The Congo Free State was based

By Dio · 2026-08-22 16:26:48

History

The Congo Free State was established in 1885 under the personal Ownership of King Leopold II of Belgium. Through exploration, treaties with local rulers, and international recognition at the Berlin Conference, Leopold gained control over the vast territory as his personal property rather than as a Belgian colony. His rule lasted until 1908, when Belgian state took control.

"Oppression"

According to the 1904 Casement report, there was widespread abuses of the native Congolese, mainly by having rubber production quotas for the tribes living on the Kings property. Some other reports talk about mutilation, but many, like the infamous photo, are unsubstantiated, including the "10 million deaths number" thrown around.

Justification

As I already went over, all of the tribal chieftains agreed to contracts with the King and his private corporation (the International Association of the Congo) agreeing to giving the King private authority over the Land, thusly making the tribes fuedal-peasants and subjecting them to the rules of the treaties.

The people of the Congo would have to fulfill rubber quotas in exchange for food and money, similarly to how a peasant works the fields of their Lord in exchange for food and protection. Again this is all made within contract signed by the tribes and a private corporation, making this not a state monopoly, the tribes at any point could have picked up and left Leopolds private property and would have no longer been owneress to the stipulations of the treaties they signed.

The NAP

Just hammering in the fact that in Hoppean theory, fuedalist societies do not violate the NAP as long as there is not a state to monopolize use of agression, the Congo Free State was entirely privately owned and funded by the King, treating it similarly to any other private property.

The Positives

The King ordered infrastructure to be built to sustain his land, roads, hospitals, ports, all built with the proceeds from the rubber trade. It is unarguable that the tribal savages quality of life rose drastically with new medicine, water purification techniques, more plentiful food. Was it perfect? No, did it work? Yes! It lead to the rubber boom bringing much prosperity to the World, significant investment in African resources that went untapped for so long, and a booming economy for Sub-Sahran Africa.