# Émile Banning

Émile Theodore Joseph Hubert Banning (12 October 1836 – 13 July 1898) was a doctor of philosophy and literature and a Belgian senior civil servant who played an important role in the Belgian politics of the 19th century. Émile Banning was a leading negotiator at the Berlin Conference of 1884 and the Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference of 1890 both involving the Congo Free State.

## Quotes

* A people needs air, broad horizons, an ideal which charms its imagination and makes its heart beat; reduce it to household calculations, to the politics of party interests, it will disintegrate and corrupt itself.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo, A romantic associate of Leopold II. CROKAERT, P. Brialmont, 23.
* The doctrine of state ownership of land established since 1890 is the exact opposite of free trade, the new doctrine is reprehensible, going against both the natural rights of the indigenous people who will be deprived, and the rights of the Imperial powers as determined in the act of Berlin.
** Leopold II, Het hele Verhaal, Johan Op De Beeck Horizon, 2020 ISBN 9789463962094, Émile Banning criticizes a notorious Royal Decree by King Leopold II, that had turned the Congo Free State into a giant forced labor camp.
* The desert reveals its secrets; the great mystery of interior Africa is revealed day by day.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo, Emile Banning's Colonial Career. On January 17, February 14 and 15, 1876, Emile Banning wrote three articles in L'Echo du Parliament on the new developments in the discovery and exploration of Central Africa. See ARAB. Papiers Banning, VII, 118, Les voyages de découverte dans l'Afrique, February 15, 1876.
* Everything seems to indicate that a decisive hour has sounded in the history of the world, the hour when an almost virgin continent and ignored races will cooperate in the work of humanity.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo As Leopold II develops an increasingly authoritarian policy after the Berlin conference to consolidate the Congo Free State financially and diplomatically, Banning dreams of civilizing the "forgotten races" of black Africa BRUHAT, J. “Emile Banning”, 47.
* Wherever this regime has been applied in one form or another, it has led to economic stagnation and decline and political revolt.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo, Emile Banning's Colonial Career. ARAB, Papiers Banning, no. 156. With the same annotation: “…Its reading had a double effect: the King regarded an orthodox testimony and frank warning motivated by his interest and that of the country as an insult, and from then on suspended all relations with my…” Source: PANNEELS, E. The Discord, 150.
* The King isolates himself and becomes less and less accessible to our advice.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo, Emile Banning's Colonial Career. BANNING, E. Political and Diplomatic Memoirs, 308.
* You may want to, Sire, but then you will find someone other than me to carry out such a will.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo Banning had a final private meeting with the king, which, according to the anecdotal press, culminated in this bitter altercation. WALRAET, M. Emile Banning. Un grand Belge, 54.
* From a moral point of view, there is a way to whitewash negroes, and to this view Africa undoubtedly presents the largest field that can be cultivated.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo, A romantic associate of Leopold II. The original population could be civilized by the introduction of economic liberalism that would benefit the material needs of both Belgians and Africans. In addition, the abolition of the slave trade could emancipate the African population, but it would probably never reach the level of a Western race. Only morally could the Africans be civilized according to white standards. ARAB, Banning Papers, VII, Africa and the Brussels Geographical Conference. Various notes compiled by Banning, 1.
* Belgium only does pure philanthropy.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo, A romantic associate of Leopold II. ROEYKENS, A. Les débuts de l’œuvre africaine de Léopold II, 210.
* The more we increase in numbers, the more we starve and become poorer. ... Either our population will shrink, or our territory will expand.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo, A romantic associate of Leopold II. E.B. La Belgique doit être agrandie. Hoei, 1882, 16-17.
* The King is no longer the same; the change of character and spirit observed in him for two or three years is accentuated and makes fear of a catastrophe, at a time when he had only to let it go to be a remarkable King, perhaps to become a large figure.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo, A romantic associate of Leopold II. WILLEQUET, J. Le baron Lambermont, 103.
* By the end of 1892, all the King's collaborators during the first and second phases of Belgian work in the Congo had therefore ceased to participate. M. van Eetvelde, who had increasingly isolated himself from them, remained alone in possession of the sovereign's confidence, with the sole program of being the passive instrument of his designs. This third phase of the administration of the state of Congo affected all signs of impending dissolution.
** 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) With this quote from a frustrated Emile Banning, the last chapter of the corpus of this treatise gets underway, which breaks through the 1890-1892 barrier in search of the other wind that would then blow in the colonial court of Leopold II. This third phase was not only characterized by a fragmentation in the administration of the EIC, but also by a new relationship between the king and his assistants. ARAB. Banning Papers, nr. 152, The Independent State of Congo and the Société Anonyme Belge pour le Commerce du Haut-Congo. Conflict over freedom of trade. Important later note from Banning, 5.

## Quotes about Émile Banning

* Honest man, great citizen, modest servant of the country, who was always in pain, rarely in the spotlight, and who has not been replaced.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo WALRAET, M. Emile Banning. Un grand belge 1836-1898. Brussel, 1945, 5.
* Freedom of trade and navigation in the Congo Basin, exclusion from any differential treatment, assimilation of foreigners to nationals in civil and commercial terms, prohibition of entry rights for twenty years, condemnation of trafficking. There is only one downside: the African work does not have the international character that he would have liked.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo Banning was able to leave the Berlin Conference with his head held high, however, as many of its principles had triumphed tentatively and theoretically. On the so-called division of Africa, which took place in the wings of the International Conference of Berlin between November 1884 and February 1885, see WESSELING, H. Divide and Conquer, 148-153.
* Emile Banning's ideology was based on "three noble principles": God, Freedom and Fatherland.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo, A romantic associate of Leopold II. PANNEELS, E. The disagreement between Leopold II and Emile Banning, 55.
* The Christian inspiration from Chateaubriand and the love for nature underline Banning's romantic character. At the same time, Banning shared in the colonial ideology of Brialmont and Lambermont, which seemed rather based on a positivist principle: the 'struggle for life' of little Belgium. Emile Banning developed another positivist variant based on the inequality of races and peoples. Each race or people, which in the course of history had established a territory for itself, largely determined its historical fate, but could also suffer its fate. Banning thus formed a vision of history based on the organic needs of peoples. The Germanic race was at the same time the great example for Banning because of their growing self-esteem and romantic nation-building, and the great ogre, because their recent state growth could have negative territorial consequences for small Belgium.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo, A romantic associate of Leopold II. WALRAET, Mr. Emile Banning. A tall Belgian, 26.
* Emile Banning was a young man who, like the king, had a limp and went on to create a furore as a romantic imperialist of the most dangerous sentimental kind. … Banning's liberalism was of the kind that sought to divide people into races, then formulate the true historical fate for each race, a belief that was already degenerating into a fertilizer that fueled the growth of racist fascism in Europe.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo, A romantic associate of Leopold II. ASCHERSON, N. De Koning NV, 75.
* For him to colonize was above all to civilize.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo, A romantic associate of Leopold II. Based on his Christian inspiration, he did feel a lot of pity for the poorer Belgian masses, but in his opinion the general single right to vote would not do any good. The same type of paternalism was reflected in its colonial ideology. BRUHAT, J. “Emile Banning”, 46.

## Quotes addressed to Émile Banning

* My dear Mr. Banning, I am returning the 2nd sheet to you. I find this of extreme interest. You would have to read many volumes to acquire the geographical notions that you have so condensed into a few pages. I read this with great charm. You're giving the matter a nice boost. I have no comments to make. I made a small cross at the top of page 28, because I thought it was better to put "revise" instead of "revis" or "undertook" instead of "undertakes." A thousand friendships. (s) Jules Van Praet.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), 4. Viceroys without colonial aspirations? Jules Van Praet (1806-1887) ARAB. Paper Banning, III. correspondence. Lettres de Jules Van Praet, 30. After a discussion in their publications between Auguste Roeykens and Professor Jean Stengers, the letter was dated 18 November 1877. See: ROEYKENS, A. Léopold II et la Conférence Géographique de Bruxelles (1876). Brussels, 1956, 15-16, footnote 4.
* It's my ruin you stipulate and you can't want it.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo Belgian Diplomat Banning supported the financing of the necessary railways inside the Congo to be funded by the more internationalized AIC, Leopold II, who preferred to take out a private loan himself and wanted to leave the AIC as it was, Leopold II opted for more financial security, as the monarch himself had already invested a lot of personal fortune in the whole enterprise, so he led banning know. BANNING, E. Mémoires politiques et diplomatiques, 25-26.
* I want it to be and it will be.
** All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), Emile Banning (1836-1898): The Don Quichotte of the ‘liberal civilization’ in Congo Banning had a final private meeting with the king, which, according to the anecdotal press, culminated in this bitter altercation. WALRAET, M. Emile Banning. Un grand Belge, 54.

## See Also

* Belgium
* Berlin Conference
* Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference
* Congo Free State
* Leopold II of Belgium

## External links

* Authority control: WorldCat search