ABSTRACT
Leopold II became king of Belgium at a time when industrial expansion and diplomatic rivalry threatened to upset the traditional order of Europe. His efforts to create a colonial empire in Africa increased Belgian power and produced one of the most brutal regimes in the world. In 1876 he sponsored the founding of the International African Association, whose stated goal was to promote exploration of the Congo River basin and to work toward the elimination of slavery there. Its implicit goal, however, was the annexation of the entire Congo region, which the empire-hungry Leopold described as a “magnificent African cake.” Leopold II's persistent efforts to build a Belgian Empire had a profound impact upon both Belgium and Africa. Leopold played an important role in this “scramble for Africa,” as historians call it, but the misery his rule brought to the Congo region mostly served to undermine the belief in European beneficence.
