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This man right here is King Leopold II of Belgium, he committed atrocities which led to the death of at least 15 million Congolese, the world doesn't remember him like Hitler because it's on Africans, but he was as much as a monster as Hitler was, maybe even worse
A thread
A thread
32 Towns Were Destroyed While Mapping The Congo
He hired a British explorer, Henry Morton Stanley, to help him establish the Congo Free State.
By the end of the expedition, he had burned down 32 of their towns, kidnapping and raping African women or flogging the men to death.
He hired a British explorer, Henry Morton Stanley, to help him establish the Congo Free State.
By the end of the expedition, he had burned down 32 of their towns, kidnapping and raping African women or flogging the men to death.
The Entire Population Was Enslaved
When King Leopold got the legal right to take control of the Congo, he started bleeding it dry for profits, he had found caches of rubber and he turned two-thirds of the country into his slaves and forced them to work for him
When King Leopold got the legal right to take control of the Congo, he started bleeding it dry for profits, he had found caches of rubber and he turned two-thirds of the country into his slaves and forced them to work for him
Workers Who Didn’t Meet Their Quotas Were Dismembered And Killed
By the 1890s, King Leopold was selling more rubber than he could harvest. For the people in the Congo, this meant meeting the rubber tax became impossible and failure to meet your quota was punishable by death.
By the 1890s, King Leopold was selling more rubber than he could harvest. For the people in the Congo, this meant meeting the rubber tax became impossible and failure to meet your quota was punishable by death.
Gathering Rubber Was Deadly
Rubber had to be gathered from vines which were hard to find and often hung high up in the trees. The easier ones were gathered quickly, and the workers were soon forced to climb higher to get anything. Many would slip and fall to their deaths.
Rubber had to be gathered from vines which were hard to find and often hung high up in the trees. The easier ones were gathered quickly, and the workers were soon forced to climb higher to get anything. Many would slip and fall to their deaths.
Families of workers who didn't reach the daily quota were punished too
In this picture you can see a worker sadly looking at the amputated hands and feet of his 5 year old daughter for not reaching the daily quota.
In this picture you can see a worker sadly looking at the amputated hands and feet of his 5 year old daughter for not reaching the daily quota.
He had limb huts placed all over the country to display severed limbs of workers to put fear in the population
He also had rape huts all over the country where indigenous Congolese women and girls are raped and brutalized
A picture of his rubber workers in neck chains
A worker about to get his leg amputated
Many of his workers also practiced cannibalism on the people of congo, there was also a disease outbreak because of the poor working conditions which led to the death of millions, the worst part of all this is that it was done by a "humanitarian" organization.
This time was nicknamed by historians as " The rubber terror", "the dark heart of Belgium" and Leopold was nicknamed the butcher of congo, he didn't just kill but committed war crimes and inhumane atrocities but isn't remembered in the world as one of the worst side of humanity.
