Congo Free State

The Congo Free State was a kingdom privately and controversially owned by King Léopold II of Belgium that included the entire area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Léopold II began laying the diplomatic, military, and economic groundwork for his control of the Congo in 1877, and ruled it outright from early 1885 until its annexation by Belgium in 1908.

Related Topics:
Kingdom - Léopold II of Belgium - Democratic Republic of the Congo - 1877 - 1885 - 1908

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Under Léopold II's administration, the Congo Free State was subject to a terror regime, including atrocities such as mass killings and maimings which were used to subjugate the indigenous tribes of the Congo region and to procure slave labour. Estimates of the death toll range from three to twenty-two million.

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Beginning in 1900, news of the conditions in the Congo Free State began to be exposed in European and U.S. press. By 1908 public pressure and diplomatic manoeuvres led to the end of Léopold II's rule, and to the annexation of the Congo as a colony of Belgium, known as the Belgian Congo.

Related Topics:
1900 - 1908 - Colony - Belgium - Belgian Congo

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