Red Rubber: King Leopold II's Regime; the Belgian Slave Trade in the Congo over Twenty Years, 1890-1910

The terrifying reign of Leopold II, King of Belgium, was marked by atrocities in the Congo - murder, enslavement and violence was used in pursuit of raw rubber.

Following advances in industry, rubber became a valuable commodity - at first, the Congolese thought this new trade would bring prosperity to their country. Instead, what ensued was murderous and exploitative barbarity of a scale never seen in Africa. Between 1890 and 1910, the Belgian forces occupying the Congo in Africa perpetrated...