Leopold II of Belgium quotes - page 3

Leopold II of Belgium was the King of the Belgians, infamous for his brutal colonial rule over the Congo Free State. His exploitation and harsh policies led to the deaths and suffering of millions of Congolese people. He is remembered as one of history’s most controversial and criticized monarchs. Here are 67 of his quotes:

The colonial past has never been discussed in a transparent and systematic manner in Belgium. Many historians have certainly studied the subject, but at the political level the theme has been very little addressed, if not avoided. And the biggest gap is in education. Our 21st century multicultural society needs to know the facts, not the myths passed down from generation to generation. The detachment of the statues of Leopold II is part of a desire to purge a past partisan by the settlers, without regard for the colonized population and their suffering.

Leopold II of Belgium

When Leopold had an idea in his head, it was impossible to make him quit.

Leopold II of Belgium

The Congo was a sovereign State before the Berlin Conference was thought of. The first official acknowledgment of the new State came from the United States in the spring of 1884. It was afterwards formally recognised by other nations, and it entered the Berlin Conference on equality with the other Powers. It has never placed itself under the guardianship of any Power or collection of Powers. It has no connection with Belgium except that King Leopold II happens to be king of each of them.

Leopold II of Belgium

There were severed hands in the Congo, at the time of the Independent State... by the Officers of the Force Publique, to prevent the waste of ammunition to which their soldiers willingly let go, demanded that they provide proof that they had used their cartridges correctly. The proof was the severed hand of the killed enemy ... Severed hands, it will be noted, never constituted a form of punishment. ... By emphasizing, as they did, on the theme of severed hands - a theme which, we realize, easily provoked emotion -, Morel and his friends gave birth to the ambiguity which finally spread and lasted until our days: the idea that Leopold II had his hands cut off in the Congo, that it was a question of torture inflicted on the population, and even of torture most characteristic of the regime.

Leopold II of Belgium

I accuse Leopold's officials of tyranny, i accuse Leopold's government of excessive cruelty, ox chains eaten to the necks of prisoners and produce sores about which flies circle, the courts are aborted unjust and delinquent, not one state official knows the language of the natives, your majesties' government is engaged in slave trade, wholesale and retail.

Leopold II of Belgium

The Belgians built the railways, schools and hospitals there and boosted economic growth. Whether Leopold II also turned Congo into a gigantic labor camp? Not really. At the time, that was just the way of doing things.

Leopold II of Belgium

Call Leopold II a great visionary? You can't do that. What happened there then is shameful. If we took into account the standards of the 21st century, there is a good chance that Leopold II should now have appeared before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Leopold II of Belgium

When Leopold II began his great work, which today finds its culmination, he presented himself to you not as a conqueror but as a bringer of civilization.

Leopold II of Belgium

The independence of the Congo is the crowning of the work conceived by the genius of King Leopold II undertaken by him with firm courage, and continued by Belgium with perseverance. Independence marks a decisive hour in the destinies not only of the Congo herself but- I don't hesitate to say-of the whole of Africa.

Leopold II of Belgium

England would not have managed the Congo better than King Leopold has done if she had been mistress of it, as she might have become in 1877.

Leopold II of Belgium

The prevailing opinion at court was that the founding of a colony was beyond the strength of the Sovereign of a small state and that he would swallow up his private fortune, unable to create anything lasting. The King sought for the execution of his designs collaborators possessed of the faith which he himself had and which lifts mountains.

Leopold II of Belgium

Leopold II was able to push through his imperial wish and obtained that the fate of what would then be called the Congo Free State was linked to his own. He gave Congo its shape and dimensions, as well as a financial-capitalist structure. However, the debt burden that had become too heavy meant that the king handed over his colony to Belgium, a gift that the parliament was hesitant about but did not dare to refuse.

Leopold II of Belgium

There is no longer a single government that colonizes. There is only individual colonization.

Leopold II of Belgium

I am not telling you this, Monsignor, in the interest of the project that I am going to defend in the chamber and in front of the country, but in your personal interest. Believe me, Monsignor, we are entering an era where a Prince cannot be too circumspect and cautious. Avoid getting into our discussions and our controversies, avoid taking sides in our struggles.

Leopold II of Belgium

I will be more and more concerned with giving you sound and true political ideas, few people are better able to do this than I; since the age of 16 I have been involved in the big affairs of Europe.

Leopold II of Belgium