Maria Theresa died at the age of 45 on the 30 th of July 1683, after returning from a tour of Burgundy and Alsace. On Feb. 23, 1934, six days after his father's death, Leopold became King amidst an atmosphere of good will and with a youthful image that endeared him to his people. One lucrative source of wild rubber was the Landolphia vines in the great Central African rainforest, and no one owned more of that area than Leopold. And, according to his supporters, when he visited Hitler several months after his surrender, it was to discuss rationing. This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Forty years later virtually all of it had been transformed into European colonies, protectorates, or territories ruled by white settlers. The New Yorker states, “Estimates for the number of people killed range between two and 15 million, easily putting Leopold in the top ten of history’s mass murderers. Three children were born to Leopold and his second wife. It is likely that more people died in this Belgian holocaust than died in Hitler’s, but no one was ever brought to book and the crime is largely unknown now. Thus, the Government and critics were pleased when Baudouin announced his planned marriage in 1969 and Leopold and the Princess left. He later attended Eton and was trained for military service. Initially he was most interested in ivory, a material that was greatly valued in the days before plastics because it could be carved into a great variety of shapes—statuettes, jewelry, piano keys, false teeth, and more. No one will ever know the precise figures, but, from all these causes, demographers estimate that between 1880 and 1920 the population of the Congo may have been slashed by up to 50 percent, from perhaps 20 million people at the beginning of that period to an estimated 10 million at the end. The myocardium is the muscular substance of the heart. Even though Leopold II murdered millions of Congolese citizens and used them as slaves, Belgium still has a lot of statues of him throughout the country. One particularly notorious practice grew out of the suppression of those rebellions. Leopold was born in Brussels Nov. 3, 1901. By violence, King Leopold II took possession of two-thirds of the land of the Kongo and ordered the real owners of the land to serve as slaves for him. Tens, possibly hundreds, of thousands of Congolese fled their villages to avoid being impressed as forced labourers, and they sought refuge deep in the forest, where there was little food and shelter. An autocrat who favored the counsel of confidants to official ministers and Government officials, King Leopold III was suspected of Nazi sympathies when he surrendered the Belgian Army in May 1940, although most historians later said he had little choice given the speed with which the Germans were overrunning Europe and the small size and limited fire power of the Belgian Army. Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909 and, through his own efforts, the owner and absolute ruler of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Leopold continued to live at the royal palace, Laeken, after his abdication and enjoyed the courtesy title of King of the Belgians and made many public appearances with his son. Relations between the two kings remained close. The genocide in the Congo is one of the most forgotten pieces of history, but the damage has been long-lasting. They were a newly independent country that had yet to form a unique national identity.Leopold II had two younger siblings called Phillipe and Charlotte. According to some estimates, he killed, murdered and then cannibalized between 10 and 15 million people. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Leopold II, French in full Léopold-Louis-Philippe-Marie-Victor, Dutch in full Leopold Lodewijk Filips Maria Victor, (born April 9, 1835, Brussels, Belgium—died December 17, 1909, Laeken), king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909. He took the throne in 1865, on the death of his father, who had been the young nation's first king. Leopold II, the King of Belgium… He was 81 years old. LEOPOLD II (1835–1909; ruled 1865–1909), king of Belgium and personal sovereign of the Congo Free State.. Leopold II, King of the Belgians—as his country's rulers have traditionally been known—was born in 1835. Although Leopold II established Belgium as a colonial power in Africa, he is best known for the widespread atrocities that were carried out under his rule, as a result of which as many as 10 million people died in the Congo Free State. The couple's first son, Louis Philippe, died in infancy prior to Leopold II's birth. Surrendered Belgian Army. During this period more than 10 million Africans are thought to have died of disease, colonial abuses, and while working on plantations for the king. The royal coffers would become a central focus of Leopold’s life, and he once grumbled to German Emperor William II while watching a parade in Berlin, “There is really nothing left for us kings except money!” Leopold soon decided that the best way to acquire wealth would be by establishing an African colony, at a time when the great European “Scramble for Africa” was under way. His wife, Queen Astrid, was killed in an automobile accident in Switzerland a few months later when the sports car he was driving hit a tree. King Leopold II (1835-1909) of Belgium created the Congo Free State in 1885 as part of a professed desire to bring civilization and modernity to Africans. Leopold’s army even held the women hostage while forcing the men to work, and often resorted to cutting off the limbs of the workers who did not meet their set targets. As you may have guessed, King Leopold was a real-life king, also known as Leopold II. For some years ivory was a principal source of the great wealth that Leopold and his associates drew from the new colony. King Leopold III, who was forced to abdicate to his son Baudouin in 1951 for surrendering to invading Nazi forces during World War II, died today after a heart attack, the royal palace announced. In ‘King Leopold’s Ghost’ Adam Hochschild estimates that over ten million Congolese died during the years that Leopold and the Belgian Government controlled the country. Tens of thousands of others were shot down in failed rebellions against the regime. He died the following year. Although Belgium’s government felt that colonies would be an extravagance for a small country with no navy or merchant marine, that situation suited Leopold perfectly. Baskets of severed hands thus resulted from expeditions against rebels. But reports circulated that the Government had forced the move because they felt King Leopold had too much influence over King Baudouin. The forced-labour system for gathering rubber was swiftly copied by French, German, and Portuguese colonial officials with equally fatal results. In 1870 more than 80 percent of Africa south of the Sahara was under the rule of indigenous chiefs or kings. Because the system’s effects in the Congo could so easily be blamed on one man, who could safely be attacked because he did not represent a great power, an international outcry focused on Leopold. Leopold II implemented a forced-labour system in the Congo that was quickly copied by other European colonial powers. A total of 2,833,392 votes were cast in favor of his return and 2,151,881 were cast against it, with 161,477 votes declared invalid. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. From 1885-1908, the Congo Free State under the personal rule of King Leopold II … The King's critics charged that the purpose of the visit was to obtain assurances that the Saxe-Coburg dynasty would remain on the Belgian throne. This colony alone made him one of the wealthiest people on earth as the need for rubber increased with the increase in bicycle and car usage. When Leopold II died in 1909, he was buried to the sound of Belgians booing. However, in 1959, it was announced that Leopold and Princess de Rethy would leave Laeken, the traditional home of Belgian kings. The spoils of modern day Belgium owes much to … Some sources stated that people were paid pennies for their labour, but it was soon stopped, and then forced to work without pay for 20 days a month. The treaties, some of which appear to have been subsequently doctored to Leopold’s liking, were then put to use by the Belgian monarch. Leopold received British citizenship in 1815. If a soldier fired at someone and missed, or used a bullet to shoot game, he then sometimes cut off the hand of a living victim to be able to show it to his officer. It is estimated that up to 10 million people — half of the population — died under Leopold's reign. The effects were devastating. For Continue reading Leopold II established his own private army of mercenaries— Force Publique. The book, also a general biography of the private life of Leopold, succeeded in increasing public … Leopold II would earn himself the name of King-Builder, based on the number of monumental construction projects he made happen, from the Africa Museum in Tervuren to the avenue leading to the Cinquantenaire Arch and park in Brussels, as well as the Royal Galleries in central Brussels, and the monumental central station in Antwerp. He ran the colony in a brutal way, demanding that the natives work to make money for him (largely by producing rubber) and punishing them severely if they did not. He was the architect of one of history's greatest, if lesser known, crimes against humanity. His father, King Albert, had tragically died five days before. King Leopold ascended the throne in 1934 at the age of 32 after his father, King Albert I, was killed while mountain climbing. He is remembered in Belgium for some of what he built with his Congo wealth, such as the monumental Arcade du Cinquantenaire in Brussels, and for his advocacy of strong fortifications in the eastern part of the country, which slowed the advance of German troops in 1914 at the beginning of World War I. Some Belgian historians, such as Vincent Delcorps, speak of there having been a "dyarchy" during this period. He called it État Indépendant du Congo, the Congo Free State. Map of Central Africa from the 10th edition of the. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Leopold II was born in 1835 to King Leopold I and Louise-Marie of Orleans. Likewise, why did King Leopold want the Congo? Born in Coburg, Germany on December 16, 1790, Leopold was not an obvious candidate to one day become a king. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The average reader will spend 7 hours and 17 minutes reading King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa at 250 WPM (words per minute). It was the world’s only private colony, and Leopold referred to himself as its “proprietor.”. The king became an instant fan of this treat and brought it to the attention of the rest of Europe. The king then embarked on an ultimately successful effort to make a vast fortune from his new possession. The palace said the King died a few hours after emergency heart surgery by a team of Belgian and American doctors at a Brussels university hospital. The Government refused both demands. By the early 1890s a new source of riches had appeared. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. King Leopold II committed heinous atrocities in the name of chasing profits and raising the prestige of Belgium. Mobutu took advantage of this power vacuum and clung on to power for over 30 years. Keen on establishing Belgium as an imperial power, he led the first European efforts to develop the Congo River basin, making possible the formation in 1885 of the Congo Free State, annexed in 1908 as the Belgian Congo and now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is no doubt that Congo's history, and White King, Red Rubber, Black Death are almost too upsetting to bear, however Leopold did leave, albeit unwittingly, one positive legacy - the birth of modern humanitarianism. As a strict Roman Catholic, he opposed the Communists and Socialists who came to power after the war, and they opposed his return in 1950, although he won the support of 60 percent of the voters in a plebiscite on whether he should return to his own country from Switzerland. Nevertheless, the things carried out on his watch stained his reputation forever. Corrections? He had a coronary bridging performed, aiming at correcting insufficient irrigation of the myocardium.'' Africa King Leopold's legacy: The lingering chaos in DR Congo. Then, as they would be into the 21st century, most of the royal families of Europe were related. On 2 May 1816, Leopold married Princess Charlotte of Wales at Carlton House in London. Dr. Henriet explains, “When he died in 1909, he was extremely unpopular. He was the youngest surviving son of Franz Friedrich Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf.Among his siblings was the mother of Queen Victoria and the father of … He had haemophilia, which led to his death at the age of 30. The official reason was that King Baudouin was close to choosing a queen. Leopold II established his own private army of mercenaries— Force Publique. Two men hold the severed hands of their countrymen who were murdered by rubber sentries in 1904. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Leopold has put the entire state of Congo under his slavery. But in the decennia after his death, his honor was restored. Other parts of the Congo economy, from road building to chopping wood for steamboat boilers, operated by forced labour as well. That pressure finally forced him to relinquish his ownership of the territory, and it became the Belgian Congo in 1908. Although the domestic affairs of his reign were dominated by a growing conflict between the Liberal and Catholic parties over suffrage and education issues, Leopold concentrated on developing the country’s defenses. As Germany rearmed, however, Leopold adopted a policy of independence that many thought favored the Third Reich. Leopold I, King of the Belgians was born a Prince of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld on December 16, 1790, at Ehrenburg Palace in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in Bavaria, Germany. Leopold, however, made the Belgian government pay him for his prized possession. During one of his favourite escapist pastimes, he fatally fell in the Ardennes (Marche-les-dames), while mountaineering alone. Leopold II’s father died on 10 December 1865, and he took the oath of office on 17 December, at the age of 30. When Leopold married Miss Baels in December 1941 while a captive, he gave her the title of Princess de Rethy with the understanding that neither she nor her children could assume the throne. King Leopold III (1901-1983) rose to the throne on 23 February 1934 rather unexpectedly. 2 Land King Leopold claimed ownership of the land, displacing the Africans. Leopold had a keen interest in South America and headed a Belgian governmental mission to Brazil, Chile and Argentina in 1962. To prove that he had not wasted bullets—or, worse yet, saved them for use in a mutiny—for each bullet expended, a Congolese soldier of the Force Publique had to present to his white officer the severed hand of a rebel killed. Please select which sections you would like to print: While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Leopold and his wife continued to advise King Baudouin until the latter's marriage in 1960. https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/26/obituaries/king-leopold-dies-led-the-belgians.html. Secondly, how did King Leopold II gain control of the Congo? After a period of exploration, Leopold initiated a forced exploitation of rubber, copper, and other minerals from the upper Lualaba River basin. As the price of rubber soared, the quotas increased, and as vines near a village were drained dry, men desperate to free their wives and daughters would have to walk days or weeks to find new vines to tap. This brutal practice was a catastrophe for the population of the Congo, and Leopold was eventually forced to give up his hold on the colony. After the surrender, Leopold again ignored his ministers' advice and chose to serve out the war as a Nazi prisoner rather than flee to England and head a government in exile. King Leopold’s African colony in the Congo gave him access to 1 million square miles and 20 million people he could use for labor. How did Maria Theresa of Spain Die? Historical map of the Belgian Congo (1908–60). Updates? The When Leopold II died in 1909, he was buried to the sound of Belgians booing. The margin was considered too small and riots broke out in Brussels and other cities. Many of the women hostages starved, and many of the male rubber gatherers were worked to death. See the article in its original context from. Premature Death. A worldwide rubber boom was under way, kicked off by the invention of the inflatable bicycle tire and spurred on by the rise of the automobile and the use of rubber in industrial belts and gaskets, as well as in coating for telephone and telegraph wires. He was a racist savage. King Leopold III, who was forced to abdicate to his son Baudouin in 1951 for surrendering to invading Nazi forces during World War II, died today after a heart attack, the royal palace announced. He was not alone in this, as the King had his soldiers and generals to conduct orders and enforce laws in the state. Most of the monarchs in western Europe had been forced to largely yield political power to the electorate by the late 19th century, so Belgium’s parliament and cabinet were the real locus of power, but Leopold used the prestige of the monarchy to lobby for pet projects. For instance, Leopold II was a first cousin of Queen Victoria of Britain. King Leopold’s African colony in the Congo gave him access to 1 million square miles and 20 million people he could use for labor. King Leopold II of Belgium takes the Congo. King Leopold II did many terrible things to the people of … His most important legacy, however, remains the human catastrophe that the rubber forced-labour system brought to the Congo—a heritage that continued to echo in that region more than a century after Leopold’s death. Marie Henriette gave birth to their first and only son in 1859, but he tragically died … The scramble for Africa by European countries was an intense one, and Belgium, under the monarchical rule of King Leopold II did not want to be left out. However, even the Wikipedia page for the History of genocides, never states the genocide that Leopold did in Congo. He was a racist monster. Besides Baudouin, two other children were born to Leopold and Queen Astrid. By the end of his life, Leopold was unpopular with his people, but, ironically, that had much less to do with his actions in Africa than with his conduct of his personal life. Campaigners want statues of King Leopold II, who killed millions in Central Africa, to be removed. It was widely assumed that Leopold could have reclaimed the throne in the late 1940's, but he declared that he would not return until those who had been his Government ministers in 1940 apologized publicly for having counseled him to flee from the Nazis and all stains and questions of his loyalty were officially removed. For five years Stanley traveled up and down the immense waterways of the Congo River basin, setting up trading posts, building roads, and persuading local chiefs—almost all of them illiterate—to sign treaties with Leopold. Two Kings Remained Close. He became duke of Brabant in 1846 and served in the Belgian army. Approximately 10 million Congolese people died. ''A few hours after the operation, a failure of the myocardium occurred leading to death the same day,'' it said. King Leopold II of Belgium was responsible for the deaths and mutilation of 10 million Congolese Africans during the late 1800’s. The country of Belgium itself was only about five years old at the birth of Leopold II, who became the eldest surviving son of Leopold I, first king of the Belgians, and his second wife, Louise-Marie of Orléans. Their family life was dysfunctional, to say the least. Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, KG, KT, GCSI, GCMG, GCStJ was the eighth child and youngest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Riots Followed Voting. Furthermore, as in any society where men and women are separated, traumatized, or in flight as refugees, the birth rate dropped precipitously. Rise to Power. That marriage caused more controversy when it was revealed that the couple had had a church wedding before the announced civil wedding, in violation of custom in the heavily Roman Catholic country, which calls for the civil wedding to be held first. Approximately 10 million Congolese people died. King Leopold is based on the king from the fairytale, "Snow White". Became King in 1934. He persuaded first the United States and then all the major nations of western Europe to recognize a huge swath of Central Africa—roughly the same territory as the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo—as his personal property. Women were raped, men were executed and villages were burned in pursuit of profit for the king.” On March 12, 1950, a plebiscite was held to determine whether Leopold should return. Back in Versailles, the queen fell ill and died suddenly from complications related to an abscess. He débuts in the eleventh episode of the first season and is portrayed by guest stars Richard Schiff and Eric Lange. He spoke contemptuously of Belgium’s small size, could not speak proper Dutch, the native language of more than half of its citizens, spent long winters in luxurious quarters on the French Riviera, and was estranged from two of his three daughters. For Continue reading He explained that his surrender to the Germans was inevitable and that he remained a prisoner because a leader should stay with his people. And in 1951, when violence broke out in Belgium over whether he should return to the throne after surrendering to the Nazis in 1940 against the advice of his ministers, the King abdicated in favor of his 20-year-old son, Baudouin. By violence, King Leopold II took possession of two-thirds of the land of the Kongo and ordered the real owners of the land to serve as slaves for him. He was a racist devil. 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