Why did king Leopold colonized the Congo?

Answer 1

King Leopold colonized the Congo to gain a monetary profit. :/

He felt that he was not truly ruling Belgium because of parliament and felt the need for some recognition. He decided to gain that recognition by ruling a colony and then gaining money from it to be used to make monuments and parks.

It is a very interesting story on how he did it.

For further reading there is a very good book called "King Leopold's Ghost" by Adam Hochschild. Many college courses use it and there are also several books at libraries. It is a very interesting topic that has been sadly overlooked too much.

Answer 2

King Leopold of Belguim felt stifled by a parliamentary government, so he turned to the Congo. In 1877 he sent an agent, the American explorer

Henry Morton Stanley, into the African rainforest to purchase Congo land. Stanley bought out 450 tribal chiefs. Using his purchases, he came to 'own' the Congo and all its people.

Leopold sent a small but heavily armed Belgian force into the Congo; his army enlaved African youth and men for rubber harvesting and took the women hostage. Leopold wanted the raw supplies (such as rubber, ivory, and palm oil) and many other countries saw opportunity in the Congo and moved to colonize it in much the same way as Leopold.

Answer 3

He beleived the congo was the "White Mans Burden", the europeans claimed that they needed to civilize Africa.