Congo Free State Imperialism

The Congo Free State, later named the Democratic Republic of Congo, drastically changed in 1876 when it was first colonized by King Leopold of Belgium. The colony of the Congo Free State was ruled solely by King Leopold, who used it for his own personal advancement. He took advantage of the country's well-known sources such as rubber. King Leopold of Belgium took all profits made off of the resources for himself and left the native people with nothing. In addition, King Leopold enslaved these natives and treated them poorly. They were forced to do hard and dangerous labor and if they did not meet the King’s standards, they could be killed. While the inhabitants of the Congo Free State could not do much to retaliate against the King, other countries
For one thing, the natives became reliant on Belgium's government and could not control their political destiny at the end of colonization. They were so accustomed to the colonial administrators making all of the political decisions that when the Democratic Republic of Congo gained its independence, they did not know much about how to rule their independent country. The Belgians would not allow the natives to maintain government post during their rule causing the vast majority to not view the country as united. This quickly became a problem as one hundred twenty political parties emerged and people began to see themselves as members of an ethnic group rather than a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Likewise, inadequate leaders emerged which only caused more issues to arise and conditions in the country to worsen. The faults in the government after the Democratic Republic of Congo’s independence are a clear consequence of the country previously being colonized. They developed a dependency during their time as a colony and because of they were unsuccessful and maintaining an adequate