17 Facts About Force Publique

Force Publique was a gendarmerie and military force in what is the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1885, through the period of Belgian colonial rule.

Force Publique was initially conceived in 1885 when King Leopold II of the Belgians, who held the Congo Free State as his private property, ordered his Secretary of the Interior to create military and police forces for the State.

The role required of the Force Publique was that of both defending Free State territory and of internal pacification.

One major purpose of the Force Publique was to enforce the rubber quotas and other forms of forced labour.

The weaponry of the Force Publique remained mostly outdated due to the tight budgetary constraints on the colonial administration.

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Force Publique was organised into 21 separate companies each between 225 and 950 men strong, along with an artillery and an engineers unit.

In 1914, the Force Publique, including the Katanga companies, totalled about 17,000 askaris with 178 white officers and 235 white NCOs.

The Force Publique was able to assemble another battalion from smaller units; originally called the IIIe, but changed to the 11e to avoid confusion with the Katanga IIIme battalion.

The Force Publique performed well on the battlefield, winning the respect of their British and Portuguese allies, as well as that of their German opponents.

From 1916 onwards, the Force Publique grew to reach a strength of three mobile Groupes, Kivu, Ruzizi, and Tanganyika, comprising a total of 15 battalions, from the static garrison and police force of 1914.

The military contribution was important: the Force Publique grew to 40,000 in the course of the War, formed into three brigades, a river force and support units.

The Force Publique lost about 500 men during the East Africa Campaign, among them 4 Belgians.

Force Publique then helped to establish an overland route from Lagos through Fort Lamy and the Sudan to Cairo.

Force Publique sent the 10th Belgian Congo Casualty Clearing Station to the battle zone.

Remainder of the period of Belgium's rule, the Force Publique continued its joint military and police role, split into territorial units, charged with maintaining public order, and mobile units charged with territorial defence.

Tightly disciplined and drilled, the Force Publique impressed visitors to the Belgian Congo with its smart appearance, but a culture of separateness, encouraged by its Belgian officers, led to brutal and unrestrained behaviour when the external restraints of colonial administration were lifted in 1960.

In 1960, the Force Publique comprised 3 groupements each of which covered two provinces.