posted on Mar, 14 2014 @ 04:18 AM
Dark hearted Leopold II
In 1876, Leopold formed the philanthropic organisation “Association Internationale Africaine“ (International African Association) and became its
single shareholder. Under the guise of missionary work and westernisation of African peoples, Leopold II used the International African Association to
further his ambitions of empire building in the hope if bringing international prestige to relatively small Belgium. In reality, the International
African Association was a vehicle to enslave the people of the Congo River Basin and enrich Leopold II.
In the 23 years (1885-1908) Leopold II ruled the Congo he massacred 10 million Africans by cutting off their hands and genitals, flogging them to
death, starving them into forced labour, holding children ransom and burning villages. The ironic part of this story is that Leopold II committed
these atrocities by not even setting foot in the Congo.
It must be noted however, that whilst much attention has been given to Leopold’s atrocities in the Congo, in the same period acts of brutality were
being committed on native peoples elsewhere in the world. Britain on the Aborigines in Australasia, the United States on native Americans and Pilipino
, French on Northwest Congolese, Spanish on the north and central native Americans, Portuguese on the Angolans and Amazonians and Germans on Southwest
Africans. However, so severe was the brutality of the genocide in Leopold’s Congo that many a European visitor publicly condemned Leopold and the
Belgium government. The veracity of the crimes was so well known that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle penned the book, “The crime of the Congo” in 1909,
highlighting the plight of the Congolese.
Read more: digitaljournal.com...
Wouldn't we need to put Queen Victoria in the above list as well, how many natives were killed in her name? and whilst we are at it, what about the
American presidents who killed Libyans, Iraqis and Afghanis to expand the US empire?