Editing Leopold II of Belgium (section)

== Legacy ==
Despite Leopold II's best efforts to erase all memory of his horrible rule, his name has now become synonymous with the Congo Free State. In modern days, there have been efforts to get him remembered for what he was; a greedy authoritarian whose selfishness was only rivaled by his cunning and whose brutality lead to the deaths of millions.

The Congo Free State destroyed all social structure within the Congo with its abusive practices, and the aftereffects are still seen in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today. Belgian-owned Congo wasn't a big improvement from Leopold's Congo. For the first half of the 20th century, many Africans were forced to work in mines, extracting uranium for nuclear programs such as the Manhattan Project and the [[Cold War]]. Only when the Congo declared independence did the Congolese experience freedom for the first time. That freedom was short-lived, however, as a few years later [[Mobutu Sese Seko]] would seize control of the Congo Basin and the Congolese would fall into the grip of another terrible tyrant who led the DRC for over 3 decades.