French Congo

Interestingly, the CPRV QSL collection in the United States holds a QSL card issued from the BBC office in New York verifying the BBC relay via OTC Leopoldville on nine seven eight three kilohertz.

At the same time as OTC Leopoldville was under construction, so was a new Radio Brazzaville station in neighboring French Congo.

The two cities, Leopoldville and Brazzaville, are in reality twin cities located across the Congo River from each other, though they were actually located in two separate countries, Belgian Congo and French Congo.

Both stations, OTC and Radio Brazzaville, were constructed at the same time with 50-kilowatt RCA transmitters, though the Belgian station was the first on air.

These two stations were just five miles apart.

But some of my deepest memories came from, like, African music.

I remember dancing to music from Nigeria, like Sweet Mother, and like from the, the French Congo music that, like, just d- jammed up all the parties, and those high-pitched string guitars that would make do something to my soul.

You know, the emotion of the melodies, I couldn't explain, man.

That, that's what took my heart.

The disappointment was all the more maddening because the Bar-el-Ghazal district leased to King Leopold had been regarded by the French as the next addition to their own dominions in Equatorial Africa.

They had just extended French Congo inland into the Central Sudan, connecting it with French West Africa, and were now ready to push their undefined eastern frontier into the Nile Valley.

In May 1893, President Carnot had told Colonel Montay that Fashoda had been selected as the proper outlet on the Nile for French Upper Ubangi.

To checkmate England, France took two moves.

This treaty, said Gabriel Hanotaux, French Foreign Minister, speech of June 7, 1894, puts the Congo Free State in a state of conflict, peaceful if you please, but nevertheless conflict, with the powers that signed at its cradle.

It is in formal contradiction with the international law of Africa.

And at the end of his speech, with the unanimous approval of the Chamber of Deputies, he announced that he would ask a vote of 1,800,000 francs to take necessary measures on the Upper Ubangi, that is, on the eastern frontier of French Congo.

The Chamber approved to a man.

The disappointment was all the more maddening because the Bar-el-Ghazal district leased to King Leopold had been regarded by the French as the next addition to their own dominions in Equatorial Africa.

They had just extended French Congo inland into the Central Sudan, connecting it with French West Africa, and were now ready to push their undefined eastern frontier into the Nile Valley.

In May 1893 President Carnot had told Colonel Montet that Fashoda had been selected as the proper outlet on the Nile for French Upper Ubangi.

To checkmate England, France took two moves.

This treaty, said Gabriel Hanator, French Foreign Minister, speech of June 7th, 1894, puts the Congo Free State in a state of conflict, peaceful if you please, but nevertheless conflict with the powers that signed at its cradle.

cradle.It is in formal contradiction with the international law of Africa.

And at the end of his speech, with the unanimous approval of the Chamber of Deputies, he announced that he would ask a vote of 1,800,000 francs to take necessary measures on the Upper Ubangi, that is, on the eastern frontier of French Congo.

The Chamber approved to a man.