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In 1904 Leopold II was forced to allow an international parliamentary commission of inquiry entry to the Congo Free State. By 1908, public pressure and diplomatic manoeuvres led to the end of Leopold II's personal rule and to the annexation of the Congo as a colony of Belgium, known as the "Belgian Congo".
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 ...
Leopold II offered to reform his Congo Free State regime, but international opinion supported an end to the king's rule, and no nation was willing to accept this responsibility. Belgium was the obvious European candidate to annex the Congo Free State. For two years, it debated the question and held new elections on the issue.
The Free State was annexed by Belgium in 1908 as the Belgian Congo. On a 1910 map the Stanley Pool District had been renamed Moyen-Congo District, with various changes to the boundary. It was now bordered by the Bas-Congo District to the south, Kwango and Lac Léopold II districts to the east, and Équateur district to the north. [3]
Les Belges dans l'Afrique Centrale roughly covers the period between the 1876 Brussels Geographic Conference and the 1885 Berlin Conference. [14] The first event marks the moment at which Léopold II, king of the Belgians, started financing expeditions to the Congo basin through international associations such as the International African Association or International Association of the Congo. [15]
Map of the Congo Free State, published in 1904. The concession areas of various rubber companies are shown, the area of the ABIR concession can be seen approximately in the centre of the upper half. The Congo Conference of 1885 resulted in the effective grant of the Congo Free State to King Leopold II of Belgium as personal property.
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]
The station of Luozi is created at the point where the Luozi River flows into the Congo. [1] 28 April Belgian Chamber of Representatives passes a law that authorized King Leopold II of Belgium to become head of the state founded in Africa by the International Association of the Congo. 30 April The senate ratifies the law creating the Congo Free ...