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Leopold II Saxe-Coburg-Gotha | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 9 April 1835 Brussels, Belgium |
| Died | 17 December 1909 Brussels, Belgium |
| Political orientation | Colonialism |
Léopold Louis Philippe Marie Victor was the king of Belgium from 1865 to 1909 and brutal colonial ruler of the Congo Free State, murdering half of its population between 1885 and 1908.[1]
Colonization of the Congo[edit | edit source]
Leopold founded a private company to colonize the Congo in 1878 and became the owner of 2.3 million km2 of African land following the 1885 Berlin Conference. He set up a militia called the Public Force to dismember and torture Africans who did not work hard enough.[1]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Vijay Prashad (2008). The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World: 'Brussels' (pp. 17–18). [PDF] The New Press. ISBN 9781595583420 [LG]