He Was A Builder—And A Butcher
In Belgium, King Leopold II was hailed as the “Builder King” for his wondrous works. But overseas, in the Congo Free State, lay the horrific truth: Leopold was more of a butcher than a builder.
1. He Had Royal Connections
As the second son of Leopold I and Louise of Orléans, Leopold II was born to rule. He began his royal life in April, 1835, in Brussels. Through his mother, he was the grandson of King Louis Philippe of France. And, through his father, he was first cousins with Queen Victoria of England. He would not have to wait long for the throne.
London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company, Wikimedia Commons
2. His Older Brother Paved The Way
One year before he was born, Leopold II’s family suffered a sudden tragedy. His parents’ first son, Crown Prince Louis Philippe of Belgium, passed from “inflammation of the mucous membranes” before his first birthday. Tragic as it was, however, it meant that little Leopold II was the heir apparent. And he had the title to match.
Alexander Bassano, Wikimedia Commons
3. He Was A Little Lieutenant
In 1840, Leopold II’s parents made his inheritance official by naming him the Duke of Brabant. They also gave him a job for which, as a five-year-old, he was wholly unqualified. Even though he could barely walk, he was made a “sub-lieutenant”, eventually earning the rank of lieutenant-general.
But not before tragedy struck his family again.
Royal Collection of Belgium, Wikimedia Commons
4. He Lost His Mother And Grandfather In One Year
The French Revolution had impacts far beyond Paris. As the guillotines rolled into the Place de la Concorde, Leopold II’s grandfather had to run for his life, fleeing to the United Kingdom before passing two years later. Leopold's mother, always considered sensitive and fragile, was devastated, and followed him into the grave later that same year.
The teenaged Leopold II was losing family left and right—but lucky for him, he found someone to mend his broken heart.
Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Wikimedia Commons
5. He Kissed A Rose
Three years after his mother’s passing, Leopold II married “The Rose of Brabant,” Marie Henriette of Austria. Much like Leopold II, the people of Belgium fell in love with Henriette for her “lively and energetic” personality, and benevolent disposition. She seemed to be everything that Leopold II was, decidedly, not.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
6. He Married A Humble Woman
Leopold II’s love for art wouldn’t become apparent until much later in his life. However, his new wife, Henriette, already had a reputation as a distinguished artist and musician. She also happened to be an avid horseback rider. In fact, unlike most royals of the time, she even looked after her own horses.
The odd pairing led to a funny joke.
7. He Was A “Nun”
Throughout his early years, and even into his reign, Leopold II developed a reputation for being “shy and withdrawn”. In contrast to his uncharacteristically down-to-earth wife, it gave rise to a funny joke. Many started referring to their love as a “marriage of a stableman and a nun”. Hint: Leopold II wasn’t fond of horses.
Nicaise de Keyser , Wikimedia Commons
8. He Had Grand Ambitions
Leopold II’s official public career started in 1855 as a Belgian senator. And as the heir apparent to the monarchy, he didn’t waste any time voicing his opinions, no matter how controversial they were. He became a vocal advocate for expanding Belgium’s colonial holdings, touring regions in Asia and Africa looking for prospects.
Pretty soon, he wouldn’t have to ask anyone for permission to pursue his ambitions.
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9. He Assumed The Throne
On December 10, 1865, Leopold's father kicked the proverbial bucket. Then, a week leater, Leopold's greatest wish came true. He took his oath of office and became King Leopold II of Belgium. His ambitions were even bigger than his crown.
Louis Ghémar , Wikimedia Commons
10. He Wanted To Be A Colonial Power
Leopold II had never been shy about the future he imagined for Belgium. “The country must be strong, prosperous,” he wrote in a letter to his brother, Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders. The rest of the letter, however, sounds ominous in hindsight: "Therefore have colonies of her own, beautiful and calm”.
Neither of those words could ever be applied to his atrocities.
Géruzet Brothers, Wikimedia Commons
11. He Almost Abdicated
Leopold II wasn’t much for negotiating. During a constitutional revision, he pushed to include a “royal referendum”. The amendment would have allowed him to veto the elected government after a period of public consultation. Once the government rejected the proposal, he was so incensed that he considered giving up his crown.
Millions might have survived if he had.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
12. He Was Actually Pretty Progressive
Despite the horrors he would unleash on the Congolese people, at home in Belgium, Leopold II was actually a progressive figure. Some of his biggest legislative accomplishments included massive social reforms. He even gave workers the right to form unions.
Rather grimly ironic, given what he was about to do in the Congo Free State.
Atelier Nadar, Wikimedia Commons
13. He Was Kind To (Belgian) Workers
Leopold II’s later barbarism towards the people of the Free State of Congo is only more horrifying, considering his reforms at home. He passed a series of child labor laws that protected Belgium’s youths from exploitation and even instituted something of a weekend, giving workers Sundays off.
With the spoils of his atrocities, he could afford to be generous.
Ghémar Frères studio, Wikimedia Commons
14. He Wanted A Sprawling Empire
Part of Leopold II’s grand vision for his “little Belgium” included a vast, sprawling “overseas empire” made up of cash-rich colonies. But, his actions betrayed his true intentions. Leopold II only seemed interested in acquiring colonies for himself, as a private citizen…with money from the government.
Antwerp City Hall, Wikimedia Commons
15. He Tried To Buy The Philippines
At first, Leopold II set his sights on the Philippines. He believed that Queen Isabella II of Spain—the incumbent colonial power in the Philippines—was weak, and therefore eager to sell off her colonial holdings. However, his ambassador, sensing the insult it would cause, never relayed his offer.
But he wasn’t giving up that easily.
Jean Laurent , Wikimedia Commons
16. He Couldn’t Afford To Buy A Colony
When Isabella II lost her crown in 1868, Leopold II made another move to buy the Philippines. There was just one problem: He couldn’t afford it. He even tried to devise a plan that would have made the Philippines into an independent state, meaning that a private citizen could purchase it. But even that plan fell through.
With the Philippines out, he set his greedy sights somewhere else: Africa.
Étienne-Gabriel Bocourt, Wikimedia Commons
17. He Played A Shell Game
For the better part of a decade, Leopold II worked in vain to acquire colonies throughout Africa and Asia. But, by 1876, it was plainly obvious that he would have to change his strategy. And that’s when he devised a particularly pernicious plan.
He established an “international scientific and philanthropic association” called the International African Society. In reality, however, it was no charitable organization. It was a private holding company—and he owned it.
Eug. Devaux, F. Pannemaker, Wikimedia Commons
18. He Found A Land To Call His Own—All His Own
With his holding company up and running, Leopold II hired the services of the explorer Henry Morton Stanley and set him off in the direction of the Congo. Stanley managed to “discover” lands and claimed them in Leopold II’s name. With some clever diplomatic machinations, Leopold II managed to get most of Europe and the United States to recognize him as this newly claimed territory’s sovereign.
It's unlikely their intentions were pure, but I doubt those nations realized they had just condemned millions to an unimaginable fate.
Wellcome Images, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
19. He Had A Private Army
At the conclusion of the Berlin Conference 1884-1885, Leopold II finally realized his lifelong ambition: Belgium had just become a massive colonial power. The newly minted Congo Free State (aka Leopold II’s playground) was nearly 80 times larger than Belgium itself.
And Leopold II had it all to himself, to rule over with his private army, the dreaded Force Publique.
20. He Made A Fortune Off Of Ivory
Just as he had hoped, Leopold II began raking in the dough from his new, private colony. Based primarily off of the highly lucrative (if a little scandalous) ivory trade, Leopold II’s personal net worth went through the roof. However, he still wasn’t satisfied. The ivory trade alone was not enough to support his grand ambitions for Belgium.
Then a new commodity hit the market, and he would be minting money almost as fast as he was spilling blood.
Book by Mark Twain, Wikimedia Commons
21. He Still Needed More
Leopold II’s acquisition of the Congo Free State coincided with an unexpected shift in trade demands. While ivory had been making him personally wealthy, it wasn’t enough to fund his grand ambitions back home. That is, until a sudden and sharp increase in the demand for rubber.
Lucky for Leopold, the Congo Free State had plenty of the hot new commodity—but there was still one problem.
W. & D. Downey, Wikimedia Commons
22. He Needed Workers—And Lots Of Them
The Congo Free State had oodles of natural resources that Leopold II could harvest for his personal and political gain, but rubber had the potential to be the most lucrative. The only issue? Harvesting the sap from rubber plants required hours upon hours of grueling labor.
That wouldn’t stop Leopold II.
H.Bogaerts ,V.Dedoncker, loki11, Wikimedia Commons
23. He Abandoned His Ideals
Back at home in Belgium, Leopold II continued championing the rights of common laborers. However, all the way down the Congo Free State, he adopted a very different policy. With his new need for cheap and plentiful labor, Leopold II jettisoned his obligations from the Berlin Conference and dropped all pretense of running a charitable organization.
What ensued was pure horror.
Ange-Louis Janet, Wikimedia Commons
24. He Forced The Congolese People To Work
Having shut out much of the outside world, Leopold II was free to do as he pleased in the Congo Free State. Sadly, what he wanted to do was unleash a reign of unspeakable sorrow. Using his Force Publique, Leopold II forced the native population to work, collecting sap to make rubber, which he then sold for exorbitant prices.
The people of the Congo Free State never saw a cent. But they did see something else.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
25. He Was Not A Kind Employer
Suffice to say, the people of the Congo Free State didn't willingly go to work for Leopold II. So, he had to adopt to some horrifying tactics of coercion. Beatings, mass and indiscriminate executions, and brutal mutilations were just some of the consequences for failing to meet Leopold II’s high production quotas.
And that was just the beginning.
Rijksmuseum, Wikimedia Commons
26. He Abducted His Workers’ Families
Just in case any of the forced laborers got fancy ideas in their heads, Leopold II’s Force Publique employed one truly devastating tactic. To ensure compliance amongst even the most independent-minded Congolese people, the Force Publique abducted the families of rubber workers.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
27. He Left Missionaries Speechless
When the English missionary, John Harris, visited the Congo Free State, he couldn’t find the words to describe the horrors he had witnessed. “I have just returned from a journey inland,” he wrote to one of Leopold II’s agents, “The abject misery and utter abandon is positively indescribable”.
Even injustice would have been an improvement.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
28. He Punished The Guilty And The Innocent
John Harris continued in his letter, writing, “I was so moved, Your Excellency, by the people's stories that I took the liberty of promising them that in future you will only [execute] them for [offences] they commit”. Sadly, that would be a promise he couldn’t keep.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
29. He Ended The Lives Of Millions
Despite a quiet, but growing, chorus of protestations and condemnations, Leopold II continued his reign of misery in the Congo Free State. When all was said and done, millions would pay the price. Sadly, because Leopold II kept such terrible records, the best estimates range from 1 to 15 million deceased.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
30. His Atrocities Were “Figments Of The Imagination”
It took the world a while to wake up to the full extent of the horrors in the Congo Free State. As late as the 1960s, historians tried to minimize Leopold II’s cruel reign in the African colony. They called population estimates from his critics “wild guesses” and said that the extent of the horrors were “but figments of the imagination”.
But it was all too real.
W. Duke, Sons & Co., Wikimedia Commons
31. He Wiped Out 10 Million Congolese
The author, historian, and journalist Adam Hochschild was the first to provide a proper estimate of the devastating effects of Leopold II’s reign. Hochschild, using estimates from Belgium’s own census, put the cost of Leopold II’s cruel policies into stark focus: 10 million lives lost.
It truly was a land of horrors.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
32. He Let Disease Run Rampant
Leopold II’s barbaric treatment of his Congolese subjects was bad enough. But the secondary and tertiary consequences of his willful neglect and malice were even worse. Diseases such as smallpox and “sleeping sickness” swept through the Congo Free State and claimed millions of lives.
It was a secret that Leopold II could no longer contain.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
33. He Had A Heart Of Darkness
It was always only a matter of time before karma caught up with Leopold II. And, in 1902, it finally did. When the British novelist, Joseph Conrad, toured the Congo as a steamer captain, he was so moved by the plight of the people that he changed the course of history.
His 1902 novella, Heart of Darkness, gave the world a first-person glimpse at Leopold II’s great shame.
George Charles Beresford, Wikimedia Commons
34. He Was Feeling The Heat
With Conrad’s novella, Heart of Darkness, gripping readers all over the world, international pressure began to mount on Leopold II to change the way he ruled the Congo Free State. But he wasn’t about to give up all of that money and power without a fight. And he knew exactly how to fight dirty.
Museum of the National Bank of Belgium, CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
35. He Paid A Propagandist
As the pressure mounted on Leopold II, he decided to counter his bad press with good press (ie, press that he paid for). Leopold II paid the author, Mary French Sheldon, to tour the Congo Free State, ensuring that she only saw what he wanted her to. But the ruse worked. Upon her return to England, she wrote, “I have witnessed more atrocities in London streets than I have ever seen in the Congo”.
Thankfully, no one believed her lies.
Van der Weyde, Wikimedia Commons
36. He Sold His Colony
By 1908, even Leopold II’s Belgian subjects had grown sick of his atrocities in the Congo Free State. After facing political opposition, Leopold II was forced to do the right thing: Sell the Congo Free State to the Belgian people. Of course, he made sure that they paid him handsomely.
internet, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
37. He Made Millions
With the shame of the Congo Free State falling equally on Belgium as on Leopold II, the Belgian people had no choice but to buy the troubled colony from their corrupt king. In total, they forked over 215.5 million Francs. A staggering 50 million went to Leopold II personally with another 45.5 million going towards his domestic building projects.
At least that, the people could enjoy.
J. Russell & Sons, London, Wikimedia Commons
38. He Built Wonders At Home
Leopold II might have been a butcher in the Congo, but at home in Belgium, he was a builder. He used much of the profits he made off of the Congo Free State to fund massive building projects across his kingdom. Some of his more iconic structures include the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Hippodrome Wellington racetrack, and (ironically) the Royal Museum for Central Africa.
He just didn’t want the people of Belgium knowing how he built all of those wonders.
J. Russell & Sons, London, Wikimedia Commons
39. He Destroyed Damning Evidence
After the Belgian Parliament forced Leopold II to sell the Congo Free State, he added insult to the grievous injuries of the Congolese people. Instead of owning up to his many acts of atrocity, he began destroying evidence. Allegedly, he said to one aide, “they have no right to know what I did there”.
Or indeed, why he did it.
J. Russell & Sons, London, Wikimedia Commons
40. He Kept A Lot For Himself
Not all of Leopold II’s bloody profits from the Congo went to the Belgian people in the form of lavish new buildings. The “Builder King” also splurged on himself. He purchased several private properties (including 6,700 hectares of agricultural land and a French chateau), expanded the Royal Castle of Laeken, and built resplendent personal gardens.
And he did it all for naught.
J. Russell & Sons, London, Wikimedia Commons
41. He Lost His Only Heir
Leopold II’s marriage to Henriette wasn’t what he had hoped for. Even though the couple managed to produce four children, Leopold II lost his heir. His only son, Prince Leopold, fell into a pond at the age of nine. Sadly, the young boy contracted pneumonia—a sickness from which he would never recover.
J. Russell & Sons, London, Wikimedia Commons
42. He Was Having A Really Bad Year
After losing his son, Leopold II fell into a deep sorrow—and his marriage suffered the consequences. He tried in vain to conceive another son and heir to his throne, but only managed to produce another daughter. Heartbroken and disappointed, Leopold II and Henriette separated. In 1902, the same year that Heart of Darkness came out, Henriette passed on.
Not that there was much love lost.
43. He Found A (Much) Younger Lover
Turns out, Leopold II was about as good a husband as he was a king to the Congolese people. Throughout his marriage to Henriette, he carried on numerous affairs. But none kept his “attention” quite like the 16-year-old working girl, Caroline Lacroix.
At 65 years old, three years before his wife passed, Leopold II struck up the affair that would ruin the rest of his already tarnished reputation.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
44. He Gave His Lover Lavish Gifts
Leopold II’s decade-long affair with Lacroix scandalized the Belgian people and caused even more outrage than the revelation of his atrocities in the Congo. The lovesick king gave the lowly working girl extravagant gifts, piles of money, and entire estates. The real insult, however, was the title of “Baroness de Vaughan”.
True justice, however, was just around the corner.
45. He Faced “Vengeance From On High”
Leopold II managed to produce two illegitimate sons with Lacroix—both of whom he granted honorary titles. But karma wasn’t done with Leopold II quite yet. Just as he had chopped the hands of Congolese workers who failed to meet quotas, so his second son with Lacroix was born with a severely deformed hand.
The newspapers in Belgium called it “Vengeance from on high”.
46. He Outsmarted His Kingdom
Leopold II wanted to ensure that all of his many estates, castles, and “heritage buildings” stayed within his family. However, as he had no heir, he devised a clever plan. He created the Royal Trust, ensuring that his assets would go to Belgium after he passed on. Of course, he included a clause that allowed his family to use the properties at their leisure.
For Leopold II, the end was closer than he knew.
Jef Leempoels, Wikimedia Commons
47. He Nearly Lost His Head
1902 turned out to be a very bad year for Leopold II. Not only did the novella Heart of Darkness expose his barbarism, not only did his wife pass, but he almost did as well. After leaving a memorial service for his deceased wife, an Italian anarchist by the name of Gennaro Rubino fired three shots at his carriage.
Paul Carrey, Wikimedia Commons
48. His Subjects Still Loved Him
By some miracle (depending on how you look at it), the three shots all missed Leopold II and only injured his grand marshal, Count Charles John d'Oultremont. Despite his horrible reputation, the Belgian people rejoiced that he had survived. Later that day, while attending the theater, the audience gave Leopold II a raucous round of applause and cheers.
He was defiant to the bitter end.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
49. He Didn’t Care For Fate
Even though Leopold II’s reputation on the international world stage had taken a severe hit, he still commanded enough respect to hear from foreign dignitaries. Even the pope sent Leopold II a letter in solidarity. When one senator questioned Leopold II on the incident, the aging king fired back, “My dear senator, if fate wants me shot, too bad!”
He clearly did not care for convention.
Bain News Service, Wikimedia Commons
50. He Had A Secret Marriage
Leopold II’s final act as King of Belgium only cemented his place as a villainous character. In a secret, clandestine ceremony, just five days before he kicked the bucket, Leopold II did the unthinkable. He married his long-time mistress, Lacroix. Thankfully, when the marriage came to light, the Belgian Parliament invalidated it.
But it was already too late.
QDK01, CCBY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
51. He Gave His Blood Money To His Mistress
Leopold II never truly paid the price for the horrific things he did in the Congo. And no amount of grand edifices in Belgium could bury his sins. But he didn’t care if his money was stained with blood. After his passing, he bequeathed a “fortune in Congo securities” to his mistress, Lacroix. His daughters tried in vain to get the money back, but in the end, Lacroix made off with Leopold II’s infernal fortune.
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