King Leopold by

Who is king Leopold?

857935_5 — 2025-04-22 14:59:14 UTC

King Leopold II of Belgium was born on April 9, 1835, he lived a long 74 years, until he died in 1909 due to an embolism. King Leopold II is the child of Leopold I of Belgium, and his mother, Louise of Orleans. During his reign of being king of Belgium, the Berlin conference took place. During the conference, Leopold took control of the Congo. He took full control of it and had it be his own personal colony. Many atrocities occurred when he was in power, which he is mainly at fault for, naming him as the most blamed for the death of millions of Congolese people.

Why is Leopold the one being accused?

857935_5 — 2025-04-22 15:09:45 UTC

King Leopold took control of the Congo, and was the main person in power. The Congo had lots of rubber and ivory, which during his time was VERY VERY important. Leopold could use this rubber to make money, sell it to the Americas, and get money for it. This greed meant that the people of the Congo, who were already living there, had to work their lives away. The people of the Congo had to get an almost unreachable amount of rubber just in a day, if they didn't they would be punished harshly, some had their hands cut off, others were killed. Leopold supported this. He encouraged it. All Leopold cared about was getting the money, he ordered the officers in Congo to punish the Congolese, with death or the cutting of limbs, and if they didn't, the officers would be the ones facing that punishment.

Evidence 1

857935_5 — 2025-04-23 15:02:02 UTC

King Leopold designed the system of exploitation.

Leopold created and controlled the Congo free state, building a violent system that led to millions of death through forced labor and abuse.

Why is this relevant?

857935_5 — 2025-04-23 15:02:40 UTC

This evidence is relevant because Leopold creating this use of people, and using them just for money, which just continued the use of slavery, although making it more of a workload for the enslaved. Leopold made the idea himself, he thought of it and carried it out, while only giving orders to people who were actually in the Congo with the Congolese being exploited.

Evidence 2

857935_5 — 2025-04-23 15:12:25 UTC

Leopold lied to the world about his goals.

Leopold used fake humanitarian groups to hide his real goal, getting rich from Congos resources. making him seem like a good person to the whole rest of the world.

Why is this important?

857935_5 — 2025-04-24 14:21:34 UTC

This evidence is relevant because he made the world believe that he was a good guy, and should be bought from. This caused more people to buy from him, giving him more money, more happiness, and more money to buy weapons for his army. This also gave the people of the Congo a bigger workload, more rubber to get, and more deaths to occur.

Evidence 3

857935_5 — 2025-04-24 14:32:51 UTC

King Leopold funded and armed the entire operation.

Leopold paid for the explorers, weapons, railroads, and trading posts that made the exploitation and terror possible.