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Leopold II [a] (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Leopold I and Queen Louise , Leopold succeeded his father to the Belgian throne in 1865 and reigned ...
King Leopold II, whose rule of the Congo Free State was marked by severe atrocities, violence and major population decline.. Even before his accession to the throne of Belgium in 1865, the future king Leopold II began lobbying leading Belgian politicians to create a colonial empire in the Far East or in Africa, which would expand and enhance Belgian prestige. [2]
Early in Leopold's rule, the second problem—the British South Africa Company's expansion into the southern Congo Basin—was addressed. The distant Yeke Kingdom , in Katanga on the upper Lualaba River , had signed no treaties, was known to be rich in copper and thought to have much gold from its slave-trading activities.
Leopold II 3 June 1906. Bust in Duden Park in Forest: Brussels: 1957 – This bronze bust on blue stone was created by Thomas Vinçotte (1850–1925), probably at the request of King Albert I, but not inaugurated in Duden Park (Forest, Brussels) until 11 May 1957. The base features a bilingual inscription saying "Leopold II Benefactor of Public ...
Leopold II (Peter Leopold Josef Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard; 5 May 1747 – 1 March 1792) was the penultimate Holy Roman Emperor, as well as King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria from 1790 to 1792, and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. [1]
The King Incorporated was the first history book published by award-winning Scottish journalist and historian Neal Ascherson exploring the course of the Congo Free State from its foundation to annexation, as well as the role of King Leopold II. The King Incorporated was first published in 1963 (three years after the Congo's independence from ...
Leopold II, King of the Belgians, was fascinated with obtaining a colony and focused upon claiming the interior of Africa—the only unclaimed sizable geographic area. Moving within the European political paradigm existing in the early 1880s, Leopold gained international concessions and recognition for his personal claim to the Congo Free State.
The equestrian statue of Leopold II (French: Statue équestre de Léopold II; Dutch: Ruiterstandbeeld van Leopold II) is a bronze equestrian statue erected in Brussels, Belgium, in memory of King Leopold II, second King of the Belgians.