fwo_331036 - BELGIAN CONGO 10 Centimes monogramme A (Albert) couronné 1911

BELGIAN CONGO

(1885-1908)

Leopold II succeeded his father, Leopold I, the Belgian throne in 1865. In 1876 Leopold II organizes an international association for the development of Central Africa. Three years later, under his patronage, Stanley competition French explorer Brazza to acquire rights in the Congo region. Occupation is essentially pushed to the southern valley of the Nile. Leopold also wishes to establish a rail network along the Congo River and its tributaries to create revenue sources necessary for the flow of the company and self-management of the conquered territory. At the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, representatives from 14 European countries and the United States recognize the sovereignty of Leopold over the Congo Free State sovereignty that exerts until 1908. With the resources of the colony, especially the rubber crop, the king greatly enriches and many Brussels buildings or monuments are built. Following an international campaign by the British to denounce the brutal and inhuman treatment of local people by colonial, the position of the king becomes untenable and he was forced against his will to cede sovereignty of the Congo to the Belgian nation. The Belgian government renames the territory "Belgian Congo".