Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - King Leopold and the Congo Free State

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

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.  Sponsors Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Mint Mobile Get your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/eed Stash Go to get.stash.com/EVERYTHING to see how you can receive $25 towards your first stock purchase. ExpressVPN Go to expressvpn.com/EED to get an extra four months of ExpressVPN for free!w Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the late 19th century, during the scramble for Africa, King Leopold I 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 more about King Leopold's Congo Free State on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Did you ever hear about the selfie that solved a murder? Or the jury that used a Ouija board to speak to a victim. If that made you pause, you need to listen to Morning Cup of Murder.

I'm Karina B. Minasurfer, and every single day on Morning Cup of Murder, I tell one chilling true crime story tied to that exact day in history. With over 2,500 episodes to binge, you'll never run out of dark stories to start your morning with. Go listen to Morning Cup of Murder wherever you get your podcasts. And remember... stay safe. 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's second personal ambitions rather than being 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 was no obvious economic benefits to be gained. That 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 II, 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 all just a guise. The reality of the association was to promote the seizure of Central Africa. Under the cover of the new association, Leopold the second 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 over to Leopold. Leopold quickly took advantage of the treaties,

building military ports around the Congo River, but he was facing a major 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, and 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 just told the British. To the French, Leopold offered ownership of the North Bank of the Congo River 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 also campaigned in the United States.

King Leopold sent edited copies of his treaties to the United States, 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 U.S. 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. And here 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 completely separate country personally controlled by King Leopold, who also just happened to be the King of Belgium. The two countries were considered to be 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, Leo 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 had personal control with very little resistance. The local chiefs simply complied with Leopold's orders for the most part. Leopold had several goals for when he took control of the Congo. He wanted to, one, end the slave trade and promote humanitarian policies, two, guarantee free trade within the Congo with no import duties for 20 years, and three, create a safe space for scientific and philanthropic enterprises. Even though these decrees sound reasonable at first glance,

the way Leopold went about achieving these goals, was a total 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 country. 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 where 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 European powers who had 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. And this forced Leopold to pivot again. In 1892, Leopold opted to place the Congo under a dominal economic system, similar to how medieval lords organize their land. 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 higher 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 payments. These concessions would allow the companies to exploit the area for things like rubber and ivory. These companies would then 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 a third 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 mostly Arab and Swahili, were an economic problem. Any ivory that Leopold took was taking it away from the slavers, and by coming down against slavery, Leopold would be further threatening their way of life. War broke out November of 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 technically 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 basically forbidden to sell to anyone but the state. However, there were other issues. Payment was only given to the Congolese if their work was determined to be satisfactory at the end of their employment. Leopold had essentially turned the population into serfs. Leopold would also establish a private army known as the Force Public, or FP.

Its initial purpose was to suppress the slave trade, but it later turned into exploiting the native people for rubber production. The FP would be armed with a bullwhip 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. And I'd be remiss not to describe in more depth the particular form of mutilation that was practiced. When soldiers were in the field, there was a fear that they would be wasting bullets on things like hunting. So a policy was put in place where a soldier would need evidence for every bullet they 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 paid partially with cut-off 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. And this meant that the 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 saving ammunition by cutting off the hands and leaving the victims behind. Another part of the crisis was widespread cannibalism across the territory. Cannibalism was present across the Congo before Leopold's rule, but he basically did nothing to end the practice. In fact, the state would turn a blind eye to killings in cannibalism if the village was unable to fill a rubber quota. An example of this was when the free state employed

the Songyi 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 the victims, after cutting off their hands. Despite officials claiming not to know the practices when they were pressed by the European public, it's evident from soldier's 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 had existed for Leopold's financial benefit. This led to the creation of the Congo Reform Association, which would work to end Leopold's control. control over the territory. A massive reform movement was launched in Europe. 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 of 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's believed that roughly 10 million people died, or half the country's population, under Leopold's 23 years of rule. 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 Herrero and Nama Genocide in Namibia. However, there is a very strong argument to be made 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. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer.

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