On February 5, 1885, Belgian King Leopold II established the Congo Free State by brutally seizing the African landmass as his personal possession. Rather than control the Congo as a colony, as other European powers did throughout Africa, Leopold privately owned the region.
Oct 19, 2023
People also ask
Who gave Leopold control of the Congo as his own private colony?
What was established as the personal colony for King Leopold II?
Why did Leopold II want a colony?
What colony did Congo belong to?
Leopold devised a system of terror in which entire Congolese villages were forced to harvest rubber or face death by their Belgian overseers.