007). The Congo: plunder and resistance. Zed Books. ISBN 1-84277-485-9. 
• Johnston, Harry Hamilton; Forfeitt, Lawson; Torday, Emil (1908). George Grenfell and the Congo. Hutchinson & Co. 
• Page, Walter Hines; Pages, Arthur Wilson (1902). The World's Work: A History of Our Time, vol. 4. Doubleday, Page & Company. 
• Pakenham, Thomas (1992). The scramble for Africa: white man's conquest of the dark continent from 1876 to 1912. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-380-71999-1. 
• Morel, Edmund Deane (1904). King Leopold's Rule in Africa. 
• Benedetto, Robert (1996). Presbyterian reformers in Central Africa: a documentary account of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission and the human rights struggle in the Congo, 1890–1918. ISBN 90-04-10239-6. 
• Boulger, D.C. (1898). The Congo State: or, The growth of civilisation in Central Africa, Volume 1.