Leopold II of Belgium

he has adapted to life in London along with his wife Jane. As a celebrity, legend and Earl of Greystoke, John Clayton is invited by King Leopold II from Belgian to come to Africa for political reasons. John refuses his invitation, but reconsiders after George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson), African-American US Civil War veteran, informs him that Leopold is suspected of slavery activity in the Congo. So, Lord Clayton and Williams, along with Jane, set off for the Congo. When they…

influence to the country. 2. The history of Western involvement in the Congo region consists primarily of a timeline of perpetual violence, political coups, and civil unrest. The region became a Belgian colony in 1885 under the rule of King Leopold II3. Under his rule, Congolese people and resources were severely abused and exploited. Congo was granted independence in 1960 and the region renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 3. The parliament elected the first prime minister,…

The history of a country is significant to the country because it has shaped it to be what it is today. Not only is it important to the country but to the society, as a famous quote went; "people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots". One significant historical event to not only a country and society but to a whole continent was the colonization of almost all the African countries by the European countries. In the 19th and 20th century the…

“Ever fair, ever fair my home; ever fair land so sweet. […] Tyrants and cowards, we fear them no more; behold your power protects us from harm; we live in freedom by sharing all things equally. We live in peace within your loving arms” (Shawl 63). Everyone yearns for a home where they belong, a place where they can be free from persecution and oppression. This is the ideal society. This is Everfair, a small, bold nation tucked inside of the Belgian ruled Congo, a safe haven for people of any…

1. I think King Leopold was able to achieve hiding the horrific practices that he put the people of the Congo through by instilling the false perception that he was bettering the lives of the Congolese people. This false perception that occurred through King Leopold's Propaganda helped him hide his vindictive agenda because it prevented people from further investigating “The Congo Free State”. Due to the lack of investigation, King Leopold was able to continue to prosper off rubber and…

The Cold war started out as a fight between the Soviet Union and the United States. After a while the fighting spread to Congo and other countries. Even before this great tension, there was other things that lead up to the cold war. This being that Belgium was controlling the Congo. Congo later gained independence and held their presidential election in 1960, and when they were released from belgian rule a civil war broke out. While the Congo was fighting in the civil war they were not quite…

better or much worse. With these changes happening for the next century, it caused numerous short term and long term effects on this Third World country. As a member of the Global South, Congo was doing pretty decent for a short period of time as Belgium first arrived in the late 1800’s. New technology from developing countries arrived to Congo which included the development of schools and free health…

life of dominance. As the book says “A person starved for love as a child and now filled with an obsessive desire for an emotional substitute.”( 38) This emotional substitute was to be filled with the desire to be powerful and in control . As king Leopold manipulated situations with his” foxlike ways” he began to plot with Stanley where he needed to further explore in order to claim the lands of Africa. It is hard to understand how and why a person could constitute such a tragedy amongst…

King Leopold’s Greedy Fall As King Leopold came to power of the Belgian throne, he had much more in mind than ruling only Belgium. Even though Belgium was already under his restricting rule, he was nowhere near reaching his point of satisfaction. Leopold needed another country to gain personal wealth and power from and intended extracting valuable resources form the Congo Free State. This only begins to explain Leopold’s greed and terror and how he would have to be forcefully removed from power…

Another man that describes the European attitude is Wole Soyinka an African man. Soyinka was born towards the end of Imperialism in Nigeria by Great Britain. He describes the attitudes of Europeans toward Africans. Soyinka grew up under Imperialism with the influence of European cultures, such as; religion and education. Soyinka wanted to inform how Imperialism affected Africans. In an interview he states, “I listened to lots of conversations between my father and his intellectual circle, in the…