General Notes

Leopold II (of Belgium) (1835-1909), king of Belgium (1865-1909). The son of
King Leopold I, he was born in Brussels and originally named Louis Philippe
Marie Victor. At an early age he entered the Belgian army, and in 1853 he
married Maria Henrietta, daughter of Joseph, archduke of Austria. In 1876
Leopold organized an international association to develop central Africa, and
he financed the expedition to the Congo River led by the British-American
explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley from 1879 to 1884. At the Berlin Conference
of 1884 and 1885, Leopold was recognized as sovereign of the Congo Free State,
annexed to Belgium as the Belgian Congo in 1908, and now Zaire. Leopold
incurred widespread criticism for his exploitation of the people and natural
resources of Congo, and, because of international protests, he was forced to
institute modest reforms. He was succeeded by his nephew Albert I.