Editing Leopold II of Belgium (section)

=== Early Life ===
[[File:Nsala of Wala in Congo looks at the severed hand and foot of his five-year old daughter, 1904.jpg|thumb|220x220px|"<em>He hadn’t made his rubber quota for the day so the Belgian-appointed overseers had cut off his daughter’s hand and foot. Her name was Boali. She was five years old. Then they killed her. But they weren’t finished. Then they killed his wife too. And because that didn’t seem quite cruel enough, quite strong enough to make their case, they cannibalized both Boali and her mother. And they presented Nsala with the tokens, the leftovers from the once living body of his darling child whom he so loved. His life was destroyed. They had partially destroyed it anyway by forcing his servitude but this act finished it for him. All of this filth had occurred because one man, one man who lived thousands of miles across the sea, one man who couldn’t get rich enough, had decreed that this land was his and that these people should serve his own greed. Leopold had not given any thought to the idea that these African children, these men and women, were our fully human brothers, created equally by the same Hand that had created his own lineage of European Royalty</em>."
-Photographer of this photo
]]

Leopold II was born as the son of Leopold I, the first king of Belgium. As a child, he developed a hobby with geography, which would later evolve into his obsession with colonies.

He married Marie Henriette (daughter of Archduke Joseph of Austria) in 1853, and the two produced four children, 3 of whom were women. Leopold's only male offspring died at 9 due to pneumonia. Due to the fact that Henriette couldn't bear a male heir, the two separated. One of his daughters later recalled that her father had basically abandoned her because of her sex.

In 1863, Leopold II would be crowned as the King of Belgium following his father's death. His reign, outside of the Congo, marked major reforms within Belgium and he became known for building many lavish palaces.

Leopold, however, became preoccupied with his fascination of colonialism, visiting many areas he saw as potential colonies. Seeing other major European powers setting up puppet nations in Asia, South America, and Africa, he urged the Belgian Parliament do the same. However, his attempts were all in vain.