n.
orig. Léopold-Louis-Philippe-Marie-Victor
born April 9, 1835, Brussels, Belg.
died Dec. 17, 1909, Laeken
King of the Belgians (18651909).
Succeeding his father, Leopold I , he led the first European efforts to develop the Congo River basin. In 1876 he founded an association to explore the Congo area, with Henry Morton Stanley as his main agent. Leopold formed the Congo Free State in 1885 and ruled as its sovereign. Under Leopold, the Congo became the scene of barbarous cruelty by the colonial masters; when news of the conditions there broke 0441; 1905, it provoked an international scandal. Under British and U.S. pressure, the region was removed from Leopold's personal rule and annexed to Belgium in 1908 as the Belgian Congo. Leopold was succeeded by his nephew, Albert I .