The first king of Belgium was a general in the Russian army. Biography
Leopold I(December 16, 1790 - December 10, 1865) - the first king of Belgium ("King of the Belgians") from 1831 to 1865 from the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty.
Childhood
Descended from the family of the Sovereign Dukes of Saxe-Coburg, was the eighth child and third son of the Grand Duke Franz of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Augusta-Caroline Reuss von Ebersdorf. Emperor Leopold II became his godfather. Until the age of eleven, Leopold was raised by his grandmother Sophia Antonia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Leopold's father, who was fond of botany and astronomy, instilled in his son a love for the natural sciences. The prince's teacher was Pastor Hoflender, who taught mathematics, ancient Greek and Latin.
Russian service general
He was accepted into the Russian service as a lieutenant colonel with enrollment in the Life Guards Izmailovsky Regiment on March 28, 1799. He was related to the Russian imperial house: his sister Anna Feodorovna was the wife of the heir Konstantin, and his sister Anthony was married to the brother of Empress Maria Feodorovna. In the Russian service, Leopold learned to speak Russian fluently.
February 1, 1801 transferred to the Life Guards. Horse regiment colonel, May 16, 1803 received the rank of major. Participated in a campaign in Austria in 1805 and was in the retinue of Emperor Alexander I at Austerlitz in 1805. In October 1806, the troops of the French general Jean-Pierre Augereau invaded the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and captured the capital. Leopold, along with his dying father Franz, was placed under arrest. In 1807 he participated in the battles near Heilsberg and Friedland. Together with his brother Ernest, he negotiated in Paris for the return of the duchy. In 1808 he accompanied Emperor Alexander on a trip to Erfurt, in 1809, at the insistence of Napoleon, he left the Russian service and returned to his homeland.
In 1813 he again entered the Russian army and was soon appointed commander of the Life Guards. Cuirassier regiment, with which he distinguished himself near Kulm and was awarded the Order of St. George 4th class on September 9, 1813.
For the Battle of Leipzig he received a golden sword with diamonds. In 1814 he fought at Brienne, Laon, Fère-Champenoise and Paris. On October 28, 1814 he was promoted to lieutenant general, on June 1, 1815 he was appointed commander of the 1st Lancers Division.
Husband of the British heiress
On March 31, 1814, the allied armies led by Emperor Alexander I entered Paris. “I don’t remember a more beautiful moment in my life,” Leopold said, “than when I entered this city as a winner, where I led such a miserable existence.” The Bourbons received Leopold with great courtesy. He appeared at the receptions of Talleyrand and Marshal Ney. Chamberlains and ministers, who had once denied him patronage, were now looking for his acquaintances, surprised by the friendly disposition that the Russian emperor showed him. Leopold came to the Congress of Vienna. And after the end of the congress in the retinue of Alexander I, he visited England.
In mid-June 1815, Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna (sister of Alexander I) introduced Leopold to Princess Charlotte, daughter of the Prince of Wales, eldest son of King George III, who was regent for a mentally ill father. Leopold and Charlotte fell in love. In London, Leopold, because of his poverty, was the subject of ridicule by supporters of William of Orange, whose bride was Charlotte. Leopold was supported by Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent. In August 1815 Leopold moved to Paris, maintaining a relationship with Charlotte through correspondence.
In 1816, Leopold, after a written invitation from the regent, the Prince of Wales, settled in England. On February 21, Leopold arrived in London and was received by George, Prince of Wales, and a few days later he was formally introduced to the queen, princesses and his bride. Charlotte kissed her father for the first time, so great was her gratitude. Within two weeks he received 50 thousand pounds, became a member of the House of Lords and a general in the British army. The Regent solemnly informed the Privy Council that his daughter was marrying for love. But in retaliation for her disobedience, the regent announced that he was going to give her husband the title of Duke of Kendal, after the tiny estate; earlier this title was borne by the German mistress of George I. However, the assignment of the title did not take place due to the imminent death of Princess Charlotte, who died on November 7, 1817 from complications during childbirth. Her son was born dead. Leopold was deeply saddened by the loss of his wife and child and subsequently named Charlotte's daughter from his second marriage, the future Empress of Mexico.
This post opens a series that is originally an extended version of my . I decided to add to the main text a story about his predecessors - the first and second Belgian kings, who bore the name Leopold. The story was divided into several separate posts and the result was such a story about the formation of the Belgian kingdom and its first monarchs.The small European country of Belgium is located on the territory of Flanders, once famous for its wealth, one of the strongholds of the development of European capitalism. At the end of the Middle Ages, these lands were part of a great power - the Duchy of Burgundy. It was ruled by dukes who came from the French royal house of Valois. This power, located in the center of Western Europe, included the lands of present-day Benelux, as well as part of the territories of present-day Germany and France. The heyday of this state came in the 15th century - the reign of the dukes Philip the Good and Charles the Bold. After the death of the latter 540 years ago at Nancy, the rights to the Duchy of Burgundy passed to the only daughter of the latter, Mary, who was married to Maximilian Habsburg. All further Habsburgs were descendants of this marriage. We will not talk about all the further ups and downs that happened on these lands, this is not included in my plans, and there would be too much to tell. Let's just say that by 1830 the territory of present-day Belgium was part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, being taken from the descendants of the Burgundian dukes - the Austrian Habsburgs (in 1713, the Spanish Netherlands, following the results of the War of the Spanish Succession, went to the Holy Roman Empire and became the Austrian Netherlands; in 1795 this the territory was annexed to France, in 1797 it was recognized as such, according to the Peace of Campo Formia; in 1806, these territories were transferred to the Netherlands, which was ruled by Louis Bonaparte, the father of the future Napoleon III; in 1810, Holland became part of France; in 1815 year, according to the decision of the Congress of Vienna, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was created, which included the territories of modern Belgium). In August, a revolution took place there, during which an independent state, separate from the Netherlands, was created - Belgium. On November 22, the National Congress voted for a constitutional monarchy, and on June 4 of the following year, it elected a king from among 13 applicants - Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (137 votes to 48). Let's talk briefly about what kind of person he was.
He was born in 1790 in Coburg to Duke Franz of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, his eighth child and third son. The boy's godfather was Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, who assumed the imperial crown after the death of his elder brother Joseph. In addition, the boy was the great-nephew of the famous commander Prince Friedrich Josiah von Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, who commanded the imperial and Austrian troops in the wars with Turkey and revolutionary France (in 1788, along with Saltykov, he took Khotyn, and in 1789 he helped Suvorov in victories at Fokshany and Rymnik; for these glorious victories, the prince was awarded the title of Field Marshal). Leopold loved the natural sciences, to which his father attracted him, and all his life he was fond of them and patronized them. In 1799, he was enrolled in the Russian service (at the age of 8!) Lieutenant Colonel L.-Guards. Izmailovsky regiment. He was connected with Russia by the fact that his sister Yulianna (Anna Fedorovna) was the wife of V.Kn. Konstantin Pavlovich, and another sister, Anthony (Antoinette) was the wife of the brother of Empress Maria Feodorovna, Duke Alexander of Württemberg, who in 1800 was accepted into the Russian service by the recommendation of Suvorov as a lieutenant general and was soon promoted to the rank of cavalry general. In 1801, Leopold became a colonel of the L.-Guards. Horse regiment, and after 2 years is promoted to the rank of major general. During his Russian service, which lasted intermittently until 1819, he learned to speak Russian fluently. As part of the retinue of Emperor Alexander, he took part in the campaign of 1805 and was with the Sovereign during the battle of Austerlitz. In October 1806, together with his dying father, he was arrested by Augereau's troops that entered the duchy, but was later released. In 1808, he accompanied the Russian emperor on his trip to Erfurt, and in 1809, at the request of Napoleon, he was forced to leave the Russian service, to which he returned in 1813 and was made commander of the L.-Guards. Cuirassier Regiment, in which capacity he distinguished himself at Kulm, for which on September 9 he was awarded the Order of St. George IV class. For distinction at Leipzig he was awarded a sword with diamonds. In 1814 he took part in the battles of Brienne, Laon, Fer-Champenoise and Paris. In October 1814 he was promoted to lieutenant general from the cavalry, and in 1815 he received the command of the 1st Lancers Division. In 1814, he visits England, where he meets the daughter of the regent George, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of the mad King George III, Charlotte Augusta (1796 - 1817) and falls in love with her. The girl was the daughter of the heir to the throne and the second in the list of contenders for the throne after her father, in fact, the future queen, which means that the selection of a groom for her was approached with all severity and thoroughness. She was looked after as such by Prince Willem of Orange, heir to the Dutch king (the future Willem II). But Charlotte refused marriage in defiance of her father and gave her heart to the impoverished Leopold, with whom, after long ups and downs, on May 2, 1816, she married. However, happiness with her beloved Leo, as she called him, was short-lived - on October 5, 1817, the princess gave birth to a dead boy, and 2 days later she died from complications after childbirth. The death of 21-year-old Charlotte, beloved by the people, unlike her father and grandfather, was perceived as a national tragedy; people mourned as if all over Britain, in every home, they had lost a beloved child. It was a tragedy for her husband (who would later name his only daughter, the future wife of the Mexican emperor Maximilian, in honor of his beloved late wife), father and for the whole country. There was a threat of interruption of the dynasty, since it was the only legitimate granddaughter of King George, while other sons did not have legitimate offspring and even wives. Leopold's friend, Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, who then lived in Brussels (the future capital of Belgium), broke up with his mistress and proposed to the young widower's sister, Victoria (1786 - 1861), in marriage with whom on May 24, 1819, a daughter, Alexandrina Victoria, was born, the future British Queen Victoria. In the same year, Leopold finally left the Russian service, and a year later the Duke of Kent died. Leopold became the guardian of his niece, took care of her, corresponded and gave various advice. Victoria called him "my second father."
In 1828, Leopold was offered to take the Greek throne, but, having initially agreed, in May 1830 he officially refused (interestingly, in a few decades, already in the 20th century, his descendant, the young Prince Charles, will also be offered to take the throne of this country) . Fate prepared another crown for him - in the summer of 1831 he became king of the newly formed kingdom of Belgium. I must say that at first the Catholics in the country were unhappy that a Protestant would become their king, but after some time they accepted him as their legitimate monarch. On July 21, 1831, Leopold I solemnly entered Brussels and took an oath of allegiance to the Belgian people and the Belgian constitution. Since then, 21 July has been the main national holiday in Belgium. In 1832, he married (for which he broke up with actress Caroline Bauer, with whom he cohabited all this time), and he was forced to choose the daughter of the French king Louis Philippe (the famous "bourgeois king") as his wife in order to neutralize the strong English influence on him. However, an important issue was the birth of an heir to the throne and brought up indispensable in the Catholic faith. And so. On April 9, 1835, Prince Leopold was born, who was a descendant of the original rulers of these lands - the Habsburgs, who were descendants of Mary, the daughter of Charles the Bold. On his mother's side, he was a descendant of the Habsburgs through the Orleans branch of the Bourbons and through the Bourbons of Naples. And now a distant descendant of Charles the Bold and Philip the Good was to take the Belgian throne, but for now he received the title of Duke of Brabant. On March 24, 1837, Prince Philip, Count of Flanders was born, who will be discussed below, since he will play an important role in the future of the country. On June 7, 1840, Princess Charlotte was born, named after the late first wife of the king. A rather difficult and tragic fate awaited her, which we will tell about another time. On August 22, 1853, the Duke of Brabant married a representative of the Habsburg dynasty - Archduchess Maria Henrietta (1836 - 1902), daughter of Archduke Joseph (1776 - 1847), Palatine of Hungary (1796 - 1847) and son of Emperor Leopold II. This marriage was opposed by the French emperor Napoleon III, who was afraid of the strengthening of Austria. However, relations between the countries were quite calm - in February 1854 Napoleon visited Belgium, and in September Leopold paid a return visit to France.
Belgium was recognized as independent on the terms of its eternal neutrality, the guarantor of which was England (recall about the family ties of the newly-made king), which, it should be noted, had interests in this region for a long time - since the Middle Ages. Moreover, the coast of this newly formed kingdom came very close to the shores of Albion. In 1839, the independence of Belgium was recognized by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which for a very long time did not want to accept the loss of a rather large part of its own territory.
On October 11, 1850, the queen died. On February 18, 1858, the daughter Louise was born to the heir, and on June 12, 1859, the long-awaited son, Leopold Ferdinand Elias Victor Albert Maria. In 1857, Princess Charlotte was married to Archduke Maximilian (who will be discussed another time). And only the Count of Flanders remained unmarried. Princess Stephanie was born on May 21, 1864. And on December 10, 1865, King Leopold I died and his son and heir Leopold II ascended the throne.
For our region, this person was distinguished by the fact that, being the head of the main department of communications, he was engaged in the reconstruction of water systems, as part of which a canal was built that connected the Sukhona River with the Sheksna River (which was part of the Mariinsky system). This channel in 1828 received the name of Duke Alexander of Württemberg. Now it is called Severo-Dvinsky.
From the family of the Sovereign Dukes of Saxe-Coburg, the third son of the Grand Duke Franz of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. He was accepted into the Russian service as a lieutenant colonel with enrollment in the life guards. Izmailovsky regiment March 28, 1799. February 1, 1801 transferred to the Life Guards. Horse regiment colonel, May 16, 1803 received the rank of major. Participated in a campaign in Austria in 1805 and was in the retinue of Emperor Alexander I at Austerlitz. In 1807 he participated in the battles near Heilsberg and Friedland. In 1808 he accompanied the Emperor on a trip to Erfurt, in 1809, at the insistence of Napoleon, he left the Russian service and returned to his homeland.
In 1813 he again entered the Russian army and was appointed commander of the Life Guards. Cuirassier regiment, with which he distinguished himself near Kulm and was awarded the Order of St. George 4th class on September 9, 1813. For distinction in battles with the French.
For the Battle of Leipzig he received a golden sword with diamonds. In 1814 he fought at Brienne, Laon, Fère-Champenoise and Paris. On October 28, 1814, he was promoted to lieutenant general; on June 1, 1815, he was appointed commander of the 1st Lancers Division.
Duke Kendall
On March 31, 1814, the allied armies led by Emperor Alexander I entered Paris. In the retinue of the Russian emperor, a young brilliant officer, sitting straight in the saddle, in a white robe, drew attention to himself. It was the Prince of Saxe-Coburg, riding at the head of the guard cavalry. “I don’t remember a more beautiful moment in my life,” said Leopold, “than when I entered this city as a victor, where I led such a miserable existence.” The Bourbons received Leopold with great courtesy. He appeared at the receptions of Talleyrand and Marshal Ney. Chamberlains and ministers, who had once denied him patronage, curled around him, surprised by the friendly disposition shown to him by the Russian emperor.
In mid-June 1815, Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna (sister of Alexander I) presented the handsome Leopold to Princess Charlotte, daughter of the Prince of Wales, eldest son of King George III, who was regent for his mentally ill father. Leopold and Charlotte fell in love. In 1816, Leopold settled in England, was officially introduced to the queen, princesses and his bride. Charlotte kissed her father for the first time, so great was her gratitude. Then the real miracles began for the prince. Within two weeks he received 50 thousand pounds, became a member of the House of Lords and a general in the British army. The Regent solemnly informed the Privy Council that his daughter was marrying for love. But in retaliation for her disobedience, the regent made her the Duchess of Kendall, after the tiny estate that was once the property of a former royal mistress. Princess Charlotte died on November 7, 1817 from complications during childbirth.
Another son of King George, the Duke of Kent, married Victoria of Saxe-Coburg, Princess of Leiningen, Leopold's sister. The Duke and Duchess of Kent on May 24, 1819 at Kensington Palace had a baby girl who later became Queen Victoria. Leopold was the guardian of his niece for 11 years, she affectionately called him "my second father."
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King Leopold I of Belgium
In August - September 1830 there was a revolution in Belgium, which resulted in the emergence of an independent state, separated from Holland. On November 22, the National Congress voted for a constitutional monarchy and on June 4, 1831, Leopold of Saxe-Coburg was elected King of Belgium by a majority of 137 votes to 48.
King Leopold I on July 21, 1831 solemnly rode on a white horse into the capital of his kingdom - Brussels and took an oath of allegiance to the Belgian people and constitution. This day is now considered one of the main national holidays.
In the midst of disputes about the candidacy for the Belgian throne, Leopold was given to understand that he must certainly marry the daughter of the French king Louis Philippe Louise Marie, who was 22 years younger than Leopold. The French Cabinet saw this alliance as the only way to neutralize the strong English influence experienced by the future King of Belgium. April 9, 1835 was born Crown Prince Leopold Louis Philippe Marie Victor, who later became the Belgian King Leopold II. The Belgian Queen Louise Marie died of pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 38 on October 11, 1850. Leopold outlived her by 15 years, Crown Prince Leopold came into his own on December 17, 1865.
A family
In May 1816, Leopold married Charlotte of Wales (1796-1817), daughter of the Prince Regent, later King George IV of Great Britain. She died in childbirth with the baby.
In August 1832, the king remarried Louise d'Orléans (1812-1850), daughter of King Louis-Philippe I of France. Children:
Louis Philippe (1833-1834);
Leopold (1835-1909), the next king of Belgium, Leopold II;
Philip (1837-1905), Count of Flanders;
Charlotte (1840-1927), married Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico
I started work in the Congo for the benefit of
civilization and for the benefit of Belgium. Leopold II
(words engraved on the monument
Leopold II in Arlem, Belgium)
It all started with a geographic conference held in Brussels in 1876, at which the proposals of King Leopold II of Belgium on introducing the inhabitants of Central Africa to civilization and Western values were voiced. The meeting was attended by eminent guests from different countries. Mostly they were scientists and travelers. Among them are the legendary Gerhard Rohlfs, who, under the guise of a Muslim, managed to get into the most closed areas of Morocco, and Baron von Richthofen, the president of the Berlin Geographical Society and the founder of geomorphology. Baron von Richthofen was the uncle of the legendary "Red Baron" Manfred von Richthofen, the best pilot in the First World War. The well-known geographer and traveler Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky arrived from Russia and chaired the conference.
As a result of the meeting, the International African Association is established under the leadership of Leopold II. In addition, the king establishes two more organizations: the Committee for the Study of the Upper Congo and the International Society of the Congo. These organizations were used by him to assert his influence in the Congo Basin. The king's emissaries signed hundreds of treaties with the leaders of the local tribes, according to which the rights to the land were transferred to the Association. The contracts were concluded in English or French, so the tribal leaders had no idea what rights and to what extent they transferred. However, colonial empires were built through such agreements, so Leopold II was not very resourceful.
Berlin Conference 1884-1885 Source: africafederation.net
The exploration of Central Africa has always been very risky. Firstly, because of diseases, many of which European medicine learned to treat only in the second half of the 19th century. Secondly, security, since not all native tribes peacefully accepted travelers. And thirdly, before the invention of railways and steamboats, exploration of the central regions of Africa did not bring any profit, since it was not possible to transport the resources hidden within it.
By the beginning of the reign of Leopold II, the necessary tools for research and development of the region already appeared. The isolation of quinine from the bark of the cinchona tree (1820) helped fight malaria, the “curse” of Central Africa. With the help of steamships and railways, it was possible to move deep into the continent, and the invention of the machine gun (for example, the Maxim system, 1883) and the improvement of small arms nullified the advantage of the natives in manpower. Thanks to these three components (medicine, steamships, machine guns), the development of Central Africa by the developed powers became inevitable.
The reports that came to the king said that the flora and fauna of the region are very rich, especially in wild rubber trees, from which scientists have learned how to get rubber. Demand for it at the end of the XIX century is growing rapidly. Not to mention ivory, which was then used to make artificial teeth, piano keys, candlesticks, billiard balls and much more.
In 1884-1885, the Berlin Conference, which was attended by representatives of Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, the USA, Great Britain, France and Belgium, formalized the colonial division of Africa between the world powers. But the efforts of the Belgian king were also rewarded - the Free State of the Congo SGC was proclaimed), full control over which passed to Leopold II. An area of more than two million square kilometers, about 76 times the size of Belgium, became the property of the king, who was now the world's largest landowner. Belgian Prime Minister Auguste Beernaert then declared:
“The state, of which our king is proclaimed sovereign, will be something like an international colony. There will be no monopolies and privileges. Quite the contrary: absolute freedom of trade, inviolability of private property and freedom of navigation.”
Prisoners in the Congo Free State. Source: claseshistoria.com
The decisions of the Berlin Conference obligated Leopold II to stop the slave trade, guarantee the observance of the principles of free trade, not impose duties on imports for 20 years, and also encourage charitable and scientific research in the region.
In one of his first decrees, Leopold II forbids the open publication of the normative legal acts of the Congo, so in Europe for a long time they will not know what is happening in a distant province. The king creates three ministries (foreign affairs, finance and internal affairs), and due to the fact that he will never visit his state, the post of governor-general is established with residence in Boma, the capital of the Congo. 15 district commissariats are being created, which will be divided into many districts.
Leopold II issues a series of decrees, according to which all land, with the exception of the places of residence of the natives, is declared the property of the SGC. That is, forests, fields, rivers, everything that was outside the native villages and where the indigenous people hunted and obtained food, became the property of the state, and in fact the king.
In 1890, a discovery occurs that has become a curse for the Congo: John Boyd Dunlop invents an inflatable tube for the wheels of bicycles and automobiles. Rubber becomes necessary in the production of many consumer goods: rubber boots, hoses, pipes, seals, telegraph and telephone insulation. The demand for rubber is increasing sharply. Leopold II successively issues decrees turning the indigenous inhabitants of the Congo into serfs, who are ordered to hand over all the resources they have extracted, especially ivory and rubber, to the state. A production rate was set, for rubber it was about four kilograms of dry matter for two weeks - a rate that could only be met by working 14-16 hours a day.
Execution of a slave in the Congo Free State. Source: wikimedia.org
An expropriation infrastructure is being created: cities are springing up at both ends of the Congo River with the help of numerous strongholds for military and commercial purposes, and the traffic of resources from the deep regions of the Congo is being established. The main task of the "trading points" is the forced selection of resources from the indigenous population. In addition, the king is building a railway from the city of Leopoldville (Kinshasa) to the port of Matadi on the Atlantic.
In 1892, Leopold II decides to divide the lands of the SGC into several zones: lands transferred to companies as a concession with the exclusive right to extract and sell resources, lands of the king and lands on which companies were allowed to trade, but the royal administration imposed huge taxes and fees on them and repaired all sorts of obstacles. Concessions began to be issued, since the royal administration did not control the entire territory of the Congo and, accordingly, did not have the opportunity to benefit from its exploitation. Usually 50% of the shares of the company receiving the concession were transferred to the state, that is, Leopold II.
The largest concession was obtained by the Anglo-Belgian company for the export of rubber, managed by the partners of Leopold II, the value of which in 1897 increased 30 times. Organizations that received a concession could set production standards themselves. Not to mention the fact that the production of rubber in the SGK was almost free, and its exports increased from 81 tons in 1891 to 6 thousand tons in 1901, while in 1897 alone, the company's profit was 700%. The income of the king himself from his possessions grew from 150 thousand francs to 25 million in 1908. Apotheosis of capitalism. Karl Marx said: “Provide capital with 300% profit and there is no such crime that it would not risk committing, even if under pain of the gallows.” Leopold II provided the capital with profits even greater than 300%. Crimes were not long in coming.
Formally, to combat the slave trade, the king established the Public Forces - OS (Force Publique). Now it would be called a Private Military Company (PMC). The officers were mercenaries from "white" countries, and ordinary fighters doing the most "dirty work" were recruited throughout Africa ("wild militia"). The colonial authorities did not disdain even the recruitment of cannibals. Theft of children was also in the order of things, who later, having undergone appropriate training, joined the ranks of the OS fighters.
The main task of the OS was to control the provision of production standards. For lack of dry rubber, pickers were flogged, hands were cut off, and they were killed for damaging rubber trees. OS fighters were also punished for excessive consumption of cartridges, so the severed hands (proof of the completed task) were carefully stockpiled so that the authorities were sure that the cartridges were not wasted. To carry out tasks, OS fighters did not shun hostage-taking, for refusing to work entire villages were destroyed, men were killed, and women were raped or sold into slavery. In addition to the delivery of rubber, the population of the colony was charged with the supply of food to OS fighters, so the population of the colony had to support their killers.
Victims of violence in the Congo Free State. Source: mbtimetraveler.com
Leopold II did not consider it necessary to build hospitals or even health centers on the lands subject to him. Epidemics raged in many areas, claiming the lives of tens of thousands of Congolese. From 1885 to 1908, researchers estimate that the Congolese indigenous population decreased by about ten million people.
The destruction of so many people could not go unnoticed. The first to announce the critical situation in the Congo was the African American George Williams, who visited the Congo and wrote a letter to King Leopold II in 1891 detailing the suffering of the Congolese from the colonialists. Williams reminded the king that "the crimes committed in the Congo are committed in the name of the king and make him no less guilty than those who commit these crimes." He also addresses the President of the United States, the first country to recognize the GCS. In his letter, in addition to mentioning the crimes of the colonial regime, about 50 years before the Nuremberg Tribunal, Williams also uses the following wording - "crimes against humanity." In addition, European and American missionaries testify to numerous human rights violations and the critical situation in the Congo Free State.
In 1900, the radical pacifist and journalist Edmund Dean Morel began publishing material on "forced labor camps" in the Congo. Morel maintains connections with writers, journalists, politicians and businessmen; it is known that chocolate king William Cadbury (a brand known for Halls candy, Picnic chocolate and Wispa) sponsors his projects. It is interesting that Edmund Morel himself learned, or rather, guessed about the genocide in the Congo, while working in a transport company that was engaged in sending goods from the SGK to Belgium and back. Looking through the documents, he found that natural resources (ivory, rubber) come from the Congo to Belgium, and only military cargo (rifles, bullets, ammunition) and soldiers are sent back to the Congo. Such an exchange did not at all resemble free trade, and he began an independent investigation that helped open the eyes of the world to the genocide of the indigenous population in the Congo. Edmund Dean Morel would later be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Edmund Dean Morel. Source: Library of Congress Edmund Dean Morel. Source: US Library of Congress
In 1903, under pressure from the public, the UK initiates an investigation into the increasing frequency of reports of violations of human rights in the GCC. The British consul Roger Casement, after visiting the Congo, during which he interviewed dozens of witnesses and victims of the policies of Leopold II, issues a report confirming many facts of the extermination of people for commercial gain.
From Roger Casement's report:
“Testimony of a child: We all ran into the forest - me, my mother, grandmother and sister. The soldiers killed a lot of ours. Suddenly they noticed my mother's head in the bushes and ran up to us, grabbed my mother, grandmother, sister and one strange child, smaller than us. Everyone wanted to marry my mother and argued among themselves, and in the end they decided to kill her. They shot her in the stomach, she fell, and I cried so terribly when I saw it - now I had neither a mother nor a grandmother, I was left alone. They were killed in front of my eyes.
A native girl reports: On the way, the soldiers noticed the child and went towards him with the intention of killing him; the child laughed, then the soldier swung and hit him with the butt, and then cut off his head. The next day they killed my half-sister, cut off her head, arms and legs, on which there were bracelets. Then they caught my other sister and sold her to the woo tribe. Now she has become a slave."
In 1904, Morel and Casement set up the Congo Reform Society. Morel visits the largest cities in the world with speeches and calls for the "world community" to intervene and stop the destruction of the inhabitants of the Congo, and branches of the society open in Europe and the USA.
Many famous writers of the era took an active part in resolving the "Congolese problem", as well as in the activities of the Society itself: Herbert Ward, Arthur Conan Doyle, Anatole France, Joseph Conrad, Mark Twain. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the book Crimes in the Congo, and Mark Twain wrote the pamphlet King Leopold II's Soliloquy in Defense of his Rule. However, the adventure story "Heart of Darkness", written by Joseph Conrad back in 1899, about the journey of the sailor Marlow along a lost tropical river in the Congo, had the greatest effect. During the journey, the protagonist witnesses the establishment of terrible colonial orders and meets a man named Kurtz, whose name alone causes fear in everyone who pronounces it, from natives to colonial officials.
Joseph Conrad's story "The Heart of Darkness" (Russian translation "Heart in Darkness") formed the basis of the famous blockbuster Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now".
As a result, Great Britain demands to reconsider the decisions of the Berlin Conference, and the Belgian socialists initiate the emergence of an independent commission to investigate the situation in the Congo. Thus, the Congo Reform Society becomes one of the first international human rights movements of the 20th century.
A snake with the head of Leopold II attacks a slave in the Congo Free State, cartoon from 1906.
Emperor Leopold II became his godfather. Until the age of eleven, Leopold was raised by his grandmother Sophia Antonia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Leopold's father, who was fond of botany and astronomy, instilled in his son a love for the natural sciences. The prince's teacher was pastor Hoflender, who taught mathematics, ancient languages - Greek and Latin.
Another son of King George III, the Duke of Kent, married Victoria of Saxe-Coburg, Dowager Duchess of Leiningen, Leopold's sister. The Duke and Duchess of Kent had a baby girl born on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace, who later became Queen Victoria. Leopold was the guardian of his niece for 11 years, was in regular correspondence with her, gave her political advice, she affectionately called him "my second father."
In 1828, Leopold was offered to become the king of Greece, which became independent after many years of struggle with Turkey. At first he agreed with a number of preconditions, but on 21 May 1830 he announced to the representatives of Russia, Austria and Prussia that he was formally renouncing the crown.
In the midst of disputes about the candidacy for the Belgian throne, Leopold was given to understand that he was not only obliged to convert to Catholicism, but he must certainly marry the daughter of the French king Louis Philippe Louise Marie, who was 22 years younger than Leopold. The French Cabinet saw this alliance as the only way to neutralize the strong English influence experienced by the future King of the Belgians. On April 9, 1835, Crown Prince Leopold Louis Philippe Marie Victor was born, who later became the Belgian King Leopold II.
The Belgian constitution adopted in 1831 limited the power of the king. Leopold I was dissatisfied with the too small role he had to play. But on the one hand, he zealously and jealously guarded the rights that he received, and also sought to expand royal power in those areas in which the constitution did not define or poorly prescribe the rights of the king. For example, Leopold I ensured that ministers report to the king before making an important decision.
After the war with the Netherlands ended, the struggle between the liberals and the Catholics, who had previously been united by a common goal, intensified inside Belgium. Until 1840, Leopold I managed to keep a balance by maneuvering between parties. On March 17, 1841, the Senate urged the king to eliminate differences in parliament, but this caused numerous protests. When Leopold I refused to dissolve Parliament, the Cabinet of Ministers resigned and a new government was created, headed by Mühlener and Nothombe. They sent instructions to the governors of the provinces to achieve reconciliation. But, despite this, the struggle between the two parties in the elections that took place on June 8, 1841, which significantly changed the composition of the chamber, took on a fierce character. An Orangist conspiracy was discovered, led by General Vandermeer and the retired General Vandersmissen. Many participants in the conspiracy, sentenced to death by the court, Leopold I replaced the execution with 20 years in prison. But all attempts by the coalition governments of Noton and de Weyer to reconcile the two parties were unsuccessful. A fierce struggle was caused by many issues, for example, the teaching of the law of God in schools. Leopold I tried to maneuver between them. But from 1846, Leopold I began to form a cabinet of ministers from representatives of the party that prevailed in parliament.
Leopold I tried to strengthen the Belgian army. With the help of S. Brooker and General Even, he increased its number to 100,000 people in 1847. Despite the debt that Belgium received along with independence, industry developed in the country and railways were built. And customs treaties strengthened those family ties that connected Leopold I with the rulers of neighboring countries.
In 1846, Leopold I did not follow the advice of Louis Philippe I and did not ban the Liberal Union, which came up with a radical reform program. On the contrary, after the victory of the Liberals in the elections in 1847, he appointed Charles Roger as head of the cabinet. In 1848, when a new revolution broke out in France, King Leopold expressed to Parliament his readiness to abdicate, like his father-in-law, from the throne in favor of the Belgian nation. Roger's liberal cabinet, along with parliament, supported the king. Parliament approved: 1) an extraordinary tax increase, amounting to 8/12 of the land tax, 2) a forced loan of 25 million francs and a state guarantee for the issuance of bank notes for 30 million francs. But, having introduced emergency measures, they went to change the legislation. Laws were passed that reduced the electoral qualification to 20 florins, a ban was introduced on combining public service and parliamentary positions, and the stamp tax on newspapers was abolished. Thanks to these reforms, a revolution did not start in Belgium. And when, on March 28, 1848, several French revolutionaries tried to bring a revolution to Belgium, they were rebuffed. After Napoleon III Bonaparte seized power in France on December 2, 1851, some of the French, dissatisfied with the confiscation of the property of the House of Orleans, moved to Belgium. The emigrants, through the founding of many anti-Bonapartist journals, tried to restore their position in France. On the one hand, Leopold I and the government avoided irritating the new France and placed the emigrants under strict police supervision. On the other hand, the government demanded that funds be allocated for the construction of a fortified camp near Antwerp. Under these conditions, Leopold I and the new government of Heinrich de Broucker tried to strengthen Belgium's position on the world stage. In August 1853, the Crown Prince of Brabant married the Austrian Princess Charlotte of Wales.
From a connection with Arcadia Meyer (1826-1897), who received the title of Baroness von Eppinhoven, Leopold had a son, Georg (1849-1904), who founded the family of barons von Eppinhoven