Leopold II was the king of Belgium from 1865 until his death in 1909. He is most famously known for his brutal exploitation of the Congo Free State, which was his personal colony in central Africa. Under his rule, millions of Congolese people were killed or enslaved to extract resources such as rubber and ivory. This exploitation led to international condemnation and eventually resulted in the Belgian government taking control of the colony in 1908. Leopold II's legacy remains controversial, as some see him as a visionary leader who modernized Belgium, while others see him as a ruthless colonizer whose actions towards the Congolese people were nothing short of a genocide.
