King leopold
- Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State.
- Leopold II was the second King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908.
- Leopold II (born April 9, 1835, Brussels, Belgium—died December 17, 1909, Laeken) was the king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909.
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Leopold II of Belgium
King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909
| Leopold II | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Portrait by Alexander Bassano, c. 1889 | |||
| Reign | 17 December 1865 – 17 December 1909 | ||
| Predecessor | Leopold I | ||
| Successor | Albert I | ||
| Prime ministers | |||
| Reign | 1 July 1885 – 15 November 1908 | ||
| Governors-general | |||
| Born | (1835-04-09)9 April 1835 Brussels, Belgium | ||
| Died | 17 December 1909(1909-12-17) (aged 74) Laeken, Brussels, Belgium | ||
| Burial | Church of Our Lady of Laeken | ||
| Spouses | |||
| Issue Detail | |||
| |||
| House | Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | ||
| Father | Leopold I of Belgium | ||
| Mother | Louise of Orléans | ||
| Signature | |||
Leopold II[a] (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908.
Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son o
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King Leopold II
1835
On 9 April, birth in Brussels of Leopold, Louis, Philippe, Marie, Victor, son of Leopold I and Louise-Marie.
1853
Prince Leopold entered the Senate, of which he was a member by right. On 22 August, he married Marie-Henriette of Habsburg-Lorraine, Arch-Duchess of Austria. They had four children: Louise-Marie (1858-1924), Leopold (1859-1869), Stephanie (1864-1945), Clementine (1872-1955).
1865
On 17 December, Leopold took the constitutional oath.
1876
On 12 December, the King Palace convened an international conference in Brussels of scientists, geographers and explorers, focusing on the discovery of the centre of Africa. This resulted in the setting up (1877) of an "association for the civilisation and exploration of Central Africa".
1878
Leopold II set up, with the cooperation of the British explorer Stanley, the Study Committee on the Upper Congo, converted in 1879 into the International Association of the Congo.
1885
The Berlin Conference recognised the independent state of the Congo, of which Leopold II became the Sovereign. That sa
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“In the 1880s, as the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. Carrying out a genocidal plundering of the Congo, he looted its rubber, brutalized its people, and ultimately slashed its population by ten million -- all the while shrewdly cultivating his reputation as a great humanitarian. Heroic efforts to expose these crimes eventually led to the first great human rights movement of the 20th century, in which everyone from Mark Twain to the Archbishop of Canterbury participated. King Leopold’s Ghost is the account of a megalomaniac of monstrous proportions, a man as cunning, charming, and cruel as any of the great Shakespearean villains. It is also the portrait of those who fought Leopold: a brave handful of missionaries, travelers, and young idealists who went to Africa for work or adventure and unexpectedly found themselves witnesses to a holocaust. Adam Hochschild brings this story alive. He knows that history often provides a far richer cast of characters
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