Many history books fail to mention the horrible treatment and abuse that the people of the Congo Free had to endure under Belgium King Leopold II who should go down in history as one of the worst despots and leaders that the world has ever seen. Inspired by the travels of well known world-explorer, Henry Livingstone, and the general scramble for ownership of Africa that was taking hold of Europe, Leopold saw his chance in the kingdom of the Congo. Being the sneaky businessman that he was Leopold hired American reporter and world explorer Henry M. Stanley to go around the Congo and convince tribes to sign treaties giving their land to him in exchange for guns, cloth, or alcohol. As opposed to a colony like the other super powers of Europe Leopold wanted to set up the Congo as a Free State, where he was the absolute monarch, and where he could do whatever he wanted without any government oversight from Belgium.
Before he could have all this unclaimed land though Leopold had to convince the world that his efforts were pure. During this time Europe and the United States were against the idea of slavery, England and the United states had outlawed it. In order to stop the entire world from hating him and protesting his “project”, which required a lot of slave labor, Leopold established several humanitarian groups whose supposed purpose was to bring liberation to oppressed people in Africa and try to help them. Leopold simply wanted the land to civilize the people, spread Christianity, and trade with the natives. All of his efforts payed of and at “1884-85, a conference held in Berlin, Germany, decided the colonial status of central Africa. Suspicious of each other’s ambitions in the region, the European powers and the United States agreed to grant Leopold possession of the Congo River basin.” Under the banner of a yellow star on a blue background Leopold officially became the ruler of the ironically named Congo Free state
Now it was time for the real work to begin in the Congo. Originally Ivory was the only good that was extracted from the Congo but soon rubber was discovered to be an amazing material that could be used for tires, insulation for wires, and shoes. Rubber soon became the most lucrative good that came from the Congo. “Leopold’s reign over the Congo Free State, however, has become infamous for its brutality.” Utilizing slave labor Leopold forced very male had to fulfill a quota of rubber set by Leopold and his Force Publique (Public Force). Who were holding the men’s wives and children captive. If the men didn’t die from the hard labor they were malnourished, killed, or tortured by Belgian officials(a favorite of the Belgians was to beat the slaves with a whip made of hippo hide called a chicotte). Another cruel feature of the Congo was that when there were rebellions against the the Force Publique the officers had to bring back the literal right hand of rebels that they had killed, they also had a quota of rebels that had to be met that they killed. So, when officers didn’t meet the quota they cut the right hand of any Congolese person regardless if they were women, children or even rebels.
It is estimated that Leopold received about 220 million francs($1.1 billion in today’s money). So what amazing things did Leopold spend his newfound wealth on? He commissioned several buildings around Belgium, created a greenery in the middle of Brussels, bought castles all along the French Riviera, renovated his palace, built statues of himself, and bought his young mistresses whatever their hearts desired. None of the money was used towards helping the Belgium people at all and in the end when he lost the Congo Free State he sold it to Belgium, costing his country millions of francs once more.
The catalyst that was finally able bring an end to Leopold’s brutal regime was the English shipping clerk turned reporter Edmund Morel, who noticed that the ships traveling between Liverpool and the Congo never took goods back to the Congo, indicating that no trade was happening between Europe and the Congo. Irish diplomat Roger Casement, after having worked in the Congo witnessed firsthand the abuses committed by the Force Publique to the Congolese Natives. Soon after reading articles written by Morel both men were able to meet. Both men dedicated all their time to bringing these injustices to light. They worked tirelessly writing hundreds of articles, giving presentations to large gatherings of very prominent people all over Europe and the USA, and giving first hand accounts from native Congolese people of their ordeal in the Congo Free state. After several years and a counter campaign from Leopold, who tried to show that he was supposedly helping the Congolese people once again. “Pressure from Britain and the United States eventually forced Leopold to turn over ownership of the Congo Free State to the Belgian government in 1908.” The Free State of the Congo, became the Belgian Congo this time officially being a Belgian colony, controlled by the Belgian government, it was not until 1960 that the nation became the Republic Congo, finally under native Congolese control. Then under the brutal dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko the nation became Zaire. Finally it became the country that it is now the: The Democratic Republic of the Congo. As for Leopold II he died on 1909 at the age of 74 without his precious Congo and hated by most of the world and even his Belgian subjects, his body was booed while his funeral caravan was going through Brussels
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