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"The Butcher Of Congo" King Leopold II of Belgium. formally acquired rights to the Congo territory at the Berlin Conference in 1885 and made the land his private property, naming it the Congo Free State. His reign was disastrous resulting in killing of 10 million Congolese. 
📸 Wikipedia
Even though his funeral cortege was booed by the crowd because of Congo, a lot was forgotten after his death and transfer of his private colony to Belgium. Many Belgians in the 20th and 21st centuries remembered him as the "Builder King" for his extensive public works projects.
"Congo Free State" King Leopold's private property had a colonial military unit, the "Force Publique" of around 19,000 African soldiers, led by 420 white officers. He used them to force the local population to produce rubber. Millions died from the exploitation.
King Leopold commissioned a great number of buildings, urban projects and public and private works( villas, chateaus, estates) in Brussels, Ostend and Antwerp and abroad largely with the profits generated from exploitation of natural resources and the population of the Congo.
