Description

The Congo Free State also known as the Independent State of the Congo was a large state (included the entire area of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo) in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was ruled personally by Leopold II and not by the government of Belgium, of which he was the constitutional monarch. Leopold II was able to procure the region by convincing other Eurasian states at the Berlin Conference that he was involved in humanitarian and philanthropic work and would not tax trade.

Leopold's reign in the Congo eventually earned infamy on account of the atrocities perpetrated on the locals. Leopold II's Free State extracted ivory, rubber and minerals in the upper Congo basin for sale on the world market through a series of international concessionary companies, even though its ostensible purpose in the region was to uplift the local people and develop the area. Under Leopold II's administration, the Congo Free State became one of the greatest international scandals of the early 20th century. By 1908, public pressure and diplomatic manoeuvres led to the end of Leopold II's absolutist rule and to the annexation of the Congo Free State as a colony of Belgium. It became known thereafter as the Belgian Congo.

Engraver: Leopold Wiener