Leopold II (1835-1909) was king of Belgium from 1865 until his death. He established as his personal colony the Congo Free State, now the independent country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Leopold was born in Brussels on April 9, 1835. He succeeded his father, Leopold I, to the throne. During his reign, Leopold II sought a source of raw materials for Belgium. He secured the help of the British explorer Henry M. Stanley and personally financed an expedition to the Congo River area in west-central Africa. In 1885, the Congo Free State was established there under Leopold’s rule.
Leopold built up a huge private fortune through control of the Congo’s vast resources. However, many people of the Congo were used as forced labor, and millions died under the brutal conditions. International criticism finally forced Leopold to give up his control of the Congo. He turned it over to the Belgian nation in 1908. The area became a colony called the Belgian Congo. It was administered by Belgium’s parliament until it was granted independence in 1960. Leopold died on Dec. 17, 1909.
See also Congo, Democratic Republic of the
