Leopold II
King of the Belgians
Reign	10 December 1865-17 December 1909
Born	9 April 1835
	Brussels, Belgium
Died	17 December 1909
	Laeken/Laken, Belgium
Predecessor	Leopold I
Successor	Albert I
Consort	Marie Henriette of Austria Caroline Lacroix {morgantic relationship}
Issue	Princess Louise-Marie Prince Leopold Princess Stephanie Princess Clementine
Royal House	Wettin (Saxe-Coburg-Gotha line)
Father	Leopold I
Mother	Louise-Marie of France

Leopold II (Léopold Louis Philippe Marie Victor (French) or Leopold Lodewijk Filips Marie Victor (Dutch) (April 9, 1835 – December 17, 1909) was King of the Belgians. Born the second (but eldest surviving) son of Leopold I of Belgium, he succeeded his father to the Belgian throne in 1865 and remained king until his death. He was the brother of Empress Carlota of Mexico and cousin to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Outside Belgium, he is chiefly remembered as the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private project undertaken by the King to extract rubber and ivory in the Congo region of central Africa, which relied on forced labour and resulted in the deaths of between 5 to 22 million Congolese.^[1] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (695x1041, 136 KB) Beschrijving photograph of leopold II of Belgium as Garter Knight Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Leopold II of Belgium ... December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, 21 days before the next year. ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ... December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... | Come and take it, slogan of the Texas Revolution 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see Brussels (disambiguation). ... December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Laeken (French: Laeken, Dutch: Laken) is a residential suburb in north-east Brussels, Belgium. ... Laeken (French) or Laken (Dutch) is a residential suburb in north-west Brussels (postal code : B-1020), Belgium. ... Leopold I of the Belgians (Leopold George Christian Frederick of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, later of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) (b. ... Albert I (April 8, 1875 – February 17, 1934) was the third King of the Belgians. ... Marie Henriette, Princess Imperial & Archduchess of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary & Bohemia (August 23, 1836, Pest, now Budapest, Hungary - September 20, 1902, Spa, Belgium) was the queen consort of King Léopold II of Belgium. ... A morganatic marriage is a type of marriage which can be contracted in certain countries, usually between persons of unequal social rank (unebenbürtig in German), which prevents the passage of the husbands titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage. ... Louise-Marie Amélie, Princess of Belgium, later by marriage Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was born in Brussels on February 18, 1858 and died at Wiesbaden March 1, 1924. ... Stéphanie, Princess of Belgium and of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess in Saxony (Stéphanie Clotilde Louise Herminie Marie Charlotte of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, 21 May 1864 – 23 August 1945) was the wife of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary. ... Saxe-Coburg-Gotha or Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (German: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) was once the name given to the two German duchies of Saxe-Coburg and Saxe-Gotha in Germany, in the present states of Bavaria and Thuringia, which were in personal union between 1826 and 1918. ... Leopold I of the Belgians (Leopold George Christian Frederick of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, later of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) (b. ... Louise-Marie, Queen of the Belgians (Louise-Marie Thérèse Charlotte Isabelle dOrléans) - fille de France, and Queen of the Belgians as the wife of King Leopold I. Born in Palermo, Sicily on April 3, 1812, she was the eldest daughter of the future King Louis-Phillippe... is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... | Come and take it, slogan of the Texas Revolution 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The royal palace in Brussels Successive Belgian kings are Leopold I (1831-1865) Leopold II (1865-1909) Albert I (1909-1934) Leopold III (1934-1951) abdicated Prince Charles of Belgium (1944-1950) Prince Regent Baudouin I (1951-1993) Albert II (1993- ) None of these were King of Belgium: their title... Leopold I of the Belgians (Leopold George Christian Frederick of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, later of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) (b. ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ... Charlotte of Belgium (Princess Marie Charlotte Amélie Augustine Victoire Clémentine Léopoldine of Belgium), (June 7, 1840–January 19, 1927) as Charlotte (or Carlota), Empress of Mexico was the consort of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. ... Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria) (24 May 1819–22 January 1901) was a Queen of the United Kingdom, reigning from 20 June 1837 until her death. ... Flag Capital Boma Government Monarchy Ruler and owner Leopold II of Belgium Historical era New Imperialism  - Established 1885  - Annexation by Belgium 15 November, 1908 The Congo Free State was a corporate state privately owned by King Leopold II of Belgium (not in his role as monarch) that included the entire... This does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The regime of the Congo Free State became one of the more infamous international scandals of the turn of the century. Report of the British Consul Roger Casement led to the arrest and punishment of white officials who had been responsible for cold-blooded killings during a rubber-collecting expedition in 1903 (including one Belgian national for causing the shooting of at least 122 Congolese people). Flag Capital Boma Government Monarchy Ruler and owner Leopold II of Belgium Historical era New Imperialism  - Established 1885  - Annexation by Belgium 15 November, 1908 The Congo Free State was a corporate state privately owned by King Leopold II of Belgium (not in his role as monarch) that included the entire... Sir Roger David Casement CMG (Irish: Ruairí Mac Easmainn[1]) (1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916) was an Irish patriot, poet, revolutionary and nationalist by inclination. ... Republic of the Congo (light green) Democratic Republic of the Congo (dark green) Congo is a name shared by two countries in both West and Central Africa: Republic of the Congo is often known as Congo-Brazzaville. It is the smaller of the two and lies to the west in...

Estimates of the total death toll vary considerably. In the absence of a census (the first was made in 1924), it is even more difficult to quantify the population loss of the period. Roger Casement's famous 1904 report set it at 3 million . According to Roger Casement's report, this depopulation was caused mainly by four causes: indiscriminate "war", starvation, reduction of births and tropical diseases. By 1896 the sleeping sickness had killed up to 5,000 Africans in the village of Lukolela on the Congo River. The mortality figures were gained through the efforts of Roger Casement who found only 600 survivors of the disease in Lukolela in 1903.[1] The average estimate for the mortality due to the colonial brutality is 8.5 million. Of those deaths, 40% are believed to have occurred after 1900.^[2] Sir Roger David Casement CMG (Irish: Ruairí Mac Easmainn[1]) (1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916) was an Irish patriot, poet, revolutionary and nationalist by inclination. ... Tropical diseases are infectious diseases that either occur uniquely in tropical and subtropical regions (which is rare) or, more commonly, are either more widespread in the tropics or more difficult to prevent or control. ... Sleeping sickness or African trypanosomiasis is a parasitic disease in people and animals, caused by protozoa of genus Trypanosoma and transmitted by the tsetse fly. ... The Congo River (for a time known as Zaire River) is the largest river in Western Central Africa. ...

Biography

Leopold and Maria Hendrikka

Leopold II married on August 22, 1853 to Marie Henriette Anne von Habsburg-Lothringen, Archduchess of Austria. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 399 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (689 × 1036 pixel, file size: 234 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) old photograph File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Leopold... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 399 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (689 × 1036 pixel, file size: 234 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) old photograph File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Leopold... is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Marie Henriette, Princess Imperial & Archduchess of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary & Bohemia (August 23, 1836, Pest, now Budapest, Hungary - September 20, 1902, Spa, Belgium) was the queen consort of King Léopold II of Belgium. ...

Leopold II and Marie Henriette Anne's children were:

• Louise-Marie Amélie, born Brussels February 18, 1858 and died at Wiesbaden March 1, 1924. She married Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

• Léopold Ferdinand Elie Victor Albert Marie, Count of Hainaut (as eldest son of the heir apparent), Duke of Brabant (as heir apparent), born at Laeken/Laken on June 12, 1859 and died at Laken on January 22, 1869 from pneumonia, after falling into a pond.

• Stéphanie Clotilde Louise Herminie Marie Charlotte, born at Laken on May 21, 1864, and died at the Archabbey of Pannonhalma in Győr-Moson-Sopron, Hungary on August 23, 1945. She married (1) Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and then (2) Elemér Edmund Graf Lónyay de Nagy-Lónya et Vásáros-Namény (created, in 1917, Prince Lónyay de Nagy-Lónya et Vásáros-Namény).

• Princess Clémentine of Belgium, born at Laken on July 30, 1872 and died at Nice on March 8, 1955. She married Prince Napoléon Victor Jérôme Frédéric Bonaparte (1862 - 1926), head of the Bonaparte family.

Leopold II was also the father of two sons, Lucien Philippe Marie Antoine (1906-1984) and Philippe Henri Marie François (1907-1914), born out of wedlock. Their mother was Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix (1883-1948), aka Caroline Lacroix, a prostitute who married the king on December 12, 1909, in a religious ceremony with no validity under Belgian law, at the Pavilion of Palms, Royal Palace of Laken, five days before his death^{[citation needed]}. These sons were adopted in 1910 by Lacroix's second husband, Antoine Durrieux. Though Lacroix is said to have been created Baroness de Vaughan, Lucien the Duke of Tervuren, and Philippe the Count of Ravenstein, no such royal decrees were ever issued^{[citation needed]}. Louise-Marie Amélie, Princess of Belgium, later by marriage Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was born in Brussels on February 18, 1858 and died at Wiesbaden March 1, 1924. ... February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 60th day of the year (61st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ... Ferdinand Philipp Maria August Raphael of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary (b. ... Laeken (French: Laeken, Dutch: Laken) is a residential suburb in north-east Brussels, Belgium. ... Laeken (French) or Laken (Dutch) is a residential suburb in north-west Brussels (postal code : B-1020), Belgium. ... is the 163rd day of the year (164th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1859 (MDCCCLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Pneumonia is an illness of the lungs and respiratory system in which the alveoli (microscopic air-filled sacs of the lung responsible for absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere) become inflamed and flooded with fluid. ... Stéphanie, Princess of Belgium and of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess in Saxony (Stéphanie Clotilde Louise Herminie Marie Charlotte of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, 21 May 1864 – 23 August 1945) was the wife of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary. ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Pannonhalma Benedictine Archabbey. ... GyÅ‘r-Moson-Sopron is the name of an administrative county (comitatus or megye) in north-western Hungary, on the border with Slovakia and Austria. ... is the 235th day of the year (236th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... This article or section is incomplete and may require expansion and/or cleanup. ... Princess Clementine of Belgium // Princess Clementine was born at Royal Castle of Laeken on 30th of July 1872. ... is the 211th day of the year (212th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Night view along the Promenade des Anglais This article is about the city. ... is the 67th day of the year (68th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ... Napoléon Victor Jérôme Frédéric Bonaparte (July 18th 1862 - May 3rd 1926) ∞ Clémentine Albertine Marie Léopoldine of Belgium (1872-1955) was the son of Prince Napoleon. ... Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... is the 346th day of the year (347th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Royal Castle of Laeken The Royal Castle of Laeken (Château Royal de Laeken / Koninklijk kasteel van Laken), is the official residence of the King of the Belgians. ...

"In London: The Wicked City" by Fergus Linnane (Robson Books 2003) the "Belgian King" is reported as being a client of Mary Jeffries "Rose Cottage" flagellation house and brothel in Hampstead. (Pages 297-298)

On November 15, 1902, Italian anarchist Gennaro Rubino unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate King Leopold. Leopold was riding in a royal cortege from a ceremony in memory of his recently-deceased wife, Marie Henriette. After Leopold's carriage passed, Rubino fired three shots at the King. Rubino's shots missed Leopold entirely and Rubino was immediately arrested at the scene. is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Anarchism is a generic term describing various political philosophies and social movements that advocate the elimination of hierarchy and imposed authority. ... Gennaro Rubino was an Italian anarchist who unsuccesfully tried to assassinate King Leopold II of Belgium. ... It has been suggested that Selective assassination be merged into this article or section. ...

In Belgian domestic politics, Leopold emphasized military defense as the basis of neutrality, but he was unable to obtain a universal conscription law until on his death bed. He died on December 17, 1909, and was interred in the Royal vault at the Church of Our Lady, Laeken Cemetery, Brussels, Belgium. December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Brussels (disambiguation). ...

Private colonialism

Leopold fervently believed that overseas colonies were the key to a country's greatness, and he worked tirelessly to acquire colonial territory for Belgium. Neither the Belgian people nor the Belgian government were interested, however, and Leopold eventually began trying to acquire a colony in his private capacity as an ordinary citizen. The Belgian government loaned him money for this venture.

A statue of Leopold in Mons, Belgium

After a number of unsuccessful schemes for colonies in Africa or Asia, in 1876 he organized a private holding company disguised as an international scientific and philanthropic association, which he called the International African Society. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1920x2560, 978 KB) Description: Statue de Léopold II de Belgique * Capture date: 2005-07-06 * Source: self-made * Photographer:(my self-made) in Mons (Belgium) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1920x2560, 978 KB) Description: Statue de Léopold II de Belgique * Capture date: 2005-07-06 * Source: self-made * Photographer:(my self-made) in Mons (Belgium) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... The Association Internationale Africaine (French) was an organization created by King Leopold II of Belgium for supposedly furthering humanitarian projects in the area of Central Africa that was to become the Congo Free State and subsequently todays Democratic Republic of the Congo. ...

In 1876, under the auspices of the holding company, he hired the famous explorer Henry Morton Stanley to establish a colony in the Congo region. Much diplomatic maneuvering resulted in the Berlin Conference of 1884–85, at which representatives of fourteen European countries and the United States recognized Leopold as sovereign of most of the area he and Stanley had laid claim to. On February 5, 1885, the result was the Congo Free State (later the Belgian Congo, then the Democratic Republic of Congo, then Zaire, and now the Democratic Republic of Congo again), an area 76 times larger than Belgium, which Leopold was free to rule as a personal domain through his private army, the Force Publique. 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Sir Henry Morton Stanley, also known in the Congo as Bula Matari (Breaker of Rocks or, alternatively, Sledge Hammer) , born John Rowlands (January 28, 1841 – May 10, 1904), was a journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of Africa and his search for David Livingstone. ... The conference of Berlin The Berlin Conference (German: or Congo Conference) of 1884–85 regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period, and coincided with Germanys sudden emergence as an imperial power. ... is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Flag Capital Boma Government Monarchy Ruler and owner Leopold II of Belgium Historical era New Imperialism  - Established 1885  - Annexation by Belgium 15 November, 1908 The Congo Free State was a corporate state privately owned by King Leopold II of Belgium (not in his role as monarch) that included the entire... Motto: Travail et Progres (Work and Progress) The Belgian Congo Capital Léopoldville/Leopoldstad Political structure Colony Governor  - 1908-1910 Baron Wahis  - 1946-1951 Eugène Jacques Pierre Louis Jungers  - 1958-1960 Henri Arthur Adolf Marie Christopher Cornelis History  - Established 15 November, 1908  - Congolese independence 30 June, 1960 The Belgian... The Force Publique (FP) was the official armed force for what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1885, (when the territory was known as the Congo Free State), through the period of direct Belgian rule (1908-60), until the beginning of the Second Republic in 1965. ...

Leopold's rubber gatherers tortured, maimed and slaughtered until at the turn of the century, the conscience of the Western world forced Brussels to call a halt.[2] This does not cite any references or sources. ... The term Western world, the West or the Occident (Latin occidens -sunset, -west, as distinct from the Orient) [1] can have multiple meanings dependent on its context (e. ... Nickname: Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium Coordinates: , Country Belgium Region Brussels-Capital Region Founded 979 Founded (Region) June 18, 1989 Government  - Mayor (Municipality) Freddy Thielemans Area  - Region 162 km²  (62. ...

Reports of outrageous exploitation and widespread human rights abuses (including enslavement and mutilation of the native population), especially in the rubber industry, led to an international protest movement in the early 1900s. Forced labor was extorted from the natives. Estimates of the death toll range from 2 to 15 million (for further detail, see Congo Free State ([3]) and many historians consider the atrocities to have constituted a genocide. Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... Slave redirects here. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Disfigurement. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Flag Capital Boma Government Monarchy Ruler and owner Leopold II of Belgium Historical era New Imperialism  - Established 1885  - Annexation by Belgium 15 November, 1908 The Congo Free State was a corporate state privately owned by King Leopold II of Belgium (not in his role as monarch) that included the entire... Genocide is the mass killing of a group of people as defined by Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or...

Leopold II with the coat of arms of the Belgian Congo in Ghent, Belgium

Finally, in 1908, the Belgian parliament compelled the King to cede the Congo Free State to Belgium. Historians of the period tend to take a very dim view of Leopold, due to the mass killings and human rights abuses that took place in the Congo: one British historian has said that he "was an Attila in modern dress, and it would have been better for the world if he had never been born" [4]. Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary once described his fellow ruler as a "thoroughly bad man". Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (960 × 1280 pixel, file size: 373 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Statue of Leopold II in Ghent, commemorating the Congo Free State I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (960 × 1280 pixel, file size: 373 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Statue of Leopold II in Ghent, commemorating the Congo Free State I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Geography Country Belgium Community Flemish Community Region Flemish Region Province East Flanders Arrondissement Ghent Coordinates , , Area 156. ... The Belgian Federal Parliament is a bicameral parliament. ... Franz Joseph I (in Hungarian I. Ferenc József, in English Francis Joseph I) (August 18, 1830 – November 21, 1916) of the Habsburg Dynasty was Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Bohemia from 1848 until 1916 and a German prince (Deutscher Fürst). ... Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ...

Missionary John Harris of Baringa, for example, was so shocked by what he had come across that he felt moved to write a letter to Leopold's chief agent in the Congo:

"I have just returned from a journey inland to the village of Insongo Mboyo. The abject misery and utter abandon is positively indescribable. I was so moved, Your Excellency, by the people's stories that I took the liberty of promising them that in future you will only kill them for crimes they commit."

Leopold II is still a controversial figure in the Democratic Republic of Congo; in 2005 his statue was taken down just hours after it was re-erected in the capital, Kinshasa. The Congolese culture minister, Christoph Muzungu, decided to reinstate the statue, arguing people should see the positive aspects of the king as well as the negative. But just hours after the six-metre (20 foot) statue was erected in the middle of a roundabout near Kinshasa's central station, it was taken down again, without explanation. Kinshasa (formerly Léopoldville or, before 1960, also Leopoldstad) is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... Kinshasa (formerly Léopoldville or, before 1960, also Leopoldstad) is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ...

The campaign to report on Leopold's "secret society of murderers," led by diplomat Roger Casement, and a former shipping clerk E. D. Morel, became the first mass human rights movement ([5]). Sir Roger David Casement CMG (Irish: Ruairí Mac Easmainn[1]) (1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916) was an Irish patriot, poet, revolutionary and nationalist by inclination. ... Picture of E.D. Morel frontpage of Red Rubber 1906 Picture of Roger Casement Emile Vandervelde Edmund Dene Morel, originally Georges Eduard Pierre Achille Morel de Ville (July 10, 1873 – November 12, 1924) was a British journalist, author and socialist politician. ...

Leopold and the Belgians

Though extremely disliked by Belgians at end of his reign - he was booed during his burial parade - Leopold II is perceived today by many Belgians as the "Builder King" ("Koning-Bouwer" in Dutch, "le Roi-Bâtisseur" in French) because he commissioned a great number of buildings and urban projects in Belgium (mainly in Brussels, Ostend and Antwerp). Nickname: Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium Coordinates: , Country Belgium Region Brussels-Capital Region Founded 979 Founded (Region) June 18, 1989 Government  - Mayor (Municipality) Freddy Thielemans Area  - Region 162 km²  (62. ... The esplanade with the Thermae Palace, the former Royal Residence and the casino For other uses, see Ostend (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Antwerp (disambiguation). ...

These buildings include the Royal Glasshouses at Laken (in the domain of the Royal Palace of Laeken), the Japanese tower, the Chinese Pavilion, the Musée du Congo (now called the Royal Museum for Central Africa) and their surrounding park in Tervuren, the Cinquantenaire in Brussels and the Antwerp train station hall. He also built an important country estate in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the French Riviera in France, including the Villa des Cèdres, which is now a botanical garden. These were all built using the profits from the Congo. In 1900, he created the Royal Trust, by which means he donated most of his property to the Belgian nation. Laeken (French) or Laken (Dutch) is a residential suburb in north-west Brussels (postal code : B-1020), Belgium. ... The Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) is an ethnographical and natural history museum in Tervuren in the suburbs of Brussels, Belgium. ... Tervuren is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. ... The Cinquantenaire Arch in winter Cinquantenaire is a park in Brussels, Belgium. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Categories: France geography stubs | Communes of Alpes-Maritimes ... The Quai des États-Unis in Nice on the French Riviera at night. ... Inside the United States Botanic Garden Inside the Rio de Janeiro Botanic Garden (Brazil), 1890 Botanical gardens (in Latin, hortus botanicus) grow a wide variety of plants primarily categorized and documented for scientific purposes, but also for the enjoyment and education of visitors, a consideration that has become essential to... Year 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar, but a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. ... The Royal Trust (Dutch: Koninklijke Schenking; French: Donation Royale) was proposed in a letter by king Leopold II of Belgium on 9 April 1900, in addition some properties were added to the donation in a letter of 15 November 1900. ...

There has been a "Great Forgetting", as Adam Hochschild puts it in King Leopold's Ghost, after Leopold's Congo was transferred to Belgium. In Hochschild's words: Adam Hochschild (born 1942) is an American writer. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Remarkably, the colonial Royal Museum for Central Africa (Tervuren Museum) did not mention anything at all regarding the atrocities committed in the Congo Free State. The Tervuren Museum has a large collection of colonial objects but of the largest injustice in Congo, "there is no sign whatsoever" (in Hochschild's words again). Another example is to be found on the sea walk of Blankenberge, a popular coastal resort, where a monument shows a colonialist with a black child at his feet (supposedly bringing "civilisation") without any comment, further illustrating this "Great Forgetting". The beach at Blankenberge circa 1895 Blankenberge is a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. ...

Ancestry

Leopold I of the Belgians (Leopold George Christian Frederick of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, later of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) (b. ... Franz Frederick Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. ... Ernst Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. ... Sophia Antonia of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel was born in 1724 and died in 1802. ... Auguste Reuss of Ebersdorf as Artemisia, 1775, painted by Johann Heinrich Tischbein, sen. ... Heinrich XXIV, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf (b. ... Louise-Marie, Queen of the Belgians (Louise-Marie Thérèse Charlotte Isabelle dOrléans) - fille de France, and Queen of the Belgians as the wife of King Leopold I. Born in Palermo, Sicily on April 3, 1812, she was the eldest daughter of the future King Louis-Phillippe... Louis-Philippe of France (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. ... Louis-Philippe-Joseph dOrléans, by Antoine-François Callet Louis Philippe Joseph II, Duke of Orléans (April 13, 1747 – November 6, 1793), called Philippe Égalité, was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the dynasty then ruling France. ... Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre (1753–1821), daughter and heiress of Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, duc de Penthièvre, grand admiral of France, was the richest heiress of her time. ... Maria Amalia, 1842 (roughly age 60) by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. ... King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (January 12, 1751 - January 4, 1825). ... HM Queen Marie Caroline of Naples and Sicily Her Majesty Queen Marie Caroline of Naples and Sicily née Her Imperial & Royal Highness Archduchess Marie Caroline of Austria (13 August 1752- 8 September 1814) was queen consort and de facto ruler of Naples from 1768 to 1799 and from 1799...

Footnotes

1. ^ Death Tolls for the Major Wars and Atrocities of the 20th Century - Congo Free State
2. ^ Death Tolls for the Major Wars and Atrocities of the 20th Century - Congo Free State

Further reading

• Neal Ascherson: The King Incorporated, Allen & Unwin, 1963. ISBN 1-86207-290-6 (1999 Granta edition).
• Mass crimes against humanity in the Congo Free State
• Adam Hochschild: King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa, Mariner Books, 1998. ISBN 0-330-49233-0.
• Maria Petringa: Brazza, A Life for Africa, AuthorHouse, 2006. ISBN 978-1-4259-1198-0

Miscellaneous

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Leopold II of Belgium

Congo: White king, red rubber, black death (2003) is a documentary by Peter Bate (BBC) on Leopold II and the Congo (see also: BBC page). Charles Neal Ascherson, commonly known as Neal Ascherson (born October 5, 1931), is a Scottish journalist. ... Allen & Unwin, formerly a major British publishing house, is now an independent, Australia-based book publisher and distributor. ... Adam Hochschild (born 1942) is an American writer. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is a sister project of Wikipedia, using the same MediaWiki software. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion. ...

External links

• "The Political Economy of Power" Podcast interview with political scientist Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, with an extended discussion of Leopold II starting at the halfway mark
• "Reforming The Heart of Darkness" The Congo under Leopold II
• Interview with King Leopold II Publishers' Press, 1906

Leopold II of Belgium House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Cadet branch of the House of Wettin Born: 9 April 1835 – Died: 17 December 1909
Belgian royalty
Regnal titles
Preceded by Leopold I	King of the Belgians 1865-1909	Succeeded by Albert I
Vacant Title last held by Philip II	Duke of Brabant 1840-1865	Succeeded by Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant

Persondata
NAME	Leopold II
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	King of the Belgians
DATE OF BIRTH	April 9, 1835
PLACE OF BIRTH	Brussels, Belgium
DATE OF DEATH	December 17, 1909
PLACE OF DEATH	Laken, Belgium