#BLM
Out of context: Reply #105
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- PhanLo0
King Leopold II of Belgium held the Congo Free State (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo) under personal rule from 1885 to 1908. The colonial nations of Europe allowed his claim to the country by his promise to improve the lives of the native inhabitants. He did not make good on this promise. An estimated 10 million Congolese are believed to have perished during his terroristic rule—a huge decline in the population. Many deaths were carried out in the name of labor laws over natural rubber, a main export. Failing to meet quotas could be punished by mutilation (severed hands were all too common) or even death. Disease and famine claimed the lives of many more, and the birth rate suffered immensely.
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Leopold was Belgian’s longest serving ruler and as a result, there are still of statuary tributes to him throughout the country. Many have already been defaced.
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- https://www.instagra…PhanLo
- Columbus did the same thing with the severed handsyuekit
- That second picture tears me up every fucking time I see it. It's one of the grimmest things I've ever seen - and I've seen a shitload. Thanks, internet.Nairn
- The Congo was leopold’s own personal estate. Kinda crazy when you think about it. It did not belong to BelgiumGnash
- insane that a man could wield so much power in a non-government capacity._niko