Svenskars färd mot Mörkrets hjärta
Om svenska militärer som sökte tjänst i Kongostatens kolonialarmé 1895-1906
The aim of this paper is to map and analyze what role Swede's played in King Leopold II's colony in the former Congo Free State. Letters and messages that arrived at the Congo Consulate in Sweden between 1895 and 1906 have been used as the paper's primary sources. Application letters from 32 different Swedes, seeking to join the Congo Free State Army, to the General Consul of the Congo Consulate, Hans Hugold von Schwerin, have been used as primary sources, and constitute the basis of the paper's analysis. The letters arrived at the Congo Consulate in Sweden between 1895 and 1906. The applicants were all men of different social classes, and were between the ages of 20 and 30 years old. Their chief reasons for applying were primarily for own financial gain or because they did not get a chance to serve in the Swedish army. The Swedes who went on to serve in the Congo Free State Army were mostly members of the Swedish upper class and already trained military officers. By analyzing the data using theories of imperialism, this paper concludes that Sweden did in fact play part in, and contributed to, the development of imperialism in large, and the imperialism that developed in the Congo Free State in the late 1800's.