King Leopold and the Congo Free State

Podcast transcript

In the late 19th century, during the scramble for Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized a large landmass in Central Africa.

By doing this, he created the Congo Free State, but this name was a misnomer as it was anything but free.

King Leopold’s rule over the Congo Free State was defined by tales of brutality, horrific conditions, and massive amounts of death.

Learn about King Leopold’s Congo Free State on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

In the late 19th century, European powers engaged in the Scramble for Africa, carving out territories for colonization. The goal was to exploit the African continent for its resources for economic benefit.

One of these countries was Belgium, but its situation was unique compared to its European counterparts.

Belgium’s colonization of the Congo was a result of King Leopold II’s personal ambitions, rather than a state decision.

At this point in history, much of Central Africa was left relatively untouched by European powers. This was because the region had a rugged terrain, causing would-be colonialists to suffer trudging through rainforests and swamps, while simultaneously dealing with illness and the fierce resistance of locals.

These conditions made the European powers hesitant to enter and conquer the region, as there were no obvious economic benefits to be gained.

This was until 1876.

In 1876, attendees of the Brussels Geographic Conference decided that they wanted to engage in “humanitarian” actions to civilize and improve the lives of those living in Central Africa.

The conference then saw King Leopold creating and organizing the International African Association, of which he was elected chairman. This association was used to promote philanthropic work being done within Central Africa.

However, this was just a guise. The reality of the Association was to promote the seizure of central Africa.

Under the cover of the new association, King Leopold II employed British explorer Henry Morton Stanley to explore the Congo Region and establish connections with local tribes, paving the way for eventual territorial annexation.

Stanley was able to do just that. He would make treaties with local chiefs and leaders that essentially gave the rights of the land over to King Leopold.

These treaties were lengthy and often misunderstood; many of the Chiefs believed that they would simply be trading goods. This was not the case. The reality was that they had essentially given all of their rights to Leopold.

Leopold quickly took advantage of the treaties, building military ports around the Congo River, but was facing an issue. To hold the territory, King Leopold would need to legitimize his claim over the land with other European powers, while maintaining that he was doing so with philanthropic intent.

Leopold’s first action was to campaign for British support. He did this by distracting their attention from him and his pursuits by targeting Portugal.

Portugal had a long history and record of slavery, specifically within Africa. At this time, Britain was actively fighting against slavery and was pressuring countries like Portugal and Spain to end their slave trade.

Portugal held a historic claim over the territory, so by targeting Portugal, Leopold was able to play on British discomfort with slavery by promising that if he were given the territory, he would drive any slave traders from the Congo region.

Additionally, to gain more backing from the British, he secretly offered to give them most-favored-trade status if he were to become the country’s leader.

As for other European Powers, Leopold promised Otto von Bismarck, the Chancellor of Germany, that he would not grant special status to other countries if Germany would accept his claim…which was the exact opposite of what he had told the British.

To the French, Leopold offered ownership of the northern bank of the Congo and proposed that if the northern bank did not yield them sufficient wealth, he would cede them the entire territory. This deal would be announced publicly.

Outside of European support, Leopold would also campaign in the United States. King Leopold sent edited copies of the treaties to the USA, claiming that his association would be solely humanitarian and would eventually hand power back to the natives.

Leopold would compare his actions in the Congo to those of the United States in Liberia. This satisfied the US enough that they became the first country to formally recognize the Congo as a sovereign state.

Eventually, European powers also recognized Leopold’s claim over the Congo, allowing him to establish the Congo Free State. Leopold would be named king over the territory, and for all intents and purposes, he would hold complete and absolute control.

It is essential to note that the Congo Free State was not a colony of Belgium in the same way that other parts of Africa were colonies of Britain, France, or Germany.

It was a separate country, personally controlled by King Leopold, who also happened to be the King of Belgium. The two countries were in personal union, similar to how Canada and the United Kingdom have the same head of state.

Leopold created departments of the interior, foreign affairs, and finance. The three heads of these positions were required to enact Leopold’s policies or face termination.

Once taking over the Congo, Leopold dropped most of the humanitarian facade. He quickly eliminated the Congo Reform Association and instead appointed Belgians to positions of power.

With this power, Leopold has personal control with little resistance. The local chiefs simply complied with Leopold’s orders.

Leopold had several goals when he took control of the Congo. He wanted to:

End the slave trade and promote humanitarian polices.
Guarantee free trade within the Congo with no import duties for twenty years.
Create a space for scientific and philanthropic enterprises.

However, even though these decrees sound reasonable at first glance, the way Leopold went about achieving these goals was a disaster. He ran up the state’s debt, received little financial return, and the colony was under constant threat from other European powers.

Additionally, it was unable to defeat the slavers, sultans, kings, and warlords who lived in the center of the territory.

Leopold was desperate. If he wanted to maintain control over the Congo, he needed to make money fast.

To maximize revenue, Leopold established a policy whereby any available land was to be owned by the state and exploited. He then decreed that those in the Congo would only be allowed to trade their products to the state.

These two policies went hand-in-hand. All materials that were gathered on state land, including valuable resources like ivory and rubber, were to belong to the state. This created a monopoly, where the state set the price, controlled the income, and was the only entity the Congolese could sell to.

However, this was a double-edged sword. Yes, Leopold was exploiting more wealth from the colony, but he received pushback from the European powers who granted him the territory.

The Europeans were promised free trade with the territory, which, if the Congolese couldn’t trade with them, would be a violation. This forced Leopold to pivot.

In 1892, Leopold opted to place the Congo under a domainal economic system, similar to how medieval lords organized their lands. This new system would privatize the extraction of rubber in the state. This would enable Leopold to allocate resources to companies. Then, in other areas, the trade would be done by private companies with high tax rates and restrictions.

Additionally, Leopold would place a tax on his Congolese subjects. Local rulers would force their people into collecting ivory, rubber, and other resources. They would then give these resources to the state, usually for wages under the market value of the goods.

Leopold would also grant land concessions to different companies in exchange for payment. These concessions would allow the companies to exploit the area for both rubber and ivory. These companies would be given the right to police their own areas, which included detaining those who they felt weren’t productive enough.

Finally, Leopold would open a Free Trade Zone, where he would allow European entrepreneurs to lease resources for 10 to 15 years. This “Free Zone” would be roughly ? of the country, with all other territory being completely under state control.

Leopold’s solution to the slave trade problem was a bit more complicated. Not only was slavery a moral issue for many Belgians, but the slave traders in the east, who were mainly Arab and Swahili, were an economic problem.

Any ivory Leopold took was taking it away from them, and by coming down against slavery, Leopold would be threatening their very way of life.

War broke out in November 1892 and lasted until 1894. The conflict became known as the Congo Arab War. The conflict ended in Belgian victory, where they would free hundreds of slaves.

Despite ending slavery, life for the Congolese was far from good under Leopold’s rule.

The economic system was the leading cause of many of the problems. As mentioned earlier, the Congolese were forbidden to sell to anyone but the state; however, there were other issues as well.

Payment was only given to the Congolese if their work was determined to be “satisfactory” at the end of their employment.

Leopold essentially turned the population into serfs.

Leopold would also establish a primary army, known as the Force Publique or FP. Its initial purpose was to suppress the slave trade, but it later turned to exploiting the native people for rubber production.

The FP would be armed with a bull whip and firearms, and would engage in routine acts of violence, including but not limited to taking and torturing hostages, killing entire families of rebels, rape, floggings, burning villages, and mutilation.

It would be remiss not to describe in more depth the particular form of mutilation that was practiced.

When soldiers were into the field, there was a fear that they would be wasting bullets on things like hunting. A policy was put in place where a soldier would need evidence for every bullet fired.

Additionally, the punishment for failing to meet a rubber quota was death. Proof of death became cutting off one of the hands of the dead Congolese, regardless of sex or age. If a quota was not delivered in full, the soldiers had to return with a severed right hand to show why.

This created a humanitarian crisis, as rubber quotas could be partially paid off with hands; they basically had monetary value. Because the rubber quotas were nearly impossible to meet, having hands meant that the soldiers wouldn’t necessarily need to kill you. This meant that soldiers and village people would engage in attacks simply to collect human hands.

This led to widespread mutilation across the Congo, as many cases had soldiers save ammunition by cutting off the hand and leaving the victim behind.

Another part of the crisis was widespread cannibalism across the territory.

Cannibalism was present across the Congo before Leopold’s rule, but he did basically nothing to end the practice. In fact, the state would turn a blind eye to the killings and cannibalism if the village was unable to fill a rubber quota.

An example of this was when the Free State employed the Songye fighters or “Zappo Zaps” as enforcers for the rubber quotas.

If a village were to fail to meet the quota, the Zappo Zaps would attack and eat victims after cutting off their hands.

Despite officials claiming not to know the practices when pressed by the European public, it is evident from soldier stories that they absolutely knew.

Eventually, the public began to gain more awareness about the horrors occurring in the Congo and called for an investigation. The British government did so and found that the territory solely existed for Leopold’s financial benefit.

This led to the creation of the “Congo Reform Association,” which would work to end Leopold’s control over the territory. A massive reform movement was launched.

Britain’s involvement forced Belgians to become aware of the atrocities being committed by their king. This gave the country significant, unwanted attention and made them move to take control of the territory from Leopold.

The Belgian government effectively stripped Leopold of his power in Belgium due to his crimes and officially annexed the Congo Free State in November 1908, thereby establishing the Belgian Congo colony.

As a colony, the Congolese population was still heavily repressed and exploited, but not nearly to the extent as they were under Leopold.

Though the exact number is disputed, it is believed that roughly 10 million people died, or half the country’s population, under Leopold’s 23 years of power.

Because of the shocking number of deaths, many historians argue that Leopold’s reign should be classified as a genocide.

During the European colonization of Africa, many atrocities took place, such as the Herero and Nama genocide in Namibia. However, there is a very strong argument that the worst atrocities took place in the Belgian Congo.

To this day, militias and armed groups in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo have used mutilation, especially the cutting off of hands or arms, as a method of terror, punishment, and control, echoing the brutal colonial precedent.

While many people committed atrocities in the Congo Free State, the system that allowed this to happen was due to a single person: King Leopold II of Belgium.