Belgian Colonization of the Congo (1885-1908)
King Leopold II established the Congo Free State through the Berlin Conference, using Christian missions as justification. Missionaries built schools and churches while Leopold’s agents imposed brutal rubber quotas. Roger Casement’s 1904 report exposed atrocities that killed millions of Congolese people. The humanitarian scandal forced Belgium to take direct control from Leopold. Religious rhetoric about “civilizing” Africa masked one of history’s worst colonial exploitations.
