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The Congo Free State was a government privately controlled by Leopold II, King of the Belgians through a dummy non-governmental organization, the Association Internationale Africaine. Leopold was the sole shareholder and chairman, who increasingly used it for rubber, copper and other minerals in the upper Lualaba River basin (though it had been set up on the understanding that its purpose was to uplift the natives and develop the area). The state included the entire area of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo and existed from 1885 to 1905.
The Congo Free State eventually earned infamy due to the increasingly brutal mistreatment of the local peoples and plunder of natural resources.

Under Leopold II's administration, the Congo Free State became the site of one of the worst international scandals of the early twentieth century. The report of the British Consul Roger Casement led to the arrest and punishment of white officials who had been responsible for killings during a rubber-collecting expedition in 1903

European and U.S. reformers exposed the conditions in the Congo Free State to the public in 1900 through the Congo Reform Association. Also active in exposing the activities of the Congo Free State was the author Arthur Conan Doyle, whose book The Crime of the Congo was widely read in the early 1900s.

One of the most remarkable early critics came from the young Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, who wondered why no civilised nation took control of the situation and end the brutalities and crimes.

Leopold offered to reform his regime, but few took him seriously. All nations were now agreed that the King's rule must be ended as soon as possible, but no nation was willing to take on the responsibility. No nation seriously considered returning control of the land to the native population, with its ages-old record of tyranny and slavery (and in some areas, cannibalism).
Belgium was the obvious European candidate to run the Congo, but the Belgians were still unwilling.

After several letters from Wilhelmina, to the Belgian King in person and later to the Belgian gouverment which was responded polite but not without clear anwser.
The effort to bring salvation and civilisation to the people of Congo of this young Queen was not unnoticed by the British press.
Meanwhile Belgium debated the question for years.

In 1904 Wilhelmina, fed up with the lack of action of the civilised nations of Europe, supprised the world and essepcialy the Dutch gouverment, with her offer to buy the Congo Free State of King Leopold.

Her annoncement made stirr in European politics, and esspecially on the Netherlands. She acted completely on private, whitout aprovement of the gouverment.

The oppostion of the Queen agains the human tragidy in Congo was already notiche by the Brittish press, which was possitive toward this young Queen, the same attitude the French and German press took over aswell.
The following months some bussy back chamber diplomacy was held between the Great Powers of Europe. Since neither one of the European Powers wanted to give this teritory to an other and since the Belgium gouverment did not show willingness to have a colony.
It took some diplomatic pressure to convince King Leopold to give up his own piece of Africa.

On November 15 1905 Queen Wilhelmina become the new owner of the Congo Free State, even without aprovement of the Dutch gouverment.

The Queen, in the whole prosses surrounded her self with a small group of experts from a wide variaty of professions and backgrounds, there were even some socialist among them.
One of the first act was the replace the complete administration and gouvernor.
The first action of the new gouvernor were to establish relive centers for the abused parts of the Congo polpulation, among them the people who lost there hands as punishment of not collecting enough rubber.
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