WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -On February 5, 1885, Belgian King Leopold II established the Congo Free State by brutally seizing the African landmass as his personal possession. Rather than control the Congo as a colony, as other European powers did throughout Africa, Leopold privately owned the region.

Detailed explanation-2: -Leopold II (French: Léopold Louis Philippe Marie Victor, Dutch: Leopold Lodewijk Filips Maria Victor; 9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908.

Detailed explanation-3: -Belgian colonization of DR Congo began in 1885 when King Leopold II founded and ruled the Congo Free State. However, de facto control of such a huge area took decades to achieve. Many outposts were built to extend the power of the state over such a vast territory.

Detailed explanation-4: -Portuguese exploration In 1482–1483, Captain Diogo Cão, sailing southwards on the uncharted Congo River, discovered the mouth of the river, and became the first European to encounter the Kingdom of Kongo.

Detailed explanation-5: -Leopold II, King of the Belgians and Sovereign King of the Congo Free State (1885-1908), decided to take that step, after the loans granted him by the Belgian State and the international campaign led by Edmund Dene Morel and the Congo Reform Association, among others.