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King Leopold and the Belgian Congo
It's like a bear fur
King Leopold and the Belgian Congo
Jackpot! About 15 million people died as a result of King Leopold. What a great guy!
But seriously, look at his beard.
When word got out of the violent exploitation of the natives, there was tremendous pressure on Belgium to take official control of the state and become responsible for it. It became an official protectorate of Belgium in 1908 and was known as the Belgian Congo.
Peter, Paco and Pelaine
The privileging of Belgian commercial interests meant that large amounts of capital flowed into the Congo and that individual regions became specialized.
Mainly extraction of ivory and rubber, the forced labor of natives caused approximately 10 million deaths.
Thank you!
Originally, their main export was rubber, but by the first world war they had transitioned to copper because other colonies were exporting rubber and copper was needed for mass production of weaponry
Biography
King Leopold believed the key to his country's success was through overseas colonies– attempted to gain control over the Philippines multiple times before finally turning to Africa.
- Born in 1835
- Made king of Belgium in 1865
- Married Marie Henriette
- Had 4 kids
- Established the Congo Free State in 1885
- Left her in 1895
- Found a 16-year old mistress??????silliness
- Had 2 illegitimate kids with her???????even sillier
- She got really rich when he died
- It's kind of hard to get mad at him
- I mean, look at his beard
That part of Africa was pretty much unexplored, so Leopold had trouble getting support and eventually had to start a private enterprise to colonize it. This private enterprise would be known as the Congo Free State.
a priest, a child molester, and a rapist walks into a bar
A priest, a child molester, and a rapist walks into a bar.