Lumumba learned to speak 4 African languages and French while he was writing poems from an early age, usually with anti-imperialist content. He showed a keen interest in politics, which at the time was centered around the demand for national independence. In 1958 he founded the Congo National Front, a party that demanded the country's immediate independence and the formation of a strong central government. The Belgian government tried to establish a protectorate state, which caused riots with many victims. Lumuba was jailed for leading the riots, but was released after six months under international pressure to attend a conference in Brussels, along with other members of the Congolese nationalist movement. His contribution was catalytic as he refused to divide his country into smaller states and rejected the appointment of the Belgian king as head of the new state. Belgium was finally forced to grant independence on June 30, 1960, and to hold national elections in May, which Lumuba won and formed a government on June 23. His speech at the independence ceremony caused sensation internationally, as he described the crimes of the Belgians and the heinous tortures that his people had suffered from them.
Lumuba's attempt to organize his new state proved to be extremely difficult. The non-European administrative staff was inexperienced and untrained, there was a great deal of disorder in the military ranks, the other political leaders cared only for personal gain, American, British and Belgian companies had great interests in the country and would not allow anyone to oppose them.
In September 1960, the incumbent chief of staff, Colonel Mobutu, ousted the government and established a dictatorial regime. Lumuba was imprisoned and executed on 17 January 1961 after being brutally tortured. His body was dismembered and burned with acid to leave nothing of him. His death caused a worldwide outcry, while in the Congo many years of chaos, bloodshed and fragmentation followed.
Congo was given by European forces to King Leopold of Belgium in 1885 who converted it into private land and used the local population to export rubber and produce tires as the spread of cars and tires had created a big market fot it. The Belgian army was sent and for those slaves who did not catch the daily product limit, the panishment was unhuman: the Belgians were cutting off the arms and legs of their children and wives, in order to force them to work harder. In the period 1885-1908, more than 10 million Congolese died as a result of exploitation by the Belgians, many of them after torture and with severed limbs. In 1908, the Belgian Parliament, under international pressure, took over the state from King Leopold and turned it into a Belgian colony.