Leopold II of Belgium was one of the most evil people in history. I decided to do this paper on him because I did not know much about him. He is behind one of the most deadly genocides in history. During his reign over Belgium he became interested in territory of central Africa. From there, he founded/sole owner of the Congo Free State. During his reign millions of Congolese were tortured and killed while supplying Leopold II with valuable resources. Leopold II was a king that demanded to grow his
By: Cora-Beth Morran, Juliann Morgenstern Sarah Myruski, and Sophia Goff I. Overview of the Conflict: • Brief Overview of what happened. • King Leopold II of Belgium wanted to make money and be an imperial power. He used the people of the Congo to force them to work for him and get him the materials he wanted, which was mostly rubber. To make sure the men worked, he would take women hostage until the men met their requirement for the amount of rubber they were required to get. As a punishment
King Leopold II of Belgium is known in history for his quest for African colonies and all of the atrocities he caused. Leopold II came to power in when he became King in 1865. When he became King, he was focused on mainly money and territory. King Leopold viewed the Congo as his own personal property, he first claimed the Congo in 1884 during the Berlin Conference, with the Congo Free State being declared in the following year. This became widely known as the European Scramble for Africa. The atrocities
view as the depictions of the horrible atrocities in the Congo were beyond deplorable. The enslavement of the populace is unforgivable and the physical as well as emotional torture imposed on the population was truly disturbing. The film portrays Leopold as ruthless, he is fully aware of the conditions in his colony but the misery of the people has no effect on him. He is only concerned with the exploitation of the region and the profit that it will bring him. The film depicts the conditions that
The history of the Belgian Congo is one of terrible sadness and seldom-noted human devastation. From 1885 to 1908 the Congo was ruled by one man as his sole, personal colony; a ruler ironically noted at the time for his philanthropy, King Leopold II of Belgium. Seeking his own colony, he founded the Congo Free State, a massive territory in the African interior that was larger than seventy-six times the size of his own country (Hochschild, 87). A “sober, respectable businessman” by the name of Edmund
another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically”. King Leopold did just this. From 1885 to 1908, King Leopold II of Belgium took over Congo, and is responsible for over ten million African deaths. So how did a man from Belgium take over Congo and maintain it without anyone stopping him? Leopold did this through money, torture, and help from agents, because he didn’t do it alone. Leopold “bought” Congo by investing his own money and buying out other investors. He convinced
resources and vast amounts of land, Africa became the next desirable continent to conquer. In 1885, King Leopold II became one of the first to claim a central African country, the Congo, for himself and his country, Belgium ("D.R. Congo Backgrounder"). With a facade of nobility, many Europeans believed Leopold’s efforts in the Congo were in the name of
into the capitalist world system beginning with the establishment of the personal rule of King Leopold II of Belgium in 1885. During the time of colonialism Belgium colonized Congo, he exploited the natives for rubber and ivory. The Congo Free State was a corporate state privately controlled by Leopold II, through the Association Internationale Africaine, a non-governmental organization. Under Leopold II’s administration, the Congo Free State became the site of one of the most infamous international
Adam Hochschild painted a very vivid picture of the cruelty and injustices done to the Congolese from 1885 to 1908 in his book King Leopold’s Ghost. Hochschild shows us how manipulative King Leopold was in his desire for fortune and more power. This paper will point out the how King Leopold was a silver tongued snake, how he used his charm to win him the colony of Congo, and how his greed caused many innocent lives to be lost. This can be seen in the examination of how he gained control of the colony
Between 1885 and 1908, Belgium’s Leopold II ruled Congo, a region in central Africa, as his personal colony, exploiting the resources and inhabitants for his own gain. Leopold allowed and encouraged Europeans and other Westerners to enter Congo and set up companies whose primary purpose was to gather rubber, which was abundant but difficult to get to in the Congo, using the Congolese as the laborers for the Europeans. Rubber gathering in Congo brutally exploited the inhabitants of the Congo, while
King Leopold II developed his dream for colonization at an early age. Before he even took the throne he was on the lookout for unconquered land that could later be in his possession. The king wanted to become rich as a result of his new land through the process of trading. Once King Leopold II set his sights on the Congo, he would not give up until the land was his. He connived, manipulated and conned his way into the land. He did not care who got hurt; he just wanted his dream to be fulfilled
King Leopold II of Belgium’s speech delivered to missionaries traveling to the Congo describes an attempt by the king to justify the subjugation of the Congolese people for the benefit of the Belgian economy. King Leopold directed his speech to the Catholic missionaries who were planning on working with the indigenous population of the Congo in 1883. Leopold, blinded by racism and imperialist greed, stresses that the missionaries should selectively interpret their Bible teachings in a manner that
wealth. “For Leopold, colonies existed for one purpose: to make him and his country rich.” Adam Hochschild’s original book, King Leopold’s Ghost explains land grabbing in Africa during the nineteenth century. Leopold wanted Congo as his own territory to benefit from the resources such as minerals. The king ruled the Africans using terror and tortured them when they disobeyed his orders. Heroic efforts by Mark Twain and Archbishop of Canterbury to expose the inhumane crimes committed by Leopold resulted
The Scramble for Africa was essentially driven by the idea of “New Imperialism.” “New Imperialism” started the era of colonialism amongst the European powers – specifically Great Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, and Portugal. It was driven by the idea of Social Darwinism, to aid the “dark people” on the “dark continent” of Africa because they were in need of “saving.” Imperialism became the primary focus through the late nineteenth century, and into the twentieth century; dividing the African
efforts of King Leopold II of Belgium which is to make the Congo into a colonial empire. During the period that the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. During that time, the vast interior of the Africa continent was still undeveloped and unknown to Europeans while the coastal regions had already been claimed by others. Since Belgium was a small country, King Leopold II was very obsessed
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a country in Sub Saharan Africa, that was colonized by Belgium. Historians believe that Pygmies were the first people to live in the DRC. West Bantu people started a migration movement, following the major rivers and moving south. Moving south allows the Bantu people to be closer to the rainforest and have more access to food and water. As the Bantu people migrated to other places throughout the region they also, started to develop a new language around
Century King Leopold II was the king of Belgium and he was looking for a way to expand his power and influence of the Belgium state. During this time imperialism was becoming very prominent, especially in European countries. Imperialism was a way for a country to easily gain wealth by implementing military force on another country or group of people. They would extract resources and goods from these places and, in its wake, imperialism destroyed these societies and their cultures. King Leopold II is a perfect
King Leopold II and Belgian Imperialism In 1865, King Leopold II succeeded his father to the thrown of Belgium and thus began one of the most brutal and insensitive periods of imperialism ever to exist. From manipulative treaties to straight forward intimidation, Leopold dominated his empire like no other. He was cruel, deceptive, and downright evil, yet it took the world over twenty years to recognize this. The record of King Leopold’s atrocity is an interesting account of how a jealous
King Of The Congo Punishment King of Belgium, Leopold the second was responsible for the deaths and cruelty of millions due to his harsh leadership over the Congo Free State. This large area is in the modern day Democratic Republic of the Congo and at the time was rich in rubber. Congo Free State was created to improve the lives of its native inhabitants, but Leopold II took absolute control. Under his control he mutilated and killed the servants who mined for the rich resources in the land. Workers
and in my opinion it should be taught in schools. While my opinion is that the book itself was a good read, the context troubles me in that it took so much effort to expose Leopold’s crimes and it was forgotten. The story starts with King Leopold II of Belgium. In the scramble for Africa, many nations rushed to establish colonies, and those who did made a great profit from them. The king himself wanted to compete with them, as well as amass a profit. He traveled to several British colonies and learnt