Punishments in the Congo Free State under Leopold II

The horrific atrocities that took place in the Congo Free State are often compared to the Holocaust, with king Leopold II of Belgium being compared to the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Between 1885 and 1908, Leopold II personally ruled the Congo, in sub Saharan Africa, which was largely unexplored at this time, as only the coastal areas had been claimed by other European countries. He named it the “Congo Free State,” which is rather ironic when you realise what went on there.
The local population was anything but free.
(1885-1908)
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Credit:
Created by Daniel Turner (B.A. (Hons) in History, University College London)
Narrator:
Chris Kane
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Arid Foothills - The Dark Contenent by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Sources
Gondola, Ch. Didier. The History of Congo. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2002.
Hochschild, Adam. King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.
Palmer, R.R. Joel Colton and Lloyd Kramer, A History of Europe in the Modern World. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2014.
Rutz, Michael A. King Leopold’s Congo and the “Scramble for Africa”. Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated, 2018.

[@JaviBee]

King Leopold’s crimes in the Congo need more awareness, some of the worst atrocities in human history

[@commandergeokam2868]

So true

[@theperson4yearsago565]

BuT jEw ArE oPpReSsEd BiGot

[@walnzell9328]

Why does someone named A Rober have this exact same comment? With, "Very good job fellows!!" added?

[@Justin-pe9cl]

For real man

[@walnzell9328]

@@Robert_2001 The cruelty natives show each other does not excuse the cruelty of their colonizers. They are both cruel. I agree. Native people's aren't all sunshine and rainbows before colonizers arrive. Humans have this tendency to be terrible to each other. It's probably why Leopold's Congo got so many African soldiers who were completely desensitized to everything and were willing to do all these horrible acts. Nothing really changed for them whether their leader was black or white.

[@appondaniappondani6647]

Everyone always speaks of colonialism on the subject of Africa. I am from Nigeria and I would like to request more to show the prominent yet overlooked role of other African nations on enabling the trans Atlantic slave trade. Particularly by the Madinka tribe.

[@Spongebrain97]

Slavery had always existed in western Africa but I wouldn't say any one particular tribe specifically "enabled" it. That was more so the Europeans whose demand for slave labor caused the market to sky rocket higher than it was before

[@JonJayMMA]

That’s a video I have yet to see anyone talk about good idea

[@RipRLeeErmey]

@@Spongebrain97 But one would think the demand for slave labor wouldn't be so high if other African tribes weren't so willing to enslave their fellow man to sell off to the Europeans for all their goodies, don't'cha think?

[@ravensthatflywiththenightm7319]

@@Spongebrain97 It's still a good topic to explore. Not every single featured topic has to be about Europe.

[@Spongebrain97]

@@ravensthatflywiththenightm7319 and those topics are readily available. Just make sure it's in good faith and not aimed to absolve the Europeans of their blame as well.

[@carlosmartinbosio7600]

This is horrible, it should be taught at schools in the whole world

[@boardcertifiable]

If you read Heart of Darkness in school like I did it's covered to better understand the book.

[@farhanzafor1144]

nobody cares nerd

[@meta.a9447]

As a Congolese, I'm deeply wounded by our history and the result of it. Thank you for putting our stories out there🙌🙌💫

[@yeahwhateveridc6062]

Yes but at the end of the day; the congolese sold out the congolese

[@matsi1944]

Much support from Belgium, time to face the facts and remember history... As a Belgian i am glad to see more attention to this black pages in Belgian/Congolese history and teach to our children that every country has his devils... (Like mr.Purtler is holding africa hostage in terms of grain supply...) Many warm greetings

[@francismusali676]

@@yeahwhateveridc6062 what would they do about it. It was a matter of life or death. You either do what the master says or you join the slaves.

[@yeahwhateveridc6062]

@@francismusali676 naa bro it wasn’t like that.

[@yeahwhateveridc6062]

@@francismusali676 and i’d rather die than sell out my own folk

[@ives3572]

"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." - Abraham Lincoln

[@garymct6860]

Vae victis.

[@orneryokinawan4529]

Lincoln was a hypocritical POS

[@fartdonkey8290]

If you are racist we will attack you with the north. Abraham Lincoln

[@fascistwhiterunguard7919]

@Sahib he did

[@wallachia4797]

@@fascistwhiterunguard7919 source

[@royalproductions8704]

According to some Portuguese Historians, King Carlos I of Portugal did write a letter condeming Leopold's actions in the Congo, tho the later migth had been destroyed during WWII

[@chuckbrotton2449]

Quite believable. Portuguese Angola shares a long border with the Congo and the happenings there would have led to refugees and other spillover in Portuguese territory.

[@josuemanuelparejacontreras6004]

Considering that portugueses were very into slavery it is shocking they condemned Leopold

[@gluteusmaximus8290]

@@josuemanuelparejacontreras6004 Portugal in the early 20th century is different than Portugal in the 15th century

[@catholicracialist776]

@@gluteusmaximus8290 No, they were the same Both hardcore Catholic Get your facts straight

[@space4166]

@@catholicracialist776 ok el suneo Portugal still used slavery in the 20th century

[@calcuzaedwin6514]

I wonder how animals like Leopold of Belgium were left to wonder free in Europe and die a natural death after all these atrocities..

[@greentomic5359]

The thing is when it comes to anything that won't be a big issue or tragedy for them, they just won't care at all. I mean look what the Americans did to the native.

[@lmlmd2714]

One correction to this: Rubber trees are not found in the Congo basin, but the vines are. One of the reasons for Leopold pushing the native population to such extremes was precisely because tree cultivation in Brazil and Malaysia was vastly more efficient. To remain competitive using the inferior wild vines of the Congo basin, he simply cranked up the exploitation. The main problem is that to extract rubber from the vines, they have to be slashed, killing them. The more rubber was produced from the wild vines by a settlement, the more the immediate forest was denuded of them, meaning the harvesters had to travel further and further and spend longer looking for the remaining vines. Rather than waste resources trying to cultivate the vines or introducing rubber trees, it was simpler to just threaten and terrorise the people into increasingly desperate acts to meet the quota... though in the end production still declined and terror and murder became ends in and of themselves.

[@tiramisu7544]

Did leopold ever think of just importing rubber trees from other parts of the world into Congo? Still would be an invasive species but at least they would have an actual way to cultivate rubber instead of just doing inefficient stuff

[@lmlmd2714]

@@tiramisu7544 There was some half hearted attempts to introduce the rubber tree, as well as an attempt to cultivate the wild vine in plantations, but the Free State had very very few European administrators present on the ground, let alone botanical experts who were familiar with establishing and maintaining viable plantations. The Belgian colonial population in the Free State era was never more than a few thousand across the entire country, so the most plantations failed, and the others never became significant enough to replace the "terrorise the locals into servitude" approach. It's worth remembering this was literally a private estate, not a state-backed colonial venture with the full force and resources of a government at it's disposal.

[@taserrr]

I've seen plenty of stupid comments saying Belgians don't know about this. I am from Belgium and here is the truth: It is mandatory, it's in the highschool curriculum meaning every highschool student is taught what happened in the Congo. It's mandatory history.

[@hishamalaker491]

nice at least you belgiums are like Germans you both acknowledge your disastros history and you try to be better while still regreting what you did unlike Britian and France especially the french who are now trying to become the victims by saying that the migrants from their ex-colonies are terriorists and btw the French still has their military and controls the economy of north western Africa mostly their ex-acfrican colonies and hundreds of billions of dollars of the french economy depends on the exploitation and resources that they can easily access and get from their ex-colonies because they have their military there and they literally control their currencies and one time they assasinated a president from one of these countrys for being against france and Britian well Conservatives would just say ''wE ciViLized tHeM'' Too pathetic.

[@bigbadlara5304]

Same thing said to me. Except I am from the Netherlands. Yes we get taught in public school what the Dutch did to their slaves.

[@user-ir2fu4cx6p]

​@@hishamalaker491 Honesty Arabs didn't teach about their slavery history, until today, they didn't mention it even in the media, and I never hear a single cleric criticizes slavery, and the general idea the slavery is OK, specially on gulf state country, since they considered everyone work there as their own slave or (servant) they don't say it publicly but the treatment that foreign workers had said it all.

[@armendfiqi]

I must have been sleeping in class never knew this

[@rickrozen2341]

Also in the Netherlands you’re taught this.

[@D3P.17]

This is absolutely horrific. It’s hard to wrap my head around the ability for some people to easily treat other people like they aren’t even humans.

[@dawson1787]

@Al lol shut up

[@triangulum8869]

@Al 2/10 bait

[@peterpotter468]

@Al Yo

[@Normaldude10174]

@@triangulum8869 it’s not true, but that’s actually what they thought

[@originalog6995]

Maybe next time defend your land better so you don't get invaded and enslaved, history is written by the victor

[@bawknahpaw8286]

Leopold Treats congos like I treat Minecraft villagers

[@galvatron0810]

One of my favorite books, King Leopolds Ghost, is an amazing novel that explains many of the aspects of Leopold's Congo and is definitely worth a read.

[@MustacheCashStash125]

I have that book and my dad read it too I really like it

[@mas-udal-hassan9277]

​@@MustacheCashStash125Why does Islam attract more converts than any other religion? One major reason is that vIslam says: "refugees welcome" to those fleeing failing liberal social and religious institutions. Let me explain. Liberal secularists promote the idea that their norms for regulating marriage, family, and religion are ideal. Nevertheless, statistical data indicates that wherever a society is governed by liberal secular norms, people stop marrying, having children, and practising religion. Put differently, the liberal is fundamentally a hypocrite - despite what he or she might say, no liberal person is actually interested in being part of a liberal marriage, a liberal family, or a liberal religion. Matters are different when it comes to Islam. Muslims also promote the idea that their norms for regulating marriage, family, and religion are ideal. Moreover, statistical data indicates that wherever a society is governed by Islamic norms, it boosts marriage, birth rate, and religious practice. Put differently, the Muslim is actually interested in being part of a Muslim marriage, a Muslim family, and the Muslim religion. The current era is an era of refugees fleeing from liberalism. Liberal marriage, family, and religion have collapsed. As a result, refugees from liberal societies seek marriage partners abroad, and if they practice any type of religion , it is a non-liberal version whose centers are located abroad. Islam is the most obvious choice for them.

[@chontz]

Ima look it up

[@iattacku2773]

Belgium in Europe: “ I’m weak don’t let him kill me” Belgium in Africa: “ POWER, UNLIMITED POWER “

[@acesgames5318]

“ I’m weak don’t let him kill me”. No need to be so degrading ok. (no offence)

[@Hiroheim]

@@acesgames5318 Have you ever watched star wars?

[@G.A.C_Preserve]

@@Hiroheim definitely no I'm too weak…

[@acesgames5318]

@@Hiroheim Yeah why?

[@JesusAmaTeMenino]

@@acesgames5318 Woosh!

[@michaelkiniry3432]

"Around about 1900 the Europeans had learned that quinine was a useful defense against Malaria." Only off by about 300 years. Perhaps quinine was not fully understood, isolated, or synthesized in a form resembling modern pharmacological use until about 1900, but quinine was identified by Europeans as medicinal in the 1500s and as early as the 1600s it was used in Europe specifically as an anti-malaria treatment.

[@illumiNOTme326]

Well said.

[@Tinil0]

Eh, it wasn't widely used and understood by all doctors until the mid 19th century, but that still is 50 years off from their timeline.

[@hfjiswnation4338]

🤓

[@janbananberg357]

London had malaria troubles for a disturbingly long time.

[@bartonarchuleta204]

@@Tinil0 contrarians gotta contrary

[@starlight654]

As an African l'm so sad for everyone who had to go through this 😞

[@AwakenedFaith]

I remember having to do a summer book report in high school. I normally hate summer reading, but I’m a huge history nerd and wanted to learn more about the horrors of colonial Africa so I chose to read “Heart of Darkness”. This was a great video summary of the horrors of the Congo under Leopold II.

[@RandomGuy9]

Fun fact: In Germany we call someone who like to cut off hands of others a Belgian.

[@lepastresgentil9467]

German humour living up to the myth it seems lmao

[@De_Jere]

Classic Kraut. I'm sure we also have a nickname for someone who likes to start wars over nothing...

[@scorpionz982]

Germans should be the last ones criticizing the cruelty of others

[@canudont8748]

@@scorpionz982 Shut up please. Germany has moved on from its past

[@sudoblue9777]

I thought Germany only saw Belgium as a shortcut to Paris.

[@benjaminmadengnyunai3718]

This is unjustified violence against inocent people, men, women and children,unfortunate sons of Congo, unfortunate sons of Africa. Belgium MUST repair this, for it is unacceptable, intolérable and unforgettable. See What can human beings (so called White,Europeans) inflict to other human beings (Africans) because they are simply black. This is unforgivable.

[@DraskoCobra]

Also They Needed Ruber

[@XXXTENTAClON227]

You’re a bit late, Leopold II has been dead for a long long time

[@fancytiny848]

As a black African.... honestly this hurts more than you can imagine .....may karma take charge that's all I'll say

[@CheckYourMailbox]

It did, look at what happened to Belgium in ww1 and ww2

[@PeruvianPotato]

Karma doesn't exist but I do find it interesting as to what happened to Belgium in both World Wars.

[@hamxanawaz]

Man this is horrible. I can't even imagine something like that happening to my own family members right infront of my eyes, even though I'm from a place which was stricken by war for nearly a decade that resulted in numerous deaths. These crimes need more awareness and the public should know more about the vile history of colonials like leopold just as much as we learned about hitler.

[@theonef570]

Which country?

[@wahabeez]

@@theonef570 judging by his user probably Syria or iraq

[@someguy2744]

@@wahabeez İt's probably the İran-İraq war since it lasted almost a decade i.e. 1980-1988 - keep in mind that Shah Reza (the king of İran from 1941-1979 who lost power after the İslamic Revolution happened) was installed by the C--İ--A plus the Brits

[@sticksnstonespatriot1728]

@3:54 lmfao.

[@sticksnstonespatriot1728]

@4:50 lmfao.

[@LeoNate-pi5mf]

By Congo Free State, Leopold actually meant **free real estate**

[@user-sy3yt4rt5r]

But it was free only from mercy ad human rights

[@user-jt5vi8cm1m]

I'm gonna leave a comment here when this blows up

[@eliaass6598]

.

[@drumcorps0junkie]

@@eliaass6598 😇

[@jffry890]

God damn, this is one of the most brutal episodes you guys have done.

[@lucase.garcia8026]

There is so much atrocity that needs to be talked about. Those of Leopold II, or of the British Empire in the Bay of Bengal when, in order to destroy the local silk industry, they cut off the fingers of girls so that they cannot weave. Thanks for talking about these things, you do a great good.

[@Ghostscar]

"Leopold II, against the savages and masturbation." What a nice punch line.

[@lucasbarcellos8356]

"punch line" Was the pun intended?

[@AbuHajarAlBugatti]

I think germany is now building the Leopold II A7 already

[@gentlemanzackp6591]

@@AbuHajarAlBugatti LEOPARD not leopold lol

[@XXXTENTAClON227]

@@gentlemanzackp6591 nah it’s definitely Leopold II for English, maybe your language is different?

[@captainsquirrel0500]

I’ve been watching these videos for a while, and there’s something I’ve noticed that i really like. From the time they’ve started this channel (in this current form) they’ve stuck with the same art style, yet evident in this video, improved the quality and detail of the animations too. Amazing channel

[@Enlightened-rd1jz]

I like they pointed out in the amination that the force publique were mostly locals fighting for Leopold.

[@HateTheIRS]

Copy paste comment

[@sticksnstonespatriot1728]

@3:54 and @4:50 lmfao GREAT animation 👌🏽

[@sheilaindaikitan1143]

Tjjwjitjtfjfijfjrjrjdjfjtottjjefiyft😄🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🚴🚴🚴🐃🐃🐃🐃🐃🐃🐂🐘🐘🐘🐘🕹️🕹️🕹️🎰🎰🎰🎰🎰🖌️🖌️🎹👑👑💎💎💎👑👑👑👑👑👑💎💎💎🔭🔭🔭🔭🔭🔍📣📣📣📢📢📢📯🔔🔔🔔📿📿📿📿🔑

[@AustroHungarianEmpire1867]

​@@sheilaindaikitan1143 I feel really tempted to report this account for some reason and I can't explain why.

[@andreaapicella2243]

Remember, Kaiser Wilhelm II once addressed Leopold as a "completely evil man".

[@lancematthewrcunanan1785]

And hitler? Just asking.

[@AztechCamera]

Really good to see the diversity of subjects covered by this channel. Keeping such topics like this accessable for younger generations is important.

[@mas-udal-hassan9277]

COMPARE THESE TWO ARGUMENTS "Islam endorses war (jihad) to impose its law (Sharia) across the world. Therefore Islam approves killing people across the world. Muslims are dangerous - your Muslim neighbor literally wants to knife your little daughter and then blow up the local McDonalds." "Liberalism endorses war (e.g., colonialism, humanitarian intervention, military occupation) to impose its law (international human rights law) across the world. Therefore liberalism approves killing people across the world. Liberals are dangerous - your liberal neighbor literally wants to knife your little daughter and then blow up the local mosque." Why do so many idiots find the first argument logical and compelling, while they find the second argument illogical and absurd? Aren't both arguments illogical and absurd? Do you want to know why the US is broke and subject to an increasingly totalitarian surveillance regime? It is because the American people allowed themselves to be duped by absurd arguments into endorsing the "Global War on Terrorism" - spending 8 trillion dollars and agreeing to give the government unlimited surveillance/policing powers in the name of "fighting terrorism/extremism" as characterized by the first argument above.]]

[@azj_]

Belgium history in Europe: ✨😊☮️ 💕🤗 Belgium history in Africa: 👹🔪🔥😈🩸

[@rickrozen2341]

Belgium is a made up country and rightfully part of the Netherlands but stolen by the French by a phoney proxy revolution that caused the French minority to oppress the Dutch majority. Leopold was a stinky frog and not Dutch.

[@laboskie349]

For the ~150 years Belgium existed in Europe, it has really only been invaded by Germany and form the EU. But in Africa...

[@stavros327]

@@laboskie349 well yeah but before belgium actually became a country the rest of europe all fought for it The romans, french, Dutch, spanjards...

[@bruhman5385]

classic victim behaviour I would say. Later commiting the same violences you had to go through...happens a lot individually speaking: abused children becoming abusing parents. Sad but true.

[@EM-tx3ly]

@@stavros327 Don't forget the British It was in Britain that the country was officially founded as a new state Belgium

[@diiReallly3]

Thank you for this information . It obtained all of what we needed . ✌🏽

[@Honeybee-fi2xi]

We learnt about this along with colonization in South Africa as part of our syllabus in in South Africa. Really sad what happened.💔

[@corrupt1user]

There's another aspect you missed. To meet the impossible quotas, the tribes were forced to steal from each other, and this resulted in a large portion of the deaths that occurred.

[@PROVOCATEURSK]

They were not forced, they chose to.

[@corrupt1user]

@@PROVOCATEURSK "Working harder" wasn't an option. Their "choice" was "get their hand chopped off" or "steal". And that only made things worse; if you were a tribe that was able to gather enough rubber, but 2 days before you were supposed to deliver the rubber a neighboring tribe stole your rubber, what options did you have? Get your hands lopped off or steal from another neighbor. And thus the tribes ended up murdering each other to avoid being the one being murdered by the Belgians. This wasn't even ruthlessly efficient; tribes spending all their time fighting weren't gathering rubber. It was just inhumane for the sake of being inhumane.

[@dexterramey8787]

@@PROVOCATEURSK what? U crazy🥴

[@juiceoverflow]

@@PROVOCATEURSK they chose to when facing against the threat of torture, mutilation, or death. AKA, they were FUCKING FORCED

[@XJ9sodypop]

Sounds like my first job. Wagies stole each others "load" to get more hours. You got more hours by being busy ofc

[@RDSyafriyar]

"The economic crisis which weighs on Europe since the industry took such a big development, carries the nations towards the colonial companies. Belgium could not remain a stranger to this movement without seriously compromising its material interests; our King Leopold II understood this, and this is what determined him to substitute his individual initiative for the persistent inaction of the government and the nation." - Alexis Henri Brialmont

[@freeeggs3811]

All thanks to the js

[@jaesall3519]

Congo I love my country. People just don't know the history and stories, we came along way God bless 🙏

[@Swerzyy]

“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.” -Abraham Lincoln

[@XJ9sodypop]

ironic coming from the president who had to declare martial law because half the country hated him and ignored him. i believe his approval rating was the lowest out of all presidents at the time, and would remain so until the great depression.

[@camarov8power319]

"The future is in your hands" "No more hands, no more voting" "Chop him!"

[@aurathedraak7909]

To be honest, this video was quite and very disturbing to me. Especially the drowning with rocks.

[@herowesley1804]

Good it's supposed to disturb you, colonialism is fucked up

[@DraskoCobra]

6:57 Imagine Your Father as The Guy There And You Being The Son

[@rishabhch4765]

@Kosorou Gaming Archives are you mentally ill ?? You need some help .

[@realtrapper1878]

@Kosorou Gaming Archives can’t get mad at history bro

[@prosperous_berri_x]

@Kosorou Gaming Archives shut up lmao.

[@JXC25]

I love this channel.

[@zariftanzil1175]

and yet, these are the same europeans who go around lecturing asia, africa and middle east about morality and being 'civil'.

[@___E]

There were literally a few hundred people who did this please shut up. The other European countries condemned Leopold ll.

[@zariftanzil1175]

@@___E then why do we keep seeing repetations of these type of people from Europe, huh? Mussolini, Hitler, Leopold II are only few of the many fascists and brutal dictators that managed to ruin the world perfectly.

[@zariftanzil1175]

@Overwatch17 yet still the death counts of asian and african dictators combined aren't as horrible as european dictators, are they? and you can't really lecture others on sanitation with a dirty lawn at your own house.

[@___E]

@@zariftanzil1175 Are not completable? Mao Zedong, Chinggis Khan, do I need to say more?

[@brianokello3832]

It was really a sad moment in Africa's history.

[@my8thaccount236]

Compared to the rest of the world, the entire history of Africa is pretty sad and pathetic frankly.

[@brianokello3832]

@@my8thaccount236 True

[@JcoleMc]

@@my8thaccount236 I beg to differ the 1300 - 1500 saw the rise of many african kingdoms such as Mali , Mutapa and Kongo who even sent a ambassador to meet with the pope before shortly falling ill in my opinion if Africa wasn't colonized during this period it would of been much better

[@johnalejandro6392]

Blacks seethe while euro chads impregnate their (Austrolipethicus) w*men

[@Dalson_]

It was

[@blzflain1590]

This channel has taught me more about history than my highschool.

[@Boxmediaphile]

Looking at how public schools are run I'm not surprised

[@q44021]

true tho

[@Zorro9129]

And like your highschool, it's unwise to take everything at face value.

[@Sebastianator01]

The American education system is horrible. Its sad. As great and wealthy a nation like America is, it fails educating its citizens. College is too expensive and all kids care about are grades and passing classes. They don’t even care about LEARNING. Ask an American citizen what the capital of Greenland is? Majority WONT know. They don’t even know capitals of states within the US! Insane!! But we know y= mx + b right?!

[@krishshah3974]

same

[@gadzoboom]

Hey simple history great video i was wondering could u do a videa on the final jewish battle 70 ad

[@miraclehall3336]

At 10:02, it looks like a scene that’s straight out of the “Heart of Darkness” novel…

[@kenhammscousin4716]

We like to think we’re more civilized but such monsters still exist. As long as people think they are better because of the land they were born on, there will be atrocities against people born on foreign soil

[@prophecyrat2965]

There will be attrocities so long as the Strong are Civilized

[@animtres]

And as long as people think their religion is the way of life that others should live by.

[@ghostsmoke11]

3:30 those water graphics are great! you guys have been working hard

[@muhammadabdullahwaseem3040]

dont ask the americans what happened in iraq dont ask the chinese what happened in tianamen square dont ask the belgians what happened in The Congo

[@reneedennis2011]

Thank you for this video. I read the book King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild many years ago.

[@renanfelipedossantos5913]

A similar episode would take place later in the Peruvian-Colombian border, when company "Casa Arana" exploited the Huitoto natives as slave workforce and committed genocide against them.

[@josuemanuelparejacontreras6004]

Oye, yo soy peruano y ni enterado de eso :0, a investigar

[@sebastianrocha7028]

I just read about it, and the similarities are striking, even the handcutting.

[@PeruvianPotato]

Guau nunca aprendió de esas noticias tristes...

[@Congowillprevail243]

We Congolese have faced a lot. We continue to strive for a better future, like our father Lumumba dreamed of. Long live Congo and one day it’s children will enjoy the prosperity of their nation. 🇨🇩✊🏾

[@Emily-5124]

please stop giving birth

[@antonm8719]

There is a university in his name in Moscow. Very famous and respected.

[@johnalejandro6392]

Blacks seethe while euro chads impregnate their (Austrolipethicus) w*men

[@daxstreamer7992]

🇧🇪🦁

[@Stalkergames916]

Hope for the best for your country you went through a lot

[@Raelexx]

Yeah now I unsterstand why they renamed the Leopold ranges. Didn't know why at first but this guy was something else.

[@evandrocunha4818]

Great video !! Would I like to watch you cover and make an awareness about the Continuation of Colonization of the French in Africa that stands to this day.

[@arober9758]

Very good job fellows!! King Leopold’s crimes in the Congo need more awareness, some of the worst atrocities in human history.

[@johnalejandro6392]

Blacks seethe while euro chads impregnate their (Austrolipethicus) w*men

[@ghelmet2701]

Some men wants to watch the world burn. But I in the other hand want to see the Oppressive King Leopold ll's Statue burn in the modern era

[@alfrancisbuada2591]

@@ghelmet2701 Agreed

[@chrism1518]

Agreed. I stick to American history up to the end of Vietnam and had never heard of this man until this video.

[@vespa9566]

The sub Saharan slave trade was 80 times greater then the Atlantic slave trade. Interesting , are you aware of the Arab conquest from the seventh century on. Have you ever known of a high population of Africans in the Middle East? There’s a big reason why.

[@ACE1918]

Ah yes the Monarch who had a hands off approach to ruling.

[@frederickoftheartic2209]

Ayy, nice one.

[@laboskie349]

But he needed "hands in the Congo" but that was bit late

[@julianbrooker3701]

💀💀💀💀💀

[@tebogotwala5185]

i watched the tiananmen square video on this channel and decided to explore some more. holy moly.

[@amerahmed639]

Man this so horrible. I can’t watch this anymore and I am halfway there. I have stopped this halfway. I could have never imagined people could be this cruel and cunning. I have a million thoughts running through my head that I can’t finish writing this comment.

[@angelmedina4922]

Seeing it animated make me forget there’s actually pictures from this time in history

[@jorenbaplu5100]

The pictures were actually extremely important in reporting all this to the rest of the world. Back then communication was obviously much slower and the pictures really showed people what was happening

[@Zorro9129]

@@jorenbaplu5100 Makes you wonder though, why would the administrators be taking and sending pictures of the atrocities if they were the ones responsible for them?

[@PadecMaybeReal]

For once, people calling him worse than Hitler would be accurate and applicable.

[@ponycentaur1456]

ID Say worse than stalin, maybe even pol pot.

[@sjarel_karel2845]

Long live belgium🇧🇪

[@danylo-antoniidavymuka5514]

@@sjarel_karel2845 nice

[@WeirdMagnus]

@@sjarel_karel2845 edgelord lol

[@thatoneperson134]

Only person worse besides Stalin is Mao Zedong with 50-80 million deaths

[@_kdee]

Please what's the name of the app that you used to create this video

[@lockeagamemnon6847]

they dont talk about it in european schools. I asked my teacher ones about this and she told me, we dont talk about it. I sad, well i want to talk about it and she respond that this is not the topic of the class and moved on.

[@-timothydexterthegreatestp5391]

Thats why you shouldnt ask that in Math class

[@user-qm7jw]

Western colonialism was far darker than WWII. they had hundreds of years of slave trade, genocide, for example, when Spain conquered South America, many civilizations and people perished, I mean people born in that era lived like that from birth to death. And Western colonial rule is still the root cause of conflict in Africa and Middle East Asia. I feel that people always only talk about war crimes in WWll and never mention European crimes before that.

[@bilals8188]

Thank you for doing this video, horrific acts like these somehow seem to be forgotten about and controversial.

[@carolinus7566]

Bc it's made up lies.

[@frenzy5391]

​@@carolinus7566you guys love to say every time

[@Supreme0757]

@@carolinus7566 proud and ignorant

[@josephbrown4768]

Man, the coloring and animations of your videos have really improved over time. Fantastic work, and Simple History has one of the best narrators I've heard. I'm glad Simple History is a thing.

[@l.j.1029]

I mean, you can see people getting whipped better? Okay.

[@sigmaballz1221]

@@l.j.1029 Stfu pls he was talking abt the animation as a whole

[@dshash7325]

@@l.j.1029 lmao he didn’t mean it like that hahahaha

[@bpdbhp1632]

@@l.j.1029 What a stupid comment

[@thatoneperson134]

@@l.j.1029 he didn’t mean the whipping part but the animation on recent videos seem better smoothed and detailed

[@allys744]

This was grotesque, brutal and beyond savage. Why this isn’t covered as much as the Holocaust is beyond me.

[@seriouscyrus6982]

Ik its not funny but yall was going crazy with the whipping animation in this video lol. Its like every 5 seconds I see somebody getting whipped like a stepchild lmao

[@Swissswoosher]

Belgium in history books: 🇧🇪😁🍫🍻 Belgium in Congolese history books: 😈😈😈😈

[@bigboioncrack1370]

Not funny 😐

[@warthundercanblunder850]

@@bigboioncrack1370 very funny

[@commando2113]

Not belgium learn some crap .The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo (French: État indépendant du Congo), was a large state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by and in a personal union with Leopold II of Belgium; it was not a part of the Kingdom of Belgium, of which he was the constitutional monarch. Leopold

[@erich2432]

@@commando2113 You are acting as if the Belgian administration and government didn't know what Leopold 2, who was their heda of the state and King, was doing in Congo. Lol! You know what that reminds me of? Europeans accusing Germans not knowing of what was happening under the NSDAP government. Lol!

[@commando2113]

@@erich2432 if you would look up thing's then you know that they did not know about it because the murc's did that brit's and french and the force public and the king does not own belgium or rule's it he is yust the gaurdian of the peopel but hey it's time that you make a new account this one is to old troll

[@runevanoutryve7343]

As a Belgian watching this video is very uncomfortable, the things we did there are sickening and everyone here in Belgium is deeply ashamed of our past in congo

[@learningagain4094]

But it wasn't "Belgians" in the sense of a nation it was Leopold, 200 Colonial officials and a 10,000+ native militia.

[@mogreen1232]

Than why do people protest taking his statue down? And why isn’t this taught in Belgian schools

[@sotch2271]

@@mogreen1232 it was tear down already, it think you missed the whole thing

[@nicolastayar8814]

@@mogreen1232 As a Belgian I can safely say that it's most definitely taught in school here.

[@Lorisa25]

You are no more responsible for this than anyone in Asia is.

[@greatstephen618]

And today where is Leopold II, he is dead and buried in the cold tombs in Belgium, Africa has really suffered

[@BeautyandtheBritt]

This is sickening, I wish sometimes people got relayed in this life but the Lord will repay. Sad part is Congo is war torn still

[@i-hellothere-l6299]

Can you guys do a video about the nanking massacre? I think it is one of the most brutal atrocities in the second world war, so I think y’all should cover it

[@CKC_Productions]

I agree, The Nanking Massacre along with many other horrible atrocities that occurred throughout history are one of the few events that have been “shadowed” in history or not given as much attention to as they should.

[@XXXTENTAClON227]

Made me sad for a couple days fr when I first learned about it… I was around 8 years old but still I just couldn’t contemplate how the veterans were walking around still telling the stories as if it were nothing

[@vichearidhuth4556]

And also Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in India by the British on 13th April 1919

[@user-cu6qq9bp2t]

What is more terrifying is that the majority of the regime's soldiers, if I understand right judging by the lecture and animation, were African natives. Many of them might have been from Congo itself possibly. Dude that would be for instance, as if the Empire of Japan had been offered by Hitler a European territory to control in an alternate history dystopia where the Axis have supposedly won WW2 and they would use people from that area as part of their local armed forces to oppress their fellow Europeans. I am sorry for the example I just felt like such a scenario would be similar to what happened in Congo under Leopold's reign.

[@Zorro9129]

They did not identify as "African," they identified as part of their native tribe which would often go to war with other tribes and yes, cut off their hands. The Belgians had no need to "encourage" cruelty.

[@pitrson666]

i would compare it to the kapos of the concentration camps

[@majster5675]

"Fellow Europeans" did not see themselves as such in that period. Let me remind you that in 19th century Europe was divided among few great powers with many natons conquered and opressed while fighting for their independence. Do not think about historical times in modern categories, it is a huge mistake which leads to many misconceptions about history.

[@itsmannertime]

That's divide and conquer for you. However, Belgian authorities would keep track of exactly how many cartridges those enforcers used by asking them to bring an ear or a hand for each cartridge they used. So the Belgians absolutely required this level of brutality.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

The thing is, these people don't see others in the continent as like them. Many outright support the Europeans as to cement their status over the other tribes. Remember the Tutsi and Huti trubes? They are prevalent in the Congo and around it and they don't like each other. The tragedy in Rwanda was the aftermath of that animosity which the Europeans made worse. Another is Nigeria. The British favored one of the three predominant tribes comprising the country which led to the Biafra war...

[@Jason2006]

Learned about this in history very interesting

[@vadoksam9235]

How can u decorate your garden with literal human skulls and not be a psychopath.

[@mariatheresavonhabsburg]

There are churches made out of bones and skulls.

[@The_Beefcake_Cometh]

Jeez the other colonial powers were pretty tame by comparison

[@trevorslinkard31]

There is nothing tame about the theft of one’s land and the destruction of one’s culture at the expense of one’s greed.

[@Sebastianator01]

@@trevorslinkard31 what he said.

[@asscheeks3212]

@@trevorslinkard31 tbh the British were the first to ban slavery, in fact Arabic Nations TODAY still practice modern day Slavery on Blacks and indians and nobody talks about it, there are videos EVERYWHERE of Arabs in recent years treating Africans/Indians maids and service workers as LESS then Human. Nobody talks about it.

[@marth8000]

@@trevorslinkard31 Well considering that's been the foreign policy of every nation on planet earth since the dawn on humanity 50,000BC or longer. Then yes his point is entirely correct this does make it look tame. you think Europeans never suffered warfare? why do you think we got so good at it...

[@haikalmiftah2529]

To some degree, I can agree yet we can't justify a thief. For example, a rubber plantation company in Sumatra island, Indonesia around early 1920s (at the time colonized by Dutch), most of the workers work from sunrise to sunset (roughly from 5:30 AM to 18:00 PM) not counting the time needed to walk from barracks to the plantation and vice versa (around more than 4 hours in total). With little payment that can only enough to fill their stomatch and very exshausting work, the company encourage an 'entertaiment': gambling, and lend some money to the workers for it. If you won you can earn enough money to buy new clothes, but if you lose...you know how it ends. Basically a devil trap encouraged by Dutch company at the time to secure they manpower and earn maximum profit.

[@Gerald.69]

Disgusting. May all those who extorted and manipulated these poor men and women rot for an eternity and their soul be diminished.

[@Ihavenousernameidea]

"disgusting" "I want a fellow human being to suffer endless pain for eternity" lol

[@DutchGuyMike]

Yes everyone should know this, and that Africans are still doing similar things in Africa right now, be it law enforcement or militias. There's no need for white shaming, as the Africans do it to themselves for millennia as well - which is a fact.

[@tiffany4628]

@Kosorou Gaming Archives aahh...yeah..of course there's always someone denying atrocities smdh

[@carolinus7566]

"I don't believe you I believe the cartoon!"

[@prosperous_berri_x]

@Kosorou Gaming Archives this is literally the affects of our family. The reason why we are in Europe. You think I wanted to be be brought up here? In a racist environment?

[@muhammadsadi1971]

How can anyone be so cruel😟

[@IanCaponeDrVonoreheimdonzYT]

Wow, that's really messed up

[@blueandcyanfork]

Belgium seen in the whole world:🧇🍟☮✌ Belgium in Congo:

[@failediqtest7485]

Remember every country has its own dark past its important when you study history you remember that fact and keep you personal feelings or bias out of it, it does not matter if it offends your or not history is not ment to coddle your feelings its ment to teach you lessons humanity has learned over the years Edit: I realize I shouldn't have necessarily said emotions I just mean you shouldn't try to alter or ignore history because it offends people I apologize for that

[@YCC97]

Some have a darker history than other’s for way more longer than other’s, and I’m not even talking about the minerals etc I agree that you have to remain in a position to have the best objectivity but trying to minimize the action of some occidental country by saying history is not meant to cuddle your feeling is a little hypocrite first nobody said history was meant to cuddle but rather to remember and learn also even if it offend you or not, even if you have personal feeling or history the point is and I agree with you on that to analyze the historical situation with the best objectivity that being said it doesn’t allow anyone to put under the carpet or ignore the reality of pain and distress those action in the history of humanity have bring to the people and country that lived it.

[@masonpyle5929]

It is true actually. United States: Segregation/Jim Crow laws, Italy:Mussolini’s regime, Germany:Starting the world wars and the N-zi party Russia:USSR, Cuba:Fidel Castro’s regime, China: Mao’s regime, Japan: Taking over the pacific and being an axis power in WWII, Venezuela: becoming a socialist regime, England: Mistreatment of African subjects, Columbia: helping the Roman Catholic Church kill 60,000 Protestants and non-Catholics from 1949-1953, Australia: Originally being a prison. Note: I didn’t put slavery for the US because most countries have slave labor in their history.

[@Lajos_Kelemen]

Exactly, history should be about learning, start bickering about it and all you get is more conflict and war.

[@hoppinggnomethe4154]

don't just bring up America's slavery past for your stupid agenda. like you said, every country has a dark past. European enslaving their own, African enslaving their own, Asian enslaving their own, more powerful factions oppress the weaker factions, big fish eats small fish. it was always like that. before the Europeans take over the natives' land, and the Americans expand Westward and kill the natives, the native tribes were fighting each other and taking over lands of other tribes. THIS IS THE NATURE OF MAN

[@AustinAOkay]

Gee almost like it’s a human thing and not a race thing

[@Chun12015]

Hard to imagine that humans were once pushed to do these unbelievable things. I’m so glad to be born in this modern generation well into the future.

[@damienjones9667]

This is……words can’t describe how terrible this is.

[@DaneGilly]

This is why "the good ol' days" is a questionable statement

[@KChow-nb1pz]

"ah, the good old days"👴🏻

[@LilNeenerMcWomanRaypist]

@@KChow-nb1pz “Shieet, my hands bruh” 🧑🏿‍🦱

[@Zorro9129]

Colonialism was a mistake, though not the reasons commonly cited.

[@Monojoe]

@@LilNeenerMcWomanRaypist LOL

[@brad5426]

I think what's more questiomable is you thinking this happened in living memory.

[@stefansalo6571]

always glad to see more light being brought to leopold II and the horrors he did more people need to be aware of this

[@dimsabor5812]

you dont see modern teachings on this - thanks for sharing.

[@charliecrawford4993]

Hey simple history could you make a video on operation fury my dad was in the 82nd airborne and his squadron went and reconned the area of Grenada and he's been in terrible health as of lately he watches most of you videos and if you could do a video about operation fury and shed some light on it

[@charliecrawford4993]

Correction: Operation urgent fury

[@sennenblake2554]

Hey love your videos, was wondering if you could ever possibly cover the Japanese unit 731 atrocities of WW2. The experiments undertaken there were horrific but I don’t think many people know about it, would be awesome to see one of your videos on it. Thanks, keep up the great work!

[@prophecyrat2965]

Lets just do another Video on Nuclear Holocaust, Im sure there are over 100,000 resons why you could agree.

[@u-will-begin-2-cough-in-3-days]

anyone that knows about WW2 knows about this.

[@maxfrankow1238]

@@u-will-begin-2-cough-in-3-days Maybe experts but casual readers dont know about unit 731

[@noktinnkynoktinnky1329]

@@maxfrankow1238 yeah even I don't know what they did

[@wilcowen6284]

@@noktinnkynoktinnky1329 oh they sent people outside with no clothes in winter and then poured boiling water on them they forcibly impregnated people and opened their body to remove it put people in a pressure chamber until their eyes poped out and also infected them with deadly illnesses

[@riopratamamartin7870]

Oh man this is what happened when greed is way outta control . . .

[@jorenbaplu5100]

Yeah, people often say communism or fascism kill a lot of people but they forget that historically most people were killed and abused under capitalist systems

[@riopratamamartin7870]

@@jorenbaplu5100 no not really capitalism is flwed too and someone or some group will abused it for their own gains

[@Sandy-qr2ff]

Taiwan

[@kingvxv6438]

The world is still the same, the greed is way worse now.

[@baileyryan488]

1885-1908 In the Congo free state was a very tragic period

[@TheIrieLionGaming]

I mean.... can you truly imagine.... the millions of souls who experienced a short life of pure agony

[@MrBranFlake]

It’s incredibly sad how school isn’t teaching us these things. Thank you Simple History.

[@Joedoeem]

its probably cuz some weak kids would faint during the lessons but i agree

[@Ultimaton100]

@@JoedoeemMore like the white supremacists don’t want their crimes exposed to younger generations. As least that’s how it is for U.S. schools located in red states these days.

[@maciejguzek3442]

Glad to see someone reminding about the genocide in Congo. It is just mind-boggling how it is basically an unknown event for 90% of the public, while you can hear about 'the other genocide' about a dozen a times a day in all possible media, and there are still new generations of people trying to milk it.

[@mariusss95]

How about the white genocide that is happening right now? Are you doing something to raise awarness about that?

[@leighbelk769]

@@mariusss95What genocide? The Genocide of albino Africans?

[@boilingwind]

When people are convinced that some people and them are different, they will have a justification, plus CLEAR CONSCIENCE of they ever done something to them.

[@AndriuV2]

The forgotten Adolf Hitler of Belgium... 🇧🇪

[@aproudarmywife0592]

This absolutely disgusting. So very sad thanks for spreading light.

[@henry4393]

Okay I knew that hands were cut off but holy I did not know that this much happened. Thanks for informing us.

[@muhammadabyzard7970]

The Heart of Darkness novel have portrayed the horror of the colonization quite vividly. Recommended if some of you interested enough.

[@JDjasen]

6:05 oh my god 😱😱😱

[@afrikasmith1049]

King Leopold was one of those people that sat on a chair so high that he didn't see anyone suffering, and he certainly didn't want to climb down to see it for himself.

[@Dr_Larken]

This by far is “hands down “a very good and detailed accountability of what went on in the Congo! “Simple History” deserves a high five clearly he’s doing awesome and does not need a hand in his work! This was like a 19 century “Handed-Camera” hands up for this channel it’s going places hands down!

[@Okami164]

mf thinks he’s smart with these dumb puns ffs

[@ilovewarw2]

You’re crazy😂

[@scary-zombie]

في القرن الثامن عشر و التاسع عشر فرنسا و بريطانيا و إسبانيا إرتكبو جرائم ظد الشعوب الإفريقية و العربية و عذبو الناس بأبشع الطرق و يتهمون فقط هتلر على أنه مجرم و ينسون أنفسهم يجب عليهم الإعتذار للشعوب العربية و الإفريقية و تعويظهم بالأموال و الذهب

[@idontlikeu.com08]

It’s difficult to fathom the science behind how someone can be evil enough to do these things, I wish this was a more discussed topic in the history community. 🙏

[@samidvelagic3560]

Belgium today be like: “Hmm let’s forget everything and make good chocolate”

[@aquaboyfa]

no