04-21-08, 05:56 PM
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#2 (permalink)
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| R.I.P. Léo
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There has been a book about that: King Leopold's Ghost - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Quote:
Hochschild describes Léopold as a man of greed who, obsessed by the desire for a colony, hides his real intentions under "philanthropic" purposes. With a complex scheme of political intrigue, corruption and propaganda, he wins the assistance of one of the greatest explorers of the time, Henry Morton Stanley, as well as that of public opinion and of powerful states. Through the Berlin Conference and other diplomatic efforts, he finally obtains international recognition for his colony. He then establishes a system of forced labour that keeps the people of the Congo basin in a condition of virtual slavery.
In Hochschild's impassioned book, King Léopold takes his place with the great tyrants, having reduced the population of the Congo Free State—which Hochschild describes as being his private fiefdom—from 20 million people to 10 million in 40 years.
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