The Most Evil King Ever: Leopold II of Belgium

In the late 19th century, a king with a vision for empire but a heart devoid of empathy reshaped the fate of millions. Leopold II of Belgium, wielding immense power and an insatiable greed, turned the Congo into his private plunder.
The cost? Unspeakable horrors inflicted on countless innocent lives, a brutal legacy etched in the annals of history. Under the guise of civilization, Leopold executed a regime so ruthless, it bled a country dry, extracting wealth and leaving despair. What drove a monarch to commit such atrocities under the cloak of progress?
This is the dark tale of Leopold II, a king whose deeds make him arguably the most evil royal ever to claim a throne.
The Most Evil King Ever: Leopold II of Belgium
#mostevilkingever #leopoldii #belgium #animatedlifelines

[@therealdirtydan1]

FINALLY somebody brings some light to the horrors that man inflicted

[@josepha3805]

This video sucks ass

[@JohnDoe-qh5xg]

Finally? This has been public knowledge covered by multiple people since it started happening 😂

[@violatorut2003]

Egomaniacs just need to play the Total War series. It would save so many lives.

[@cleveplays]

he made hiller look like bob ross

[@scottoleson1997]

Nah, don’t even go there. Way different. This wasn’t genocide

[@jma0645]

Hitler (new game+)

[@cleveplays]

@@scottoleson1997 10 mill body count isn’t genocide ?

[@scottoleson1997]

@@cleveplays it’s not the numbers, but the intentions. These dudes didn’t get gassed or burned in a pit.

[@cleveplays]

@@scottoleson1997 the Congolese Genocide is literally a thing it’s doesn’t matter on the methods on how they where killed, they still where killed for profit and political power the term genocide literally means deliberate killling of a large group of people

[@Nix_-]

Meanwhile, regular Belgians never had any idea of anything that was going on. Neither when Leopold was in power, nor when the government had it.

[@treybowers154]

That's typically the case. The US is far from the first to use smoke and mirrors to hide their dirty laundry. German citizens had NO CLUE about the reality of the Nazis and what they were doing. It makes you wonder what atrocities are currently happening that we've been blinded to by political propaganda. People that trust in any government should really ask themselves *why* they trust that government. If you can't think of any good reasons and you're just "going with the flow" you should probably reevaluate your stance and ideology.

[@bobsbigboy_]

Im Belgian, we do. And the Belgian people found out after a few years

[@Nix_-]

@@bobsbigboy_ you literally proved me right while trying to say I'm wrong lmaooooooooo I'm Belgian too && my advice to you as a fellow Belgian is, learn to read, my friend. I clearly meant that the Belgians didn't have any idea of it while it was happening. They found out at the same time as the rest of the world.

[@bobsbigboy_]

@@Nix_- ? Smooth brain

[@Nix_-]

@@bobsbigboy_ I know reading is very difficult for you && it's wild how the main comment went straight over your head, but I'll help you out a little. Your comment was literally the most pointless comment I've ever seen && that is saying a damn lot. Now get your head out of your ass && move on.

[@mueezadam8438]

2:28 Domain Expansion: Malevolent Mine

[@hiimawasteoftime8678]

"Villages that didn't meet their rubber quota faces horrors." KZbin *plays happiest domino ad of all time*

[@ANIMATEDLIFELINES]

;))

[@thatsjustmylife]

the saddest part about all this is that congos still not free and the people there are still suffering because of the us, france and gb its just so sad what happened and is still happening to the poor people of congo free congo

[@JoeRogansForehead]

lol Belgium is still there … it’s not France Uk

[@satyasankalpapanigrahi9416]

​@@JoeRogansForeheadYeah actually it was belgium who colonized Congo Republic and DRC. Now those countries are as poor as hell. Poorer than the countries of Afghanistan and Yemen and Cuba

[@JoeRogansForehead]

@@satyasankalpapanigrahi9416 I know that. The person above me said it’s still poor because of France , Great Britain and the USA but it’s not , Belgium still has massive interests in the Congo. Their colonial rule went away but their economic interests and ownership in the country didn’t.

[@susannguyen6234]

Because the USA overthrew the leader and replaced it with mobutu

[@alanalb1449]

Now they are selling their soul to china

[@olefoureyes3592]

Love your work! This is my first video of yours I've seen and will definitely wanna check out more after seeing this one. Keep it up! 👍

[@ANIMATEDLIFELINES]

Awesome, thank you!

[@TrickyThe0ne]

Learned all about this guy in college last semester, definitely wouldn’t go anywhere near as far to say this guy is the most evil king…you got a lot of people to read about if you think that’s the case lol. Good video thought!!!!

[@Saurophaganax1931]

Got any good contenders?

[@saeedboynes7129]

I mean its all an opinion at the day. I think many agree he is up there with the amount of lives that were t0tured before being taken. Regardless why would calling him one of or the worst king be offensive?

[@TrickyThe0ne]

If I had to pick a couple of contenders I would probably start with Edward long shank, or just possibly Vlad the impaler. Those are just off the top of my head as soon as I woke up without looking up any lists or anything. I also did not state that calling him the worst is offensive, I was definitely taught that he economically abused the people in his colony but was not taught anything about torture, just economic abuse. Not saying that didn’t happen but it was not mentioned within our course that spoke about him extensively, in fact I remember we watched a documentary as well and there were people within the colony who loved him and those who hated him. I don’t remember exactly where it was but I believe it was the Congo.

[@MrMartellSincere]

Glad to be first. Anyways keep making your fantastic videos 😊

[@ANIMATEDLIFELINES]

thanks for watching! And congrats 🥳

[@robsa978]

Love the video, cuz!

[@JDXTHEKID]

Your storytelling and narration ability is just stellar.

[@edocabrera3680]

I find it hilarious that I just discovered this guy probably about 24 hours ago. Thank you.

[@ANIMATEDLIFELINES]

Thank you too for watching and glad you learned something new :D

[@Madisengrace11]

keep it up man, i love your content!!

[@ANIMATEDLIFELINES]

thank you! Will do!

[@bobsayamundae9976]

Great artwork

[@sugarskull8550]

Nsala was the name of the father looking at his daughters severed hand and foot.

[@mykomatos5445]

I mean that as a genuine critique, the repetitiveness gets annoying

[@shitikishitiko]

He had an Officer in his Corps who was a french Mercenary he would collect heads and hands from his slaves and displayed them outside his office in a flower bed

[@quietdignityandgrace]

Hands for bullets has a sick joke about it. I know, right? See, the FP were cutting off Right and Left hands and exchanging both. Leo had to step in and declare only Right hands were allowed. That way people could still work and meet quotas. Economic Diplomacy.

[@ernestobrussli4160]

The only criticism i have for this video is the repetition.

[@alechope2155]

Add placement on point

[@ronanmusic118]

I have known about African colonization and exploitation in general for a while, but I feel embarrassed that I didn’t know about this. The specifics and stories and numbers of African colonization are so much more telling than the general “consciousness” of the phenomenon.

[@dreamersdisease2481]

Sam O'Nella

[@opalyasu7159]

15:50 that image looks beautiful ngl

[@senpai9455]

This is still not as bad as the first emperor of china

[@samplastik13]

Into the heart of darkness....

[@Amfortas]

Peak sigma male

[@helioslegigantosaure6939]

He help us a lot . But belgian dint even want that

[@luciferkotsutempchannel]

A king who was so bad his colony was confiscated because he was *too* brutal. This should be interesting.

[@ANIMATEDLIFELINES]

That’s an interesting wrap up

[@Trauson]

Meet the Quota or Leopold will get ya, Clearly the template which in Bad Company got based off.

[@swagseason95]

A true monster

[@topdeckhelix8450]

Idk man. The title gives the right message but so many times in the video you’re like “was he just a misunderstood upstart” and then mention how he cut people toes off for looking to the left. Like no this guy was a sociopathic mentally ill man.

[@scottoleson1997]

The joke went right over your head

[@marcanton5357]

Really ignorant of facts and a lot of straight out misinformation in this video. Congo Free State had an estimate of 11 million people at the time of Leopold. Congo Free State at it's height only controlled 60% of it's own territory(most of the rest was controlled by Arab $l@v3r$ which the Force Publique was fighting). The number of Europeans in Congo Free State never exceeded 4000 people. Leopold's Force Publique never had more than 900 Europeans in it, the rest were natives, and they did next to all the atrocities(which they were doing before Leopold). The 10 million number was completely made up by Adam Hochschild, which he later admitted is not accurate. The actual, modern numbers(in 2020, so 4 years before this video) puts them at between 1 to 5 million, the VAST MAJORITY of which were due to the new strains of diseases Europeans introduced to the area. The story, in direct conflict with the facts, that "European colonists killed 10 million Congolese" is basically physically impossible, and the history that should have been explained in this video, rather than the 1999 tale of Adam Hochschild, is missing. I'm not defending Leopold's Congo, I'm attacking the strawman put up by ignorant "history presenters".

[@ANIMATEDLIFELINES]

Thank you for sharing your perspective and providing additional historical context.

[@Rek2Chi]

The fact you're trying to crunch numbers about a tragedy....goof 💩

[@marcanton5357]

@@Rek2Chi Yea, facts are repulsive to you, I know. Go back to the kids section, adults are talking here.

[@Rek2Chi]

@@marcanton5357 no, I know a moron talking to me when I read it, like u were alive at the beginning of time, who do u think u are, Baron Samedi? You're just another pompous human full of pride

[@Rek2Chi]

@@marcanton5357 pompous know-it-alls that don't know anything of substance repulse me

[@austinlee4156]

Love this

[@ANIMATEDLIFELINES]

Good to hear that ♥️

[@magoodada]

I mean... he ain't know no better

[@Saurophaganax1931]

Didn't he though? There were outrage in the international community over the atrocities of the Congo Free State at the time that this was all going on. So it's not like he never heard any criticism for what he was doing.

[@ReemusAim]

Ai voice just creeps me out, solid topic, and like the art the voiceover just ruins it for me

[@jakenbake4555]

Second I think??

[@ANIMATEDLIFELINES]

yes! Congrats 🎉

[@Alexemenos]

Ai ahh script

[@jeremysepicrun]

Nsala was a man, not a woman.

[@marsaeternum1003]

I am more evil than him

[@seen2much6]

Really?

[@26Aria82]

Congo more like North Korea 8:33

[@The_shunnedman]

Idk if they still do it but if you go to Chocolate shops in Belgium some of them sell chocolate in the shapes of hands which is like why would you do that 😅😅 also love your video man I’m gonna be doing a binge 😂

[@barbarossa1780]

Not even a real King

[@JelleSophie]

Wauw, that is very unnuanced! Ever dug into the Dutch Royals of the Most Catholic Kings of Castille and Aragon!?

[@Y4roslavV]

What did he mean by making Leopold look like a jew and making the Africans white and with blonde hair in the thumbnail

[@valtontony826]

very strange comment, 'white' people are not white either, just light skinned and this colour is not supposed to represent skin color and Leopold had a big nose, just because you have a big nose doesn't mean you're a jew

[@Y4roslavV]

@@valtontony826 he literally does the happy merchant pose and they are blonde, im still right

[@Hg-vl6fk]

@@Y4roslavVyes you are right lol I see the resemblance

[@commisaryarreck3974]

Jews upon seeing a monster: "What is this anti semetic charcature?"

[@DerPlaystationZocker]

It's stick figures, and Leopold does look pretty accurate, except when he wanted to show him being crazy

[@JoeRogansForehead]

It wasn’t called the Congo when leopold claimed it dude

[@tiaelago-oretukaumunika7017]

Congo Free State, named after the preceding Kongo Kingdom, populated by the baKongo people who lived along the Kongo river

[@Ruosteinenknight]

It tells you something that Leopold II was regarded as a monster even by the standards of his own time.

[@3BlueHaze]

Another day, another KZbin educational, click bait video using wildly exaggerated numbers for effect.

[@swaglordkiki447]

why the AI narration?

[@rappadapp]

Wow. Its like we never learn from history🇨🇩🇵🇸✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾

[@ANIMATEDLIFELINES]

😏

[@deepwaters2334]

This could have been America... thank goodness for Geaorge Washington.

[@Socialism_on_Roids]

Not even close. The British govt recognized American colonists as fellow Englishmen.

[@deepwaters2334]

@@Socialism_on_Roids Sure they did...not. If you do your research, then you will find that becoming slaves to England actually was one of the major fears of American Colonists.

[@deepwaters2334]

Sure they did...not. If you do your research, then you will find that becoming slaves to England actually was one of the major fears of American Colonists.

[@JelleSophie]

And Belgium played a significant role in World history! We where the 5th largest world economy! And under H.M. King Leopold II the third largest. Which is nothing to be proud of but… let’s look at the opium wars which destroyed the whole of China! Or Java and Suriname!

[@josepha3805]

Well... Definitely not the worst king in history.

[@joshjacob1530]

His sins are not just his, they belong to the Belgium people aswell, this has always been in the subconscious psyche to be a dominant people which demands being an oppressor, Leopoldo was simply the one who the will to carry out his own peoples will and desire to be the oppressor.

[@Chepicoro]

Are you crazy? You really believe that people born with original guilt for the actions of their ancestors?

[@hunterpeterson3205]

​@Chepicoro I could be wrong, but I think he means the people of the time, and Leopold's ancestors. Not the people born in Belgium today or after.

[@nigellee9541]

what do you mean 10 million is half of all those cities the combined. Please don’t use disingenuous comparisons in a supposed historical video just for shock value.

[@26Aria82]

Congo more like North Korea 8:33