Editing Leopold II of Belgium (section)

=== Atrocities ===
Leopold II used the railroads and bridges built by Stanley previously to spread his influence quickly across his colony. At the time, ivory was seen as an expensive resource, and conveniently for Leopold, it was common in the Congo.

Belgian troops would force Congolese men to harvest ivory, either at gunpoint or by holding their wives hostage. Porters became needed to transport the large amount of ivory, so Leopold's troops would raid villages and gather slaves. The porters would then be forced to walk miles, and many who collapsed of exhaustion were beaten to death. Babies were left to die on the side of the road in order to maximize productivity.

Leopold also established the [[Force Publique]], a gendarmerie composed of Congolese slaves led by white generals who enforced Leopold's law. As Congolese leaders began setting up rebellions around the Basin, the Force Publique would be sent to crush the rebels. Sometimes, a war between Leopold's troops and Congolese rebels would last for years.

At the turn of the century, rubber prices skyrocketed, and the resource was seen as a valuable commodity that could only be obtained through exotic plants. Realizing that half of the Congo was covered with rubber trees, Leopold's tyranny took a turn for the worse as he ordered all rubber to be extracted from his colony. The Force Publique would hold villagers hostage in exchange for long hours of labor gathering rubber. If a village refused, they would be slaughtered and raped, and their towns would be burned to ashes, setting up an example for neighboring villages.

Congolese men were subjected to daily rubber quotas, and if they failed to meet their goal, they or their loved ones would be shot. Anyone who refused to subject themselves to hours of forced labor was whipped and beaten to death. The bodies of anyone who showed any hints of resistance were cannibalized. Multiple children were lashed to death after laughing in the presence of a Belgian.

In order to conserve bullets, the Force Publique had to provide the hand of every person they shot, as proof that they did not waste any bullets. This system made hands a currency in the Congo Free State. Rubber quotas would be paid off using amputated hands. Villages would go into wars with other villages in order to obtain more hands if their rubber quota was unrealistic. Sometimes the Force Publique would cheat the system and directly cut off the hands of a live person and leave them to die.

Plague and famine went rampant across the Congo Free State. Anyone who wasn't killed by the Force Publique suffered and died under widespread diseases such as the sleeping sickness. Many also starved to death from a lack of food, and many resorted to eating their own feces and urine to survive.

All of the profits from the rubber went directly to Leopold II, who used the money for personal gain.

While Leopold was squeezing rubber from the Congo, he was also having affairs with a teenage prostitute named Caroline Lacroix. After Henriette died, the two fell deeply in love and they embarked on a romantic relationship. Leopold and Lacroix were heavily criticized after their romance caught the public eye. Leopold would use the money earned from the Congo to buy gifts for Lacroix. Since she benefited immensely from the abusive practices of the Congo Free State, she was named the "Queen of the Congo."