AHC/PC: More King Leopold style colonialism

raharris1973

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I know this what if is mean, even different companies under different monarchs don't end up as nasty.

But what other monarchs could plausibly have set up colonizing ventures outside of their home governing structure, like Leopold did?

How did Leopold even have the money that he did? What gave him so much more money to play with than other European monarchs? Was it his personal fortune or his ability to get the buy-in of other people's money that allowed him to do his thing in the Congo?
 
Leopold was a brilliant marketer and salesman, basically, and took advantage of Belgium's reputation as a smaller neutral nation. Basically, he set himself up as a humanitarian and promoter of exploration, and then played Germany, France and Great Britain off one another. He was able to go to the major great powers and convince them that giving the Congo to him was better than seeing it fall into the hands of one of their rivals.

As to where his money came from? Most of the money used in the initial venture was a loan given to him by the Belgian parliament, I believe. The Congo was actually an economic failure for the first few years, until the bicycle boom occurred and there was a sudden demand for rubber. Initially Leopold conceived the major export from the Congo to be ivory but, once it was determined that the region had rubber and that the demand was high, he switched gears and, well, the rest is history. Sad, sad, history.

So, really, Leopold's position was rather unique. You need a nation which a parliamentary system, that is not too big and is not currently engaged in any colonial venture. They you need someone who is able to play the major powers off of one another in order to get what they want. Really, the only other European states that could possibly fill this role, off the top of my head, would be Sweden or Denmark. But I'm not sure if their Kings at the time would have had the urge, or felt the need (Leopold had huge self-esteem issues, to say the least) to try a similar tactic.
 

Deleted member 97083

Leopold was a brilliant marketer and salesman, basically, and took advantage of Belgium's reputation as a smaller neutral nation. Basically, he set himself up as a humanitarian and promoter of exploration, and then played Germany, France and Great Britain off one another. He was able to go to the major great powers and convince them that giving the Congo to him was better than seeing it fall into the hands of one of their rivals.

As to where his money came from? Most of the money used in the initial venture was a loan given to him by the Belgian parliament, I believe. The Congo was actually an economic failure for the first few years, until the bicycle boom occurred and there was a sudden demand for rubber. Initially Leopold conceived the major export from the Congo to be ivory but, once it was determined that the region had rubber and that the demand was high, he switched gears and, well, the rest is history. Sad, sad, history.

So, really, Leopold's position was rather unique. You need a nation which a parliamentary system, that is not too big and is not currently engaged in any colonial venture. They you need someone who is able to play the major powers off of one another in order to get what they want. Really, the only other European states that could possibly fill this role, off the top of my head, would be Sweden or Denmark. But I'm not sure if their Kings at the time would have had the urge, or felt the need (Leopold had huge self-esteem issues, to say the least) to try a similar tactic.
Agreed on all points. Also, once Leopold has brutally conquered the Congo, the jig is up. No country is going to fall for the same excuses he used, especially after the cruel disaster it became.

At that point, with most coastal areas across the world already having been colonized, the only way for to obtain a new colony is to buy it from the empire that has already colonized it, or wait until a European war and conquer it.
 
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