In the nineteenth century, European powers found colonies in Africa to exploit the continent’s natural wealth and to increase their prestige.
“We need a colony for Belgium” exclaimed Prince Leopold. In 1878, now King, Leopold II supported the British explorer Henry Morton Stanley to travel to the unexplored lands of Congo. At the Berlin Conference (1885), European countries begin to divide the African continent and claim colonies. King Leopold II creates the “Congo Free State”, a territory more than eighty times larger than Belgium! The Belgian Parliament authorises him to become the head of state.
The Congo Free State became the private property of King Leopold II. He ruled as an autocrat, that is to say, it was he alone who decided, not Parliament, beyond the remit of the Belgian constitution.
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Private companies, supported by the King, exploited the Congolese resources of ivory, rubber and other raw materials that Europe desired.
In 1898, the rubber is loaded aboard steamboats travelling on the Congo River.