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'''Leopold Lodewijk Philip Maria Victor''' ([[Brussels]], April 9, 1835 – Laeken, December 17, 1909), Prince of [[Belgium]], Duke of Saxony, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Brabant and Senator of Belgium, was the second King of the Belgians. He was the second but eldest surviving son of Belgium's first king Leopold I of Belgium and Queen Louise Marie of Orléans. He succeeded his father to the throne on December 17, 1865 and remained king until his death in 1909. Leopold II was also the founder and [[Absolute monarchy|King sovereign]] of the [[Congo Free State]], which he obtained through the [[Berlin Conference]].

'''Leopold Lodewijk Philip Maria Victor''' ([[Brussels]], April 9, 1835 – Laeken, December 17, 1909), Prince of [[Belgium]], Duke of Saxony, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Brabant and Senator of Belgium, was the second King of the Belgians. He was the second but eldest surviving son of Belgium's first king Leopold I of Belgium and Queen Louise Marie of Orléans. He succeeded his father to the throne on December 17, 1865, and remained king until his death in 1909. Leopold II was also the founder and [[Absolute monarchy|King sovereign]] of the [[Congo Free State]], which he obtained through the [[Berlin Conference]].

==Early Life==

==Early life==

Leopold was born in Brussels on 9 April 1835, the second child of the reigning Belgian monarch "Leopold I of Belgium", and of his second wife "Louise of Orléans" the daughter of King Louis Philippe of France. At the age of 18 on August 22, 1853 Leopold was married to "Marie Henriette of Austria", a cousin of Emperor Franz Joseph I of [[Austria]] and granddaughter of the late Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II. The marriage produced four children: three daughters and one son. As Leopold's older brother, the earlier crown prince Louis Philippe had died the year before Leopold's birth, Leopold became heir to the throne of Belgium when he was 9 years old, Leopold received the title of Duke of Brabant, and was appointed a sub-lieutenant in the army. He served in the army until his accession in 1865, by which time he had reached the rank of lieutenant-general.

Leopold was born in Brussels on 9 April 1835, the second child of the reigning Belgian monarch "Leopold I of Belgium", and of his second wife "Louise of Orléans" the daughter of King Louis Philippe of France. At the age of 18 on August 22, 1853, Leopold was married to "Marie Henriette of Austria", a cousin of Emperor Franz Joseph I of [[Austria]] and granddaughter of the late Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II. The marriage produced four children: three daughters and one son. As Leopold's older brother, the earlier crown prince Louis Philippe had died the year before Leopold's birth, Leopold became heir to the throne of Belgium when he was 9 years old, Leopold received the title of Duke of Brabant, and was appointed a sub-lieutenant in the army. He served in the army until his accession in 1865, by which time he had reached the rank of lieutenant-general.

==Belgian Senator==

==Belgian Senator==

===Builder King===

===Builder King===

Leopold commissioned a great number of buildings, urban projects and public works. These projects earned him the epithet of "Builder King". The public buildings were mainly in Brussels, Ostend, Leuven and Antwerp, and include the Hippodrome Wellington racetrack (1883), the Royal Galleries and Maria Hendrikapark in Ostend (1902); the Royal Museum for Central Africa and its surrounding park in Tervuren (1898); the Cinquantenaire park and triumphal arch complex (1852-1880), the Duden Park in Brussels (1881), the Reconstruction of the Royal Palace in Brussels (1904), The Palace of Justice of Brussels (1866-1883) the Antwerp ZOO (1843), Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels (1905-1969), Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (1884), the Royal Greenhouses of Laken (1874-1895), and the Antwerpen-Centraal railway station (1895–1905). In popular Liberal media it is portrayed that the funds for these buildings were mainly from profits from his rule over the Congo Free State, this is however untrue, as most building projects were realized before the Colony in the Congo even existed, and many of them even were initiated by his father King Leopold I who was considerably rich himself. Leopold writes in 1865 when ascending to the throne of Belgium:

Leopold commissioned a great number of buildings, urban projects and public works. These projects earned him the epithet of "Builder King". The public buildings were mainly in Brussels, Ostend, Leuven and Antwerp, and include the Hippodrome Wellington racetrack (1883), the Royal Galleries and Maria Hendrikapark in Ostend (1902); the Royal Museum for Central Africa and its surrounding park in Tervuren (1898); the Cinquantenaire park and triumphal arch complex (1852–1880), the Duden Park in Brussels (1881), the Reconstruction of the Royal Palace in Brussels (1904), The Palace of Justice of Brussels (1866–1883) the Antwerp ZOO (1843), Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels (1905–1969), Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (1884), the Royal Greenhouses of Laken (1874–1895), and the Antwerpen-Centraal railway station (1895–1905). In popular Liberal media it is portrayed that the funds for these buildings were mainly from profits from his rule over the Congo Free State, this is however untrue, as most building projects were realized before the Colony in the Congo even existed, and many of them even were initiated by his father King Leopold I who was considerably rich himself. Leopold writes in 1865 when ascending to the throne of Belgium:

:''"I am generous and about to make a multi-million dollar sacrifice to beautify my capital. It will cost me three to four years of wages, but I wish my life here on earth to leave many traces."''

:''"I am generous and about to make a multi-million dollar sacrifice to beautify my capital. It will cost me three to four years of wages, but I wish my life here on earth to leave many traces."''

===Critisism of the Congo Free State===

===Critisism of the Congo Free State===

Under pressure of the Congo Reform Association, a political and humanitarian activist group that sought to promote reform of the Congo Free State, in the King's private territories namely "the Crown domain" which was located in the Western part of the Congo Basin Area of the Congo Free State. International criticism of Leopold’s rule increased and mobilized. Reports of outrageous exploitation and widespread human rights abuses led the British Crown to appoint their consul, Liberal and Gay Activist who was also a member of the Congo Reform association Roger Casement who in his later life was sentenced to death for treason against in his own country to investigate conditions there. His extensive travels and interviews in the region resulted in the Casement Report, which detailed the extensive abuses under Leopold's regime. Leopold unaware of the crimes committed in his name immediately assembles a commission to investigate these allegations, but because of the vast size of the Congo and the inability to find appropriate replacements, and also the large financial depth he had gathered by the cost of creating large scale infrastructural works such as the Matadi-Leopoldville railway and the military campaign to drive out the Arab slavers in earlier years, Leopold was unable and some claim unwilling to correct this aberration.

Under pressure of the Congo Reform Association, a political and humanitarian activist group that sought to promote reform of the Congo Free State, in the King's private territories namely "the Crown domain" which was located in the Western part of the Congo Basin Area of the Congo Free State. International criticism of Leopold's rule increased and mobilized. Reports of outrageous exploitation and widespread human rights abuses led the British Crown to appoint their consul, Liberal and Gay Activist who was also a member of the Congo Reform association Roger Casement who in his later life was sentenced to death for treason against in his own country to investigate conditions there. His extensive travels and interviews in the region resulted in the Casement Report, which detailed the extensive abuses under Leopold's regime. Leopold unaware of the crimes committed in his name immediately assembles a commission to investigate these allegations, but because of the vast size of the Congo and the inability to find appropriate replacements, and also the large financial depth he had gathered by the cost of creating large scale infrastructural works such as the Matadi-Leopoldville railway and the military campaign to drive out the Arab slavers in earlier years, Leopold was unable and some claim unwilling to correct this aberration.

Writer Arthur Conan Doyle also criticized the "rubber regime" in his 1908 work The Crime of the Congo, written to aid the work of the Congo Reform Association. Doyle contrasted Leopold's rule with British rule in Nigeria, arguing that decency required those who ruled primitive peoples to be concerned first with their uplift, not how much could be extracted from them. As Hochschild describes in King Leopold's Ghost, many of Leopold's policies, in particular those of colonial monopolies and forced labor, were influenced by Dutch practice in the East Indies.  Similar methods of forced labor were employed to some degree by Germany, France, and Portugal where natural rubber occurred in their own colonies.

Writer Arthur Conan Doyle also criticized the "rubber regime" in his 1908 work The Crime of the Congo, written to aid the work of the Congo Reform Association. Doyle contrasted Leopold's rule with British rule in Nigeria, arguing that decency required those who ruled primitive peoples to be concerned first with their uplift, not how much could be extracted from them. As Hochschild describes in King Leopold's Ghost, many of Leopold's policies, in particular those of colonial monopolies and forced labor, were influenced by Dutch practice in the East Indies.  Similar methods of forced labor were employed to some degree by Germany, France, and Portugal where natural rubber occurred in their own colonies.