9 Leopold II of Belgium
He was king of Belgium from 1865 to 1909. He ruled the Congo Free State, which was a private project, from 1885 to 1908. The Congo Free State was 76 times larger than Belgium. He is considered one of the greatest liars of all time because he fooled the whole world that he was helping the Congo and the world believed him. Instead he turned the Congo into a country ruled by force labor. He was free to rule the Congo Free State as a personal domain. Leopold ruled about 20 million Congolese. Under his administration, the Congo Free State was subject to a terror regime. The Congo Free State also became one of the most infamous international scandals of the turn of the century. His men tortured, maimed, and slaughtered millions of Congolese. Congolese were killed if they did not bring enough rubber. Hundreds of thousands of people had their hands, legs, feet, arms, heads, ears, and noses cut off. Many villages were burned and the Natives forced to flee into the jungle. Leopold’s men raped, flogged and eat the natives. They slaughtered hundreds of thousands of children. More than 500,000 died from various diseases. A few million died of starvation. Leopold killed around 10 million Congolese (or 50% of the Congo’s population). Before Leopold acquired The Congo Free State, most African countries were free countries, but within 30 years after Leopold acquired the Congo Free State, all but 2 African countries were taken by European countries. He did all of this just to get more money. Leopold died in 1909.
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