In the Rubber Coils’, a Punch cartoon of 1906, shows King Leopold’s stranglehold on the Congo
The Belgian Congo

In the Rubber Coils’, a Punch cartoon of 1906, shows King Leopold’s stranglehold on the Congo
The Belgian Congo

In 1869 journalist Henry Stanley was commissioned to search for the missing explorer David Livingstone. Stanley’s report of travelling the Congo River inspired King Leopold II of Belgium. Leopold II commissioned Stanley to negotiate for control of a large tract of land in the Congo. He claimed that his motivations were to abolish slavery and promote Christianity in the region. The land was controlled and owned by the King, rather than being a colony. It formally became Leopold II’s property after the Berlin Conference. He named it the Congo Free State. Leopold II controlled the Congo Free State through a dummy NGO, Association Internationale Africane, of which he was both chairman and sole shareholder.

Leopold II’s Congo became infamous for cruelty towards the people who collected the sap from the rubber plants. It is estimated that at least 10 million Congolese died as a result of the abuses of labour.

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