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Leopold II: The King of Belgium (1865-1909) and the Congo river
The scandal for Africa began in the mid-1870's with the purpose to colonize the "Dark Continent" (Africa) . Much of the exploration and European interests were in the southern, northern, and eastern part of this continent. It was called the "Dark Continent" because of the large basin of rain forests surrounding the Congo River in the equatorial part of western Africa. This area was unexplored because traveling up the river by boat was just impossible to due with the massive systems of rapids that were 100 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.
In 1876 Leopold II employed Henry Stanley to acquire as much land in the Congo as he possibly could. The area that Stanley was able to get consisted of 905,000 square miles. This land was not intended to become a Belgian colony, but a private state, owned exclusively by Leopold II. That year, Leopold created the International African Association, an organization that strove for colonization and exploration of Africa.
Stanley made treaties with the natives living in the Congo that gave Leopold the ownership of the land. After it they did a congress in Berlin in 1885 for European and American representatives to discuss the dividing of Africa. With the treaties that Stanley had obtained, Leopold was able to claim the Congo legitimately. He named himself sovereign of the Congo Free State/Independent State of the Congo. Between 1879 and 1884, Leopold continued to finance Stanley's to exploration of the region. Because of resources such as rubber, ivory, copper, diamonds, and gold of the Congo, Leopold develop this area to export these goods. Major roads were built to import supplies and export the resources. Leopold did anything to gain wealth out of these areas including the use of forced labor.
Much of Europe fell upon these atrocities, which led to the end of Leopold's rule. In 1908 Belgium took
the lands for itself as the Belgian Congo. Many of the hardships of the natives were reduced and living conditions were improved. The Congo became independent in 1960. In 1970, the name was changed to the Republic of Zaire by General Mobutu the President.
The scandal for Africa began in the mid-1870's with the purpose to colonize the "Dark Continent" (Africa) . Much of the exploration and European interests were in the southern, northern, and eastern part of this continent. It was called the "Dark Continent" because of the large basin of rain forests surrounding the Congo River in the equatorial part of western Africa. This area was unexplored because traveling up the river by boat was just impossible to due with the massive systems of rapids that were 100 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.
In 1876 Leopold II employed Henry Stanley to acquire as much land in the Congo as he possibly could. The area that Stanley was able to get consisted of 905,000 square miles. This land was not intended to become a Belgian colony, but a private state, owned exclusively by Leopold II. That year, Leopold created the International African Association, an organization that strove for colonization and exploration of Africa.
Stanley made treaties with the natives living in the Congo that gave Leopold the ownership of the land. After it they did a congress in Berlin in 1885 for European and American representatives to discuss the dividing of Africa. With the treaties that Stanley had obtained, Leopold was able to claim the Congo legitimately. He named himself sovereign of the Congo Free State/Independent State of the Congo. Between 1879 and 1884, Leopold continued to finance Stanley's to exploration of the region. Because of resources such as rubber, ivory, copper, diamonds, and gold of the Congo, Leopold develop this area to export these goods. Major roads were built to import supplies and export the resources. Leopold did anything to gain wealth out of these areas including the use of forced labor.
Much of Europe fell upon these atrocities, which led to the end of Leopold's rule. In 1908 Belgium took
the lands for itself as the Belgian Congo. Many of the hardships of the natives were reduced and living conditions were improved. The Congo became independent in 1960. In 1970, the name was changed to the Republic of Zaire by General Mobutu the President. In conclusion the congo river was an important part of Africa in which Belgium gained a lot of benefits because of its natural resources. It was a really good territory full of materials to trade and for the new markets. For Africa, obviously, it was not good because they take all their benefits and the only way to grow as a country.
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