Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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]
Leopold II, King of the Belgians, privately controlled and owned the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. In 1908, the area was annexed by Belgium as a colony known as the Belgian Congo. Leopold used his personal control to strip the country of vast amounts of wealth, largely in the form of ivory and rubber.
The Belgian Congo (French: Congo belge, pronounced [kɔ̃ɡo bɛlʒ]; Dutch: Belgisch-Congo) [a] was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
Roughly 98% of Belgium's overseas territory was just one colony (about 76 times larger than Belgium itself) – known as the Belgian Congo. The colony was founded in 1908 following the transfer of sovereignty from the Congo Free State, which was the personal property of Belgium's king, Leopold II. The violence used by Free State officials ...
Belgian Congo: Elisabethville Massacre: December 1941: 30-70 Katanga Province: Hema massacre of 1911: 4 December 1911 200+ Ituri Province – By Lendu people against Hema people. [25] Belgian Mission - Congo Genocide: 1890–1910 10–15 millions Congo Free State – By King Leopold II, the constitutional monarch of Belgium, against African ...
Pages in category "History books about the Belgian Congo" The following 6 pages are in this category, out of 6 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. B.
The Belgian Congo, today the Democratic Republic of the Congo, highlighted on a map of Africa. Colonial rule in the Congo began in the late 19th century. King Leopold II of Belgium, frustrated by Belgium's lack of international power and prestige, attempted to persuade the Belgian government to support colonial expansion around the then-largely unexplored Congo Basin.
The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo (French: État indépendant du Congo), was a large state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by King Leopold II , the constitutional monarch of the Kingdom of Belgium .