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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]
Belgian Mission - Congo Genocide: 1890 to 1910 10/15 Millions Deaths By King Leopold II, the constitutional monarch of Belgium against African Congolese people. In the 19th century, Leopold II, tried to persuade the governance to colonize certain areas of Africa. Under the pretext of humanitarian purposes, he managed to legally own the Kongo ...
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.
Cartoon by British caricaturist Francis Carruthers Gould depicting King Leopold II, and the Congo Free State A 1906 Punch cartoon by Edward Linley Sambourne depicting Leopold II as a rubber snake entangling a Congolese rubber collector. Leopold ran up high debts with his Congo investments before the beginning of the worldwide rubber boom in the ...
The Congo Conference of 1885 resulted in the effective grant of the Congo Free State to King Leopold II of Belgium as personal property. During the period of the Free State, the population was subjected to a systematic policy of forced rubber harvesting. The enforcement of these policies resulted in numerous instances of abuse and a significant ...
In Belgian public discourse, King Leopold II of Belgium (r. 1865–1909), who ruled the Congo Free State as his private property from 1885 to 1908, is generally held to bear the primary responsibility for the atrocities committed there in that colonial period. In the early 21st century, statues of Leopold II have been regularly defaced or ...
Force Publique soldiers photographed in 1900 Two Force Publique soldiers at Fort Shinkakasa.Shown are the blue and red uniforms worn until 1915. To command his Force Publique, Leopold II was able to rely on a mixture of volunteers (regular officers detached from the Belgian Army), mercenaries [4] and former officers from the armies of other European nations, especially those of Scandinavia ...
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 State . [2] 13 May Georges-Guillaume Pagels replaces Guillaume Casman as head of Équateur Station .