Leopold II of Belgium

King Leopold II of Belgium was born on April 9th, 1935. When Leopold was born, Belgium itself was only about five years old! Leopold became the oldest son of Belgium I that was alive. Leopold I was the very first king of Belgium, with his second wife, Louise-Marie of Orléans being queen. Leopold II became the Duke of Brabant in 1846 as well as serving in the Belgian army. In 1853, Leopold II a beautiful woman married Marie-Henriette. She was the daughter of the Austrian archduke Joseph, who was the

Characterized by ambition and restlessness from an early age, King Leopold II of Belgium utilized his desire to make a name for himself, while increasing his personal wealth and power, and deftly harnessed subterfuge in order to convince the Belgian government that his interests in Africa were philanthropic, all the while exploiting and deceiving the native peoples of the Congo. However, it was this same relentless ambition which would eventually lead to Leopold’s being forced to sell his colonial

King Leopold II of Belgium colonized the African country of Congo with the help of American explorer Henry Stanley. Leopold desperately wanted the Congo to expand his small territory and to secure his place in the world. To do this, he sent Stanley to gain treaties from tribe leaders in the Congo River basin, from 1875 to 1884. Stanley succeeded in obtaining signatures through a combination of trickery and force. Ever since then, the Congo was dealt a low blow by invidious, violent takeovers. Leopold’s

In Belgium, the Art Nouveau provided works of Victor Horta. The beauty of these artist works often overshadows the historic context that funded, supplied, inspired this art and design movement. The transformation art and design in Brussels during this time was a product of imperialism and genocide sanctioned by King Leopold II of Belgium, through the exploitation and appropriation Congolese culture and raw materials. Born in Brussels, Belgium in 1835, Leopold II became the second king of Belgium

1885, King Leopold II of Belgium was granted administrative powers over the region titled, the Congo Free State. Although promising he would advance his private property to improve the lives of the native Africans, he immediately seized any vacant land in which no European was living on and deemed it the state’s property. His servants working under him were then encouraged to exploit this land for the benefit of their own with little regard to the native’s own lives. Under King Leopold II’s administration

Wrong Power Power is a dangerous thing when in the wrong hands. European and the U.S. colonists took power into their own hands in the 1800’s. King Leopold II of Belgium took it upon himself to control the “Congolese People”. Europeans and the U.S during 1876 through 1914 were known as the “Gold Diggers” to Africans. Native Congolese hold hands that was served to Congolese people. Colonialism has negatively impacted African cultures by letting Europeans and kings take power into their own hands.

Striving to not be left behind by the African colonial train king Leopold II’s attainment of the Congolese people left a scar that is still very visible today. His hunger for power, money, and global recognition by the European powers drastically altered the way of life for those residing in the Congo for generations. King Leopold II’s authority of the Congo was solidified during the Berlin Conference as the he had convinced the European powers of the necessity of Belgium’s presence in the Congo

in the Congo from when King Leopold II got involved to present day. In 1865, King Leopold II took the throne of Belgium. One of his primary goals was to find Belgium a colony. He sent Henry Morton Stanley to lead an exploration Africa and during this exploration he was to negotiate treaties with tribal leaders to give him land near the Congo River. King Leopold II didn’t own the area but he did own most of the “Committee for Studies

King Leopold II and Belgian Imperialism In 1865, King Leopold II succeeded his father to the thrown of Belgium and thus began one of the most brutal and insensitive periods of imperialism ever to exist. From manipulative treaties to straight forward intimidation, Leopold dominated his empire like no other. He was cruel, deceptive, and downright evil, yet it took the world over twenty years to recognize this. The record of King Leopold’s atrocity is an interesting account of how

King Leopold II was the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885-1908. In the 23 years that he ruled the state, he used inhuman force and the Force Publique to assist in his reign of terror. The aim of this investigation is to establish whether Belgium should remove their public statues of King Leopold II by observing the atrocities he was instrumental in, in the Congo Free State. A statue is defined as a carved or cast figure of a person or animal, it is usually life size or larger