<P> The colonial state--and any authority exercised by whites in the Congo--was often referred to by the Congolese as bula matari ("break rocks"), one of the names originally given to Stanley . He had used dynamite to crush rocks when paving his way through the lower - Congo region . The term bula matari came to signify the irresistible and compelling force of the colonial state . </P> <P> The Belgian Congo was directly involved in the two world wars . During World War I, an initial stand - off between the Force Publique and the German colonial army in German East Africa (Tanganyika) turned into open warfare with a joint Anglo - Belgian invasion of German colonial territory in 1916 and 1917 during the East African Campaign . By 1916 the Belgian commander of the Force Publique, Lieutenant - General Charles Tombeur, had assembled an army of 15,000 men supported by local bearers--Reybrouck indicated that during the war no less than 260,000 native bearers were called upon--and advanced to Kigali . Kigali was taken by 6 May 1916, and the army went on to take Tabora on 19 September after heavy fighting . In 1917, after Mahenge had been conquered, the army of the Belgian Congo, by now 25,000 men, controlled one - third of German East Africa . After the war, as outlined in the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forced to cede "control" of the Western section of the former German East Africa to Belgium . On 20 October 1924, Ruanda - Urundi (1924--1945), which consisted of modern - day Rwanda and Burundi, became a Belgian League of Nations mandate territory, with Usumbura as its capital . </P> <P> During World War II the Belgian Congo served as a crucial source of income for the Belgian government in exile in London after the occupation by the Nazis . Following the occupation of Belgium by the Germans in May 1940, the Congo declared itself loyal to the Belgian government in exile in London . The Belgian Congo and the rest of the Free Belgian forces supported the war on the Allied side in the Battle of Britain with 28 pilots in the RAF (squadron 349) and in the Royal South African Air Force (350 Squadron) and in Africa . The Force Publique again participated in the Allied campaigns in Africa . Belgian Congolese forces (with Belgian officers) notably fought against the Italian colonial army in Ethiopia, and were victorious in Asosa, Bortaï and in the Siege of Saïo under Major - general Auguste - Eduard Gilliaert during the second East African Campaign of 1940--1941 . On 3 July 1941, the Italian forces (under General Pietro Gazzera) surrendered when they were cut off by the Force Publique . A Congolese unit also served in the Far Eastern Theatre with the British army in the Burma Campaign . </P> <P> The economic exploitation of the Congo was one of the colonizer's top priorities . An important tool was the construction of railways to open up the mineral and agricultural areas . </P>

The congo became an important source of this raw material