How and why did King Leopold acquire Congo?

Question

How and why did King Leopold acquire Congo?

Answer 1

It started as a slight error in translation. A Spanish explorer and entrepreneur had seen for himself the potential of the lands around the Congo River. He thought that persuading a European monarch to claim the lands would give him a huge fee as agent. Leopold's adviser, instead of telling him that the Spaniard's letter was in effect saying, "Do you want the Congo?" instead said that it was "Do you want to Conga?". Leo was keen on dancing and particularly liked the Conga, with which he ended all State Balls. So the King said, 'Yes' and the Congo colony came into being.

Answer 2

The Congo Free State was a corporate state 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. The state included the entire area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Until the middle of the 19th century Congo was on the edge of unexplored Africa, one of the last uncolonized territories. The rainforest, swamps and attendant malaria, and other diseases such as sleeping sickness made it a difficult environment for European exploration and exploitation. Imperialists were at first reluctant to colonize the area in the absence of obvious economic benefits. King Leopold managed to secure it in 1885 through his private efforts, ruling the state personally until its annexation by his own kingdom of Belgium in 1908.

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