Edmond van Eetvelde

Stanislas Marie Léon Edmond van Eetvelde (Postel, April 21, 1852 - Brussels, December 8, 1925) became one of the closest associates of the Belgian King Leopold II of Belgium, in his capacity as head of the Congo Free State.

Quotes

 * It is the King who supports the State from his pocket, to challenge the State for the products of his estates is to force the King from his pocket to cover deficits, a good part of which will come from the free abandonment of the land. 'exploitation of State estates to commercial houses to fatten them on a voluntary basis, houses which not only do nothing for the progress of civilization but which have delayed it with all their might and would like to delay it further in order to be States, tyrants in the State.
 * All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), 9. Boycott! The story of Edmond Stanislas van Eetvelde (1852-1925) A chaotic and multifaceted colonial career after 1890 ARAB. Papiers van Eetvelde, Correspondence between Secretary of State van Eetvelde and H.M. Léopold II, 27 (1890), n.d.


 * I want to show those who are going to peddle that I am the man of all jobs, that at least I am not, just to keep my place. And I hold it all the more so as I can put up with the current boycott, a few months, but that I could not bend my life to it forever.
 * All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), 9. Boycott! The story of Edmond Stanislas van Eetvelde (1852-1925) A chaotic and multifaceted colonial career after 1890 ARAB, Papiers van Eetvelde, Correspondence between Secretary of State van Eetvelde and H.M. Léopold II, 29 (1892), 7/26/1892, van Eetvelde aan Leopold II.


 * In ten years or so, when rubber starts to decline, it will be agriculture that will have to ensure our public income and our trade.
 * All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), 9. Boycott! The story of Edmond Stanislas van Eetvelde (1852-1925) A chaotic and multifaceted colonial career after 1890 The State Secretary for Finance of the Congo Free State always tried to promote its introduction and development by generously subsidizing initiatives by local state agents for the production of coffee, cocoa, cotton, rubber and tobacco. Even after 1895, when the rubber boom caused the Congolese treasury to overflow, van Eetvelde continued his plantation policy because he believed in the undeniable long-term benefits as opposed to the plucking of wild rubber that resulted from the Leopoldian domanial system. STENGERS, J. “Eetvelde (Van), Edmond”, o.c., 336.


 * By blowing up the isolated facts, the British sought to cover up their territorial greed under the guise of philanthropy.
 * All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), 9. Boycott! The story of Edmond Stanislas van Eetvelde (1852-1925) A chaotic and multifaceted colonial career after 1890 Van Eetvelde in an interview in 1897, Edmond van Eetvelde initially saw the many campaigns in the British press highlighting the horror of the Leopoldian regime as an attack on the Congo Free State to discredit it. STENGERS, J. “Eetvelde (Van), Edmond”, o.c., 342.


 * Personally, I have no other ambition than to devote to the service of the King all the goodwill and effort of which I will still be capable. I know it's a small thing.
 * All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), 9. Boycott! The story of Edmond Stanislas van Eetvelde (1852-1925) The Remarkable Resignation Soap ARAB, Papiers van Eetvelde, Correspondence between Secretary of State van Eetvelde and H.M. Leopold II, 35 (1900-1906), 16/4/1900, van Eetvelde to Leopold II.

Quotes addressed to Edmond van Eetvelde

 * You would remember that when I decided that the state would exploit its domain and that any vacant land would be claimed by it as its own, you found me absolutely absolute. You have nevertheless very vigorously and very skillfully supported me. For the Nile, I also ask you to follow my instructions faithfully. I will not lead you to the shipwreck, I promise you. For the time being, I want to be as powerful as possible on the Nile.
 * All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), 9. Boycott! The story of Edmond Stanislas van Eetvelde (1852-1925) A chaotic and multifaceted colonial career after 1890 Although he did not always belong to that department, van Eetvelde always continued to play a leading role in the foreign relations of the Congo Free State. He often found it difficult to hide his horror, and mentioned to the British ambassador, among other things, that the expeditions of Leopold II could in fact be classified very close to complete madness ("a little short of insanity"). and that the king gradually let himself be guided only by his imagination. Perhaps the stubborn Sovereign knew his Secretary of State's reservations. In any case, the king answered his servant in April 1897: STENGERS, J. “Eetvelde (Van), Edmond”, o.c., 342.