King Leopolds Imperialism

In order to achieve his dream, King Leopold II wanted to be sure that no other country got in his way. Belgium was a small country and Leopold knew that his country posed no threat to others. If he started to conquer the Congo, other

He uses different perspectives to convey the different moments throughout the book, albeit some are biased toward the European imperialism (opposing Hochschild’s thesis). The diverse reference points throughout the story make for an effective support for Hochschild’s argument because he cross-applies these sources and justifies why one may be more reliable to use. Hochschild even uses the evidence which appears to controvert his thesis to give an explanation for why the imperialism occurred in the first place. He quotes Leopold when the Belgian king was still looking to receive the Congo, reciting “We… wishing to secure for Our beloved fatherland the fruits of the work which, for many long years… have been pursuing on the African continent… declare by these presents, to bequeath and transmit… all Our sovereign rights over [the Congo Free State]” (Hochschild 95). Hochschild then writes, “There was one added twist. When the king made public his will, it was backdated, so that his bequest looked like an act of generosity instead of part of a financial bargain” (Hochschild 95). By exposing Leopold’s actions, Hochschild convincingly allows the reader to understand the moral flaws in Leopold’s imperialism. Additionally, Hochschild backs up these claims with eyewitness accounts of the Congolese peoples who had suffered. One report explains the natives hatred for one general,

The beginning of this imperialism started with king Leopold of Belgium. For several years he had been secretly sending his representatives to the Congo region to sign treaties and purchase land from the local tribes, when it finally came to light what he was doing, he had already acquired 900,000 acres, later known as The Belgian Congo. This land was not for his country, but for his own personal use. Leopold cared nothing about the land or the native people, his goal was to exploit the land and people at all cost and that is exactly what he did. Millions of native Africans were forced into slave labor for Leopold’s needs and the land was stripped of all its natural recourses. The slaves were treated horribly and many millions were slaughtered or died from the horrific conditions forced upon them. Although the exact number is not known it is estimated to be in the tens of millions.

During King Leopold’s time he was scrambling for a way to create wealth, but could not dabble in the trade of Africans because of new abolition laws, then he got lucky. In the Berlin Conference held by Otto Von Bismarck, Africa was divided like a cake; pieces were given to European countries. While they had decided that they were “respecting” human rights, it was also believed that Africans needed to be governed. Through this Leopold gained the territory of the Congo, marking the beginning of colonialism, an era of unequal wealth and poverty.

During 1884 through 1906 the Congo was the personal property of King Leopold II and from 1908 to 1960, it was under Belgian rule. Throughout this time, the Congo was ruled with the political form of government known as Imperialism. An imperialistic government would extend its power through military force and the new land. Imperialism in the Congo created unsuccessful resistance movements as well as long term economic impacts to the country.

In the first part of Hochschild’s book, he describes the actions and desires that led King Leopold to seize the Congo Free State, the rules he broke and how he manipulated the nations with his righteousness of combating slavery- even though figured such as George Williams and ____ began speaking out against him. Hochschild describes King Leopold II as rude, revolting and awkward as he was growing up. His characteristics only began to drift towards persuasive and cunning when he discovered his curiosity in the colonization of new land. Conveniently, many European countries had no interest in colonization. When Leopold gained power, and searched for his lovely colony, their ambivalence resulted in him creating a colony on his own account.

Imperialism is the building of an empire by using power in the form of economic, political or military means. In Africa this was shown widely under the rule of King Leopold. King Leopold was the ruler of Belgium. While he was in rule, he had an obsession with trying to find Belgium a colony. In the 1830s the only country left for capturing was Africa. Africa was so interesting to him as a result of over half of it was still led by the native people, which he knew that he could out rule. Also, Africa flourished in multiple resources. These include: ivory, rubber, timber, coffee, gold, and that is only a few of the variety resources contained there. With the knowledge of what was there Leopold sent out Stanley to map the Congo River, which is

During the early 19th century, Europeans had hardly penetrated the inner lands of Africa and their presence in the coastal regions consisted of small spheres of influence. As the century progressed, the presence of Europeans in Africa became more significant due to the growth of the international economy. As European nations expanded their influence in Africa the actions of Belgian King, Leopold II, were influential to the shaping of the continent at the end of the century. King Leopold wanted to claim the Congo as his own private territory, so he could use the land to make money. However, Leopold could not just claim the Congo as his own. Therefore, he created the Comite’ d’Etudes du Haut Congo to send philanthropic missions to the Congo open

In the late 1800s many European powers fought over land in Africa as a part of imperialism, acquiring land to gain more power. King Leopold II, the ruler of Belgium from 1865-1909,

Leopold believed that in order for Belgium to be successful, the country must turn its consideration towards colonization so he began colonizing countries. King Leopold II hired, Henry Morton Stanley, to explore colony in the region of Congo. By the end of the expedition, he had burned down 32 of their towns. His Men started kidnapping and raping African women and beating the men to death for the smallest violations . This was the start of the Congo Free State. Leopold II hired these men to turn the area into a workhouse, and they did it by enslaving the

King Leopold gained so much world support for his Congo Free State project by leading people especially the European community to believe that he was helping to improve the Congo and its people by developing it. The Congo then became aligned with the kingdom of Belgium under him. While the world believed that King Leopold II was doing humanitarian work in the Congo the truth was he was severely mistreating the people by forcing them to extract Ivory, Rubber, and other minerals to sell on a world trade market. On May 29, 1885 King Leopold named his new colony the Congo Free State. Under Leopold’s II administration the Congo Free State became one of the greatest genocides in history that occurred.

First, Leopold may have rationalized his actions as an attempt to civilize the people of one part of the globe. In September 1876, at Leopold’s Geographical Conference, a conference of famous explorers at Brussels, Leopold opened the conference thus: “to open to civilization the only part of our globe which it has not yet penetrated, to pierce the darkness which hangs over entire peoples, is, I dare say, a crusade worthy of this century of progress…” (44). Leopold may have believed that he was doing the Congo a favor by colonizing it and any problems that occurred from his actions were natural problems in the process of civilizing the natives. Next, Leopold may have rationalized his actions as an attempt to serve Belgium and benefit the country as much as possible. During the same conference in Belgium, Leopold stated that “I have no other ambition than to serve her well” (45). His actions may have been a result of his devotion to his country. This can be affirmed because Leopold used great sums of the money earned in the Congo for public and private construction projects in Belgium. He could have believed that since his actions were benefiting Belgium, they were necessary to carry out even though there would be consequences in the Congo. Even though Leopold may have deemed his actions necessary, the opinion of an outside observer is likely to be one of horror.

The Congo was ruled by King Leopold II of Belgium from 1876 — 1908. Conrad’s book, Heart of Darkness allows us to examine the structure of imperialism from the perspective of the winning side. This structure was founded upon the belief that one group’s knowledge, morals, religious and political views are superior than another.

Striving to not be left behind by the African colonial train king Leopold II’s attainment of the Congolese people left a scar that is still very visible today. His hunger for power, money, and global recognition by the European powers drastically altered the way of life for those residing in the Congo for generations. King Leopold II’s authority of the Congo was solidified during the Berlin Conference as the he had convinced the European powers of the necessity of Belgium’s presence in the Congo under the guise of charity.

Belgian Congo began between 1908 and 1960. It was a Belgian colony in Central Africa and today it is known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The colonization from Belgium happened mainly because of their first ruler's selfishness and trickery. After what he has done, Belgium had no choice but to take Congo Free State away from their king, and place it into their own care. This was much to the benefit of the native people throughout the colonization of Belgian Congo. Medicine and education were heavily changed to the better while in the other side some of them were discriminated against and segregated from others because of their color or culture.