The Butcher Of Congo: King Leopold The Second Of Belgium

King Leopold II of Belgium did very bad things to many people in Congo, Africa in the late 1800s. He was in charge of a place called the Congo Free State and made a lot of money from it, especially from rubber plants. Leopold pretended to help the people of Congo by setting up an organization, but he was really using it to take control and get rich.

Under Leopold's rule, which lasted for 23 years, about 10 million Africans were killed or hurt badly. He did all this without ever going to Congo himself. It's important to know that during this time, other countries were also treating native people badly :Britain on the Aborigines in Australia, the United States on Native Americans and Filipinos , French on Northwest Congolese, Spanish on the north and central Native Americans, Portuguese on the Angolans and Amazonians and Germans on Southwest Africans. However, what happened in Congo was one of the worst cases.

Leopold got rich from Congo, and when he died, he gave his money to the Belgian government. Congo has a lot of valuable minerals, like diamonds, and became independent from Belgium in 1960. However, the country has faced a lot of problems and corruption since then.

In summary, King Leopold II's actions in Congo were very harmful and are a big part of history that shows how badly people can treat each other for money and power.