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Leopold II of Belgium

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Leopold II of Belgium

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What's driving coverage of Leopold II of Belgium right now?

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Leopold II of Belgium across IJR

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Overview

Leopold II (, ; 9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of Leopold I and Louise of Orléans, Leopold succeeded his father to the Belgian throne in 1865 and reigned for 44 years until his death, the longest reign of a Belgian monarch to date. He died without surviving legitimate sons. The current Belgian king descends from his nephew and successor, Albert I. He is popularly referred to as the Builder King in Belgium in reference to the great number of buildings, urban projects and public works he commissioned. Leopold was the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private project undertaken on his own behalf as a personal union with Belgium. He used Henry Morton Stanley to help him lay claim to the Congo, the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, the colonial nations of Europe authorised his claim and committed the Congo Free State to him. Leopold ran the Congo by using the mercenary Force Publique for his personal gain. He extracted a fortune from the territory, initially by the collection of ivory and, after a rise in the price of natural rubber in the 1890s, by forced labour from the native population to harvest and process rubber. Leopold's administration of the Congo Free State was characterized by atrocities and systematic brutality, including forced labour, torture, murder, kidnapping, and the amputation of the hands of men, women, and children when the quota of rubber was not met. In one of the first uses of the term, George Washington Williams described the practices of Leopold's administration of the Congo Free State as "crimes against humanity" in 1890. These and other facts were established during Leopold's rule by eyewitness testimony, by on-site inspection from an international commission of inquiry, by the investigative journalism and activism of E. D. Morel, and by the 1904 Casement Report.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“Young trees need stakes to support them, but the stakes must be removed once the trees begin to grow, precisely so not to hinder their growth.”
— Leopold II, King of the Belgians in a letter to his minister, [[w:Charles_Woeste|Charles Woeste], dated June 9, 1901.]
“It is not the first time that Belgium has had to undergo a dangerous ordeal. But never has the situation been more serious than today! … Freedom, honor, the very existence of the fatherland is at stake.”
— Leopold II, Het hele Verhaal, Johan Op De Beeck Horizon, 2020 King Leopold II In a 1870 speech to the Belgian Parliament as a reaction to the growing threat of war between Prussia and France.
“We are going to democratize the chamber and the senate, we also have to democratize the monarchy, give it the opportunity, when it feels the need to obtain direct advice, support from the changing electoral corps.”
— Leopold II, Het hele Verhaal, Johan Op De Beeck Horizon, 2020 King Leopold II explains on the back of a lettre in which he threatens to abdicate.
“It is very curious to see how in China and Morocco the vanquished pay for the costs of the expedition that crushed them.”
— Leopold II, Het hele Verhaal, Johan Op De Beeck Horizon, 2020 Prince Leopold II in a travel note after reading in the Spanish Archive "Archivo General de Indias" in Sevilla in 1862.
“These expeditions respond to an extraordinarily civilizing Christian idea: to abolish slavery in Africa, to dispel the darkness that still reigns in part of the world, to get to know the resources that seem gigantic, in short, pouring out the treasures of civilization, that's it. purpose of this modern crusade worthy of our era.”
— Leopold II, Het hele Verhaal, Johan Op De Beeck Horizon, 2020 Leopold II in a note to himself when reading Livingstone's reports.
“I believe we must set up three children's colonies, the aim of these colonies is above all to furnish us with soldiers.”
— King Leopold's Ghost Leopold II in a letter to the Congo Governor General: Camille Janssen, 1890.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

Overview

Leopold II (, ; 9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of Leopold I and Louise of Orléans, Leopold succeeded his father to the Belgian throne in 1865 and reigned for 44 years until his death, the longest reign of a Belgian monarch to date. He died without surviving legitimate sons. The current Belgian king descends from his nephew and successor, Albert I. He is popularly referred to as the Builder King in Belgium in reference to the great number of buildings, urban projects and public works he commissioned. Leopold was the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private project undertaken on his own behalf as a personal union with Belgium. He used Henry Morton Stanley to help him lay claim to the Congo, the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, the colonial nations of Europe authorised his claim and committed the Congo Free State to him. Leopold ran the Congo by using the mercenary Force Publique for his personal gain. He extracted a fortune from the territory, initially by the collection of ivory and, after a rise in the price of natural rubber in the 1890s, by forced labour from the native population to harvest and process rubber. Leopold's administration of the Congo Free State was characterized by atrocities and systematic brutality, including forced labour, torture, murder, kidnapping, and the amputation of the hands of men, women, and children when the quota of rubber was not met. In one of the first uses of the term, George Washington Williams described the practices of Leopold's administration of the Congo Free State as "crimes against humanity" in 1890. These and other facts were established during Leopold's rule by eyewitness testimony, by on-site inspection from an international commission of inquiry, by the investigative journalism and activism of E. D. Morel, and by the 1904 Casement Report.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Leopold II (, ; 9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908.

Leopold II of Belgium across IJR

Ask Genius by OpenServe about Leopold II of Belgium Create in Studio Build a game Watch videos

Notable quotes

“Young trees need stakes to support them, but the stakes must be removed once the trees begin to grow, precisely so not to hinder their growth.”
— Leopold II, King of the Belgians in a letter to his minister, [[w:Charles_Woeste|Charles Woeste], dated June 9, 1901.]
“It is not the first time that Belgium has had to undergo a dangerous ordeal. But never has the situation been more serious than today! … Freedom, honor, the very existence of the fatherland is at stake.”
— Leopold II, Het hele Verhaal, Johan Op De Beeck Horizon, 2020 King Leopold II In a 1870 speech to the Belgian Parliament as a reaction to the growing threat of war between Prussia and France.
“We are going to democratize the chamber and the senate, we also have to democratize the monarchy, give it the opportunity, when it feels the need to obtain direct advice, support from the changing electoral corps.”
— Leopold II, Het hele Verhaal, Johan Op De Beeck Horizon, 2020 King Leopold II explains on the back of a lettre in which he threatens to abdicate.
“It is very curious to see how in China and Morocco the vanquished pay for the costs of the expedition that crushed them.”
— Leopold II, Het hele Verhaal, Johan Op De Beeck Horizon, 2020 Prince Leopold II in a travel note after reading in the Spanish Archive "Archivo General de Indias" in Sevilla in 1862.
“These expeditions respond to an extraordinarily civilizing Christian idea: to abolish slavery in Africa, to dispel the darkness that still reigns in part of the world, to get to know the resources that seem gigantic, in short, pouring out the treasures of civilization, that's it. purpose of this modern crusade worthy of our era.”
— Leopold II, Het hele Verhaal, Johan Op De Beeck Horizon, 2020 Leopold II in a note to himself when reading Livingstone's reports.
“I believe we must set up three children's colonies, the aim of these colonies is above all to furnish us with soldiers.”
— King Leopold's Ghost Leopold II in a letter to the Congo Governor General: Camille Janssen, 1890.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.