Leopold II of Belgium: The Biggest Coverup In European History 

Please do a Bio of Hypatia of Egypt

Bringing christianity to those poor godless souls.... Sooo much sarcasm. also, this is probably the only time a magician conquered a nation. well, maybe second if you count rasputin.

You missed an opportunity to take a shot at the EU! Brussels is still enslaving people to this day!

Please do jacques de molay

Why don't you address the criticism of the lies in this video first? You lied in saying that the Belgians are allegedly 'covering up' those crimes, whereas they are for decades part of the school curiculum! Address this first and apologize for the slander!

@@ellsworthm.toohey7657 dad's belgian and as white as Simon here , mum's as black as africans get - love and visit both places but no reason for me to leave my fatherland

@@ellsworthm.toohey7657 rise where it's easiest to do, help once you can - i'll stick with my belgian brothers thank you very much - wbu, where are you going to be helping the world you selfless soul??

@@ellsworthm.toohey7657 Seriously?

@@HarJBeRw , My respects! Good reaction!

HarJBeRw as a belgium bro, you are very much wqnted here!

It's public knowledge and we are taught in schools. The premise of the video was a bit off. It is not a cover up at all.

Yes but the Biographics RU-vid channel never lets the truth get in the way of a good story

I think what he means is that at the time people were clueless

Ngl I heard of it in “we didn’t start the fire” by billy Joel

@@eunicegogbeu6921 No. He's clearly using the present tense.

really interesting

Remi Ots You are right of course. I was in catholic convent school. First there was this false heroism in he history lessons, then there was this gap: no more Leopold. Then came the secularisation of the Belgian education system and the history books were completely re-written. I remember the argument of the secularisation movement was: fact should be separated from opinion in the K12 curriculum. By that time I was already teaching music, and rebelling against the Catholic 'Regimented Music'. Truth is that Leopold kept the Belgians out of the Congo. The Congo Free State recruited colonial supervisors in the same way the French recruited soldiers for the French Foreign Legion. Malcontents from everywhere. Near-suicidal adventurers that knew they had to get rich fast, before they succumbed to some tropical disease. In 1909 the Belgians inherited a complete mess. That is when the cover-up started. Many Belgians have gone there to inspect the place, after Leopolds death, and it was the elected Belgian government that decided a cover-up was in order. So our culpability as a nation started with that cover-up, not with the atrocities that happened before Leopold sold the Congo to the Belgian people. I mean: Richard Nixon had to resign for having covered-up what happened at Watergate, in the early seventies. Our government was no less guilty in 1909, in that respect. We came, we saw, ... and we wished we hadn't come, then pretended we saw nothing. This attitude has remained with Belgian politics for over a century, already. Belgium was 'not guilty', of the atrocities, but as the nation inherited the responsibility for cleaning up the mess, its leaders decided to double down on the lies and secrets Leopold had started to put into the world, whilst the Belgian teachers and priest that were posted over there bungled away like boyscouts on a budget. Our politicians still have problems understanding the difference between culpability, accountability, and responsibility (Schuld, Aansprakelijkheid en Verantwoordelijkheid). I know Simon as an excellent scientist, but he is applying 'Biljarttafellogica' (Billiards Table Logic) on the subject of history. I didn't feel outraged, but I experienced trouble breathing, because of the double face-palm Simon's history buffery seems to provoke with me. He simple hasn't got what it takes. He is making an utter pillock of himself. The man is a didactic genius in the most difficult subjects, like sciences and math, but this Biographies thing is a right mess. I am a Marie Curie fan. I once started a lesson stating Marie Curie was the inventor of 'La Curiosité'. Without curiosity, there can be no science, right? I kept doing that spoof for years. Every year class woke up later and later to the realisation that I was shitting major bull! "I am a teacher, not a preacher! Followers and believers get out!" Have you seen Simon's piece on Marie Curie? Besides, we gave the Tommies a proper licking a couple of months ago, on the football field.

The contents have radically changed, or were they radically changed in the first place. Go further with the context Remi Ots, the revisionism we are seeing now fits an agenda, the numbers they are promoting are simply impossible. The alternative hypothesis's most recent video covers this exact issue.

Sophie Dockx did you watch the Alternative Hypothesis video on the subject? What do you think about it? is it possible that because of the cover-up and the loss of evidence our current understanding of the atrocities is a bit exaggerated?

Talking about biased opinion, and then claiming the Flemish people were used as cannon bate during WW1... Sounds like good old Flemish nationalists propaganda based on a hoax that orders were given in French to poor Flemish soliders that did not understand the language. You should not drink the kool aid like this, and question what was taught you. It's funny because in my high school in Wallonia I was always been taught that the most sadistic and brutal generals in the Congo colony were all Flemish people. Sure they were probably francophones like all aristocrats, but they were definitely Flemish they told us. All this to make us feel less guilty about what happened in Africa and force us to put the blame on Flemish people.

Hmm...this was a "cover up" imagine what was covered up in WW2...🤐 Hope you all love math as much as history! Winners write history and be sure it comes with the traditional good verse evil, when it is never that simple.

How easy to change views in eight years 180 degrees when there are no consequences. And you are proud of yourself?

a lot of it is rubbish. Leo didn't do the things they said

@@ItIsYouAreNotYour "WE FOUGHT THE WRONG ENEMY" -General George patton

@@baldrick1485 what ?

@@baxterbates1248 Not all of us, but too many were. I'd like to think we are better now

@@cheeseburgermovies Ok, minus a few

Alo? T'as sûrement jamais été a Bruxelles. There is a Statue in Brussels.

@@OjoRojo40 C'est bien possible, je ne l'ai jamais vu

@@cheeseburgermovies there is one in brussels close to porte namur

My opinion: That big lie is called clickbait.

The belgians like you know that but others don't know this.

Thats so good of you, if you are so enlighten why don’t you give back to Congo people what you stole, you know the live in perpetual misery?

I see. Well, in other places, it's never ever taught. I'm from America and the only reason i found out about him and his horrible deeds was from RU-vid. You'd think it'd be more out there, something that's in all the history books.

Didn't even know Americans learned anything besides their own history. Seeing as they are such arrogant peoples..

I studied history up to degree level in the Caribbean and in the UK. Honestly there is so much history that it is impossible to cover everything at primary/elementary school and secondary/high school level. For example my high school did Caribbean and European History and another high school did Caribbean and American history. The topics are huge! At degree level I did international relations and picked Latin America as one of my modules. World history is vast and complex you could spend a life time studying it all. My Caribbean history went right back to before Columbus. How the Amerindians lived from North America through Central America to South America. That alone is probably about 1000 years and people are still doing archaeological digs and finding out more.

@@marleyhill34 Agreed 100% in general but when it's your own countries history you should learn it.

@@foxyboiiyt3332 I know but to be honest even in the Caribbean school I was in the majority of students dropped history just before their exams at age 14 when given the choice. Our history class size was about 10 in a year of 200 students. By age 14, we hadn't even covered the in's and outs of slavery yet. At age 14, we knew slavery existed but not why it started and ended. I suspect it is the same with British, Scottish, Welsh and Irish students. They know bits and bobs but chose different subjects like law, science, business, art for their exams at school. Then most parents shield children from human atrocities and evilness. They won't want it learnt at primary/elementary level. Age 12 and under.

yeah but he is british, and brits like to use Belgium to get attention away from their own nasty stuff ;)

STFU everyone know what happened to Ireland. Even a remote country like me in South East Asian

Too late

Good

When a historical figure caused the third largest genocide in history but no body cares because the victims were blacks.

It’s Sad it took until now to have it tore down...

Unpopular opinion here but I feel like folks gotta get over this statue stuff cause history is history and folks getting all emotional and tearing down stuff is just kinda 1984ish ... most people understand nuance ... just saying

Gone are the glorious days, when Monarchs led their people to glory and prosperity! Where are the Alexanders, the Cyruses and the Charlemagnes today! O, pitiful times are these we live in!

Belgium MASSIVELY upgraded after Leopold II's death though. Albert I, the beloved "Soldier King", came to the throne.

@@IWanderedAsACloud from the early kings up until today there are legends and there are tyrannical and/or incompetent leaders

john bailey Given it has the leading quote for Alien... 😉

SILENCE I'M TERI BGG GUINN

Yeah I expected him to mention it too

Good point. But that book is "fiction". even if it is based on reality. I suggest a better one. "King Leopold's Ghost" It tells the reality. The reality of the situation was much more brutal than anyone has ever dared to write in fiction.

That quote from the Bible rings truer than ever today, across all cultures.

AND will be until this Ish is over. Praise Yahweh.

What about Abraham, Joseph, and Solomon. Biblical figures who were extremely wealthy.

True, so why religion keep asking for money ?

@@alexgunawan98 don’t know how it is in your region but our church uses the small donations for electricity, water and to buy the necessary foods to make the holy bread. Trust me they use it for what it’s needed for

Precisely, it's interesting how these more than likely liberal professors paint a picture, instead of saying in two major cities they say and every major city, I don't like slanted views like this.

smartalek180 Antwerp, Brussels, Brugge. That’s THREE major cities we have.

@@yannicknaert don't forget Gent, Dinat, and Leuven. Those are also major cities.

@@jonathanverbiest6859 Dinant is not a major city. It's a small town. Liège, Namur, Mons and, although I hate to say it, Charleroi are also major cities.

Which is the second major City? Haha

Common knowledge and totally wrong. There were not ten million people living there.

He is reffering to the covering up the things they doing there

I went through the French education system and not one mention. I was in my mid 30s when I found out.

Well the French (if you are talking abojt wallonia) education system sucks

It depends were. I'm from the UK, and we are not taught about this AT ALL. I would guess that the majority of people in the UK have never even heard the name Leopold.

One was in a much shorter time period, and was more recent therefore better documented

@@creature2479 @fluid1614 plus you have the fact that his was economically motivated whilst the nazis were performing genocide. Its why we don’t put mao and Stalin in the same breath as hitler most times because for whatever reason people care why you mass murdered when it really shouldn’t matter

​@@creature2479 Nonsense. One killed blackk people and the other killed whyte people.

Must be a fairly recent thing, I am 40 and only learned about Leopolds crimes after I graduated... not a word about his crimes in school

@@tweetdezweet i'm 25 and they told us about the crimes.

@@simonverschoore4689 Glad to hear that 'cause nothing worse than omitting important facts in history lessons!

Good to know. What's key is we LEARN from this history, so it doesn't get repeated!

@@tweetdezweet there's also a considerable movement to "de-leopold-ize" Belgium, but to be fair i'm not a big fan. Erasing history is not the way to face wrongdoings. Take school children (not too young :D) to a massive statue of leopold, or to Ostend where he built a massive promenade and stuff, take them to the grandest of his projects and tell them what cruel things were done to make this possible. If we destroy our patrimony just because it was built more than a 100 years ago by a criminal, these things too will get forgotten over time. In my village in rural flanders we have a WW1 graveyard for german soldiers. We do remember both our heroes and our enemies, so that this might hopefully never repeat itself.

it didnt stop with africa did it look at what they did in south east asia . the instibillity lasted to this very day

No such thing as a “revealing book about European colonialism” if you’ve ever read a history book.... they all tell the same story... you’ve just been trained to interpret them differently throughout different points in your life. Futhermore Leopoldo was right, Belgium NEVER would’ve gained respect from the rest of Europe wo an African colony. Period. Just like how the Spanish colonized the entire west and yet everyone blames “Europeans”. He merely joined in the race, he didn’t start it. Though his methods may not exactly be admirable, the fact he was able to convince the Congolese of all these ridiculous “feats” of white men is nothing short of astonishing

@@richaffinito5112 Nothing about his life or what he did to the Congolese people is astonishing. He committed one of the worst cases of genocide in history and the Belgium government have yet to make amends for the millions murdered and possibly trillions of dollars in gold, diamonds and resources they stole and still profit from to this day.

H

@@richaffinito5112 Your racism is astonishing

Amen Teddy.

Sometimes they even cut off the hands and legs of the worker's children instead..... And then ate the remains....... I assure you I am not exagerrating

Do you have any proof of this??? Happysoul?

@@THEOZZYFUL There is a photo taken of a man staring at the severed hand and foot of his five year old daughter. His name was Nsala and he was interviewed by the photographer and he explained that he had failed to reach the rubber quota for the day so his overseer had killed both his wife and daughter, eaten them, then gave back to him the severed hand and foot as a reminder never to fail his task for the day again.

@@happysoul2545 and they say hitler was the worst..

😐

@@isaiahprice9882 nice profile pic bra

I prefer to call it the Congo Free Slave Labor State. Let's just call it what it really was.

True. Literaly even. When the country was the private property of Leopold II, multiple people had their share in the country. Even American senators. A lot of people got rich thanks to the Congos, but not the Congolese people, and also not most of the Belgian people. And even lees of the Dutchspeaking Belgian people.

Relatives so you have no congolese genetics. But whatsoever,Congo probably had the worst africa scramble ever

How did you see the atrocities first hand on the ground if these happened in 1905?

@@YankeeNationalist if you read the comment it says the 'effects' of what happened. Something can happen in the past but its effects can still be seen and felt in the present.

during Leopold II reign there was only 7.90M population. Much of this video is intellectual nonsense. Much of the atrocities were traditional cultural and ritual punishments committed by congolese upon other congolese while Leo was in Belgium

@@tarim2822 could be said about cambodia and the khmer rouge

Uhm I totally agree with you and all, and there was slavery in the Congo, but Leopold actually fought a war against that slavery, see Joseph lippens and Henri De Bruyne statue in Blankenberge t commemorate the casualties of that war. Leopold was a bad man but not a slaver. Fyi sorry for the spelling mistakes, I couldn't be arsed to check for any.

Also, why would white men have pictures taken of them standing next to natives with chopped-off hands if they were themselves responsible for this? Did they want to be cursed for their role in Europe? Rather, these pictures were calling to attention the very real problem of cultural practices common in the Congo-practices which still exist today.

It is not the first time I'm watching a video from this channel and noticing factual mistakes, errors, or misleading statements. Bit bothersome, considering the number of people that know little about history and take these videos as facts. In a previous video I've already asked him to state the references on which his video is based on. Not a peep of course, this channel is a source of income and telling the truth might not be as profitable. Real sad. I think the bottom line is: if you want facts, don't get them from his videos. Research from independant historians, not from a source that does this just for profit.

Does he have a video about the American genocide of the natives?

+Youthure This is probably the most eloquent comment I've seen on RU-vid.

Thanks for that piece of knowledge.

Just read it. It was very informative and depressing

Ik ben reeds jaren op de hoogte van de zwijnerij 😁

Maybe you just didn't pay attention?

My school days were ages ago but history has always had my interest so it was one of the few subjects I payed attention to

Ynse Schaap o.k., explanation accepted! I cannot dispute your personal experiences. It is just that to my knowledge the atrocities of Leopold II are generally a well known historical fact. As far a I remember I read about it by Mark Twain (who campaigned against the atrocities in the Congo Free State) as a very young boy. My parents considered everything by Mark Twain suitable children's literature. But I also learnt about it briefly in school later - in the GDR - and later again when I went to "evening school" as an adult in the unified Germany (in former West Germany in Hesse, I did my "Abitur" there), I noticed that this was also taught (again, briefly, you know that we need much space for the criminal past of our own nation in our school curriculum) in history class lessons. But you see that the overwhelming majority of Belgians commenting here give credible testimony that the claim this is still "covered up" today there, as stated explicitely in the video, is a blatant lie by the video creator. Historical truth is important as is the history of colonialism and its ongoing implications. Awareness about it and about racism is important, but that should never be an excuse for telling such blatant lies about other nations. It is by the way counterproductive to effectively teaching about colonialism and racism.

Dutch history is also written in blood and slavery and is not or almost not taught in schools at least not my generation, what the education on this subject is today I'm not sure but it won't be extensive. I had the luck of a progressive mother and an uncle that fought in Indonesia right after the second world war who told me a lot about the atrocities the Dutch committed there. No Europeans history is without guilt

Isn't it 'flemish'?

@@LennertTale No flame pls

@@u_u-zzZ What

Christian schools don't exist anymore in Belgium.

@@u_u-zzZ He's just correcting her for a typo

Bizarrement, quand on demande l'avis d'un docteur en Histoire comme le docteur Pierre-Luc Plasman, spécialiste de la question, les chiffres avancés par les enquêtes britannique sont très largement exagéré. Quand Léopold à su ce que faisait l'unique officier qui coupait les mains, il est entré dans une colère noir et il l'officier a été arrêter. Léopold n'a d'ailleurs jamais été au Congo de sa vie. Je te suggère vivement d'aller voir son interview sur BX1 qu'on trouve sur youtube facilement.

@@montjoiestdenis9788 what?

satan never make tsunami and earthquake.

@@montjoiestdenis9788 merhi

Not the best video for jokes😬

Oddly enough, they do not teach about this in America. As far as k-12 or required school

youre a dumbass if your a belgian and don't. everyone learns this

Barry Coleman they do teach it in America

Just found out about this after seeing a meme. I fact checked, and sure enough, it was unfortunately true..

This man was equally evil if not more than stalin and hitler..Mao

I don't think they meant that it's still not known now, but that the lie was kept up (or at least swept under the rug) for such a long time, and happened long after slavery had been outlawed in the West. According to others, even though it is common knowledge now, it may not have been widely taught in Belgian schools until the 1970s or 80s.

it is not false and just because it is or is not in a textbook do not make it so. I was taught that Columbus DISCOVERED AMERICA AND WE ALL KNOW THAT IS A LIE. ALL OF YOU ARE ALIKE AND WILL NEVER EVER OWN UP TO THE THINGS YOUR ANCESTORS DID THROUGHTOUT THE WORLD.

@@wildhogs1ful What exactly are you saying isn't false? That Leopold II committed atrocities? (He did) Or that the Belgians don't admit it? (They do) Belgium appears to be doing exactly what you would want to be done about Columbus. Teaching about the bad things he did. Nobody in Belgium likes Leopold II anymore. pj wasn't defending Leopold II, he was defending the Belgian schools and Belgian people for teaching about him and rejecting him. What else do you want them to do?

@@drumguy1384 He used the present tense and literally said 'the Internet is making it harder for Belgium to ignore Leopold's crimes'. Did you not watch the video?

Good for you holding them accountable

Oh I think he knew also. He is just lying.

It has been covered up as much as possible. I personally would believe my grandparents weren't taught on this matter (can't ask them cause I would have to dig then), but as today we all learn about it during history lessons.

Considering I've grown up in a School system that still to this day hasn't included King Leopolds crime in their social studies syllabus but still talks about Hitler front and center I'd say yes, I only learnt about King Leopolds true story when I was around 18 and thats only coz of the internet, so better believe it was a FUCKING COVER UP.

@@nkolemalauni5131 are you Belgian? I doubt it. It says something about the school system in your country (probably Zambia?) not the Belgian. Literally every Belgian commenting so far has confirmed that the claim the video makes - that Leopold's crimes are covered up till today in Belgium - is not true and that his atrocities are in fact are the first thing (or the only thing) they associate with him.

Friendly Neighbourhood Zambian There is a lot of history in the world. Not knowing something at 18 that older Europeans all know about does not make a cover up. I suspect you have many more historical discoveries to make. I can recommend The Gulag Archipelago and The Washing of the Spears

much appreciated!

The Belgium government owe reparations to the people of The Congo, return stolen museum artifacts, followed by a public apology and sincere regret.

If Germany has to pay Israel ( which they should have) then Belgium should pay the Congo.

as someone who is ethnically MONGOLIAN by blood and heritage I love beef

Zak Jansen you’re a fkn demon from hell you maggot eating slime!

Zak Jansen go back to your caucuses cave! Where your ancestors came from! Leach

@Zak Jansen He will return the minute you go back to your father Satan you demonic creature.

Zak Jansen When you caucasoid’s cease pilfering bongo bongo land as you refer to it, then they might go back. America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa (soon to be out) Canada, Alaska, Zimbabwe (your already out), when will your people go back to wherever you come from? I say wherever because your people are not indigenous to anywhere on this earth.

In italy we learn it in third year of high school

during Leopold II reign there was only 7.90M population. Much of this video is intellectual nonsense. Much of the atrocities were traditional cultural and ritual punishments committed by congolese upon other congolese while Leo was in Belgium

Or the Belgians are still in denial...... That's what the comments are really saying

im sorry to bust your bubble, i was born and bred in belgium, and went to the most elite schools available, and no this part of "history" was not included in our curriculum

@@vanessadanso Hey so I'm french and we were taught about this in class when we were kids. Also a know a few friends who also know about this since he was their king sooooo not sure which region your from (no I'm literally curious to know since my mates are from a few km form Brussels and it might just be the city education)

Belgians do not know the truth of Leopold II We are very well aware of our colonial past, even about the past of other great nations. Where the victors often write and distort history. What we also know is that the British empire was responsible for 70 million deaths worldwide during its full deployment (1487-1997). Is this not the biggest cover up in European history?! More than Hitler and Stalin together. Interestingly, an article in a British newspaper The Guardian, has pointed out that many people in Britain are simply not aware of the Empire's past because they are not taught about it in... SCHOOL.

@@vanessadanso And I will burst your bubble, I didn't go to a very elite school (which doesn't mean it wasn't a good school) and we spent multiple leasons on Belgians colonial history (including watching the famous documentairy White king, red rubber, black death ( or something like that) and I've gotta say in this part of Belgium we are very much aware of the horrors in the Congo..

I just read it. It was very informative and very depressing. Never heard of him before

Takin it with the hands?

With whipped cream, strawberries, sugar and maple syrup?

Exploited and ravaged.

Your comment needs more thumbs up. Or at least thumbs

Handless

Victor Madsen hahaha. Yes, and he forgot Spain

The correct sentence should be "Conquered by the Frank's, Germans, Burgundians, Spanish, Austrian, French, Netherlands"

@@SvrWxArchive1807 One could argue that we are those Franks.

@@SvrWxArchive1807 You forgot about the Norsemen.

Romans to. We where the bravest of all gaulls

As an American you ain't taught anything to be fair. Except your Country History that is built on lies

We know that you are not taught in school.

Why is it that Americans want to be taught everything in history and nothing to do with math or geography

​@@baldrick1485 true I am from Jamaica and I went to school in America and have never thought this all I was told about is Hitler Hitler Hitler Hitler the evilest man in history and I've never thought us about Leopold of course not he wasn't evil he kills blacks.

​@@josephprendergast2420 Hitler is considered one of the most evil men who's lived, because he was a threat to the WHOLE world. Not because one dude killed white people, so he's bad and other dude killed black people, so he's good (wtf)lmao they both were absolute terrible people, who cares who is on top of the shitlist. That being said, Leopold should be taught about more in American schools.

Warm_Cup_Of_ Battery_Acid but they are benefiting from his bad deeds of stealing the resources of Congo

@@eichessdosted6019 And they still sell chocolate treats in the shape of hands cut off at the wrist ...

@@lesleykramer7207 what is your source on that?

@@lesleykramer7207 😨😨

Bizarrement, quand on demande l'avis d'un docteur en Histoire comme le docteur Pierre-Luc Plasman, spécialiste de la question, les chiffres avancés par les enquêtes britannique sont très largement exagéré. Quand Léopold à su ce que faisait l'unique officier qui coupait les mains, il est entré dans une colère noir et il l'officier a été arrêter. Léopold n'a d'ailleurs jamais été au Congo de sa vie. Je te suggère vivement d'aller voir son interview sur BX1 qu'on trouve sur youtube facilement.

Well you weren't, you were taught propaganda but ok

You did not study him in school. I am sure it was just a paragraph long and you did not know much.

Not in my 80s Belgium.

I LIVE IN BELGIUM AND I SAY YOU'RE WRONG

As a swedish person we were never taugth this in school so its probly a belgium thing to learn about him. So thats our fault (sweden) for not teaching the kids about this horribel man

so you are saying the whole population of the world know what the king did in congo!

ApexLegends TV nah nah when i said ‘everyone one of us’ i mean us Belgians, gosh barely anyone outside Belgium knows what he did (mostly cuz they don’t learn it in class cuz it’s not the history of their country i suppose)

@@eden9199 it's a shame because it's as much of a genocide as the one in WWII, which is talked about in all schools, yet this one is left out. Dumb.

@@HACFMS because it is less central to their history

@@DoctorUX no, but does that really matter? all belgians still do.

Humanity: Monster -> Monster but with mask

@@VHARDJO Compensation for what? you do know most countrys have done similair things like this and have never compensated. Also we did help africa alot in this new age, people just have to forgive after a certain amount of time, life is unfair. we wouldnt be compensated aswell if it happend to us or most other countrys. everyones greedy well thats sadly how this world is. Self-interest.

@@joregvds967 How did you help them?

@@thinkbetter5286 Allowing them to become europeans, free health care, a good life and secuirity. Cant get that in Africa, so yeah they should forget about the past since we have nothing to do with it now anyways.

@@joregvds967 Rubbish

Yes but people don't talk about it

Because everybody knows it.

Ben Prewitt I think they meant during the time

Alot people don’t actually know about this, i just learned about this a couple years ago, they never taught us this in school like they do with the holocaust.

I never heard about this in school

Silence can be as bad as denial.

Correction: They don't talk about it in front of foreigners. And they don't talk about it (outside history class) with each other because it's too depressing.

German here, we choose an other way to face our history.

Why?.. Because if you did you would have to admit that your nation is a bourgeois abomination that never should have happened, and Flanders and Willonia should be repatriated to their rightful nations?..

@@AholeAtheist but what about the Brussel Capital area

Yeah... but no. My daughter was taught in school only 2 years ago about Leopold 2. They still emphasized the humanitarian aspect and downplayed the genocidal aspect.

Bruno van Dooren Interesting. I know some of the older generation don’t believe what he did. My mother-in-law doesn’t believe cut at all.

@@jimarichard I finished high school in 2010 and was taught in depth about all the atrocities, and most of this comments section seems to agree with me. So we'll have to see if this is a regression in official study material, or just a teacher who themself was in school back when the lies were still taught and doesn't believe the truth, as you say. I know I was taught the terrible truth in school, but I have to admit I never even mentioned this to my parents - I guess I just assumed they already knew because I wasn't aware at the time that the curriculum had changed so much.

The problem with removing the statues is that over time it is like anything he did never actually happened.

TERRORIST LEOPOLD 2

Now Belgians know there was a cover up but it had to be exposed like MK Ultra.

thats not exacly true, since in italian colonies they natives had freedom of agrupation, of religion, scolastic freedom and laws regarding work that gave the natives far better working conditions than in other colonies

Not in my 80s Belgium.

Stephan van den Adel Yes colonists were bad on certain personal basis' and in certain specific cases, (like this case for example) sometimes committing large crimes for a long running time, etc, however the more contact Africans had with colonists, or the more heavily an area was colonized the richer the Africans became and the better their outcomes.

Retarded comment, you went over the top. Most colonial powers were not bad and only really improved living standards

The snail goes over the razor blade ; )

One of the best books of the 19th Century

This is why I hate it when Belgian people complain about Chinese "colonialism" in Africa these days. Like yeah China's improving Africa's economy and Belgium has them enslaved and hands chopped off all for fun 😢😂😂😂

Shocking

Isaac Walsh because they cover it up so that no one should know about him. Very evil man

@@nkeiruka5930 Yeah covered it up so good we made documentaries about it and showed on national television.

​@@tinywhaleman8131This is why I hate it when Belgian people complain about Chinese "colonialism" in Africa these days. Like yeah China's improving Africa's economy and Belgium has them enslaved and hands chopped off all for fun 😢😢😂

​@@mingyuhuang8944 Has nothing to do with Belgian ppl.

I think it's mostly about scale. First off, Spain and France are big countries all on their own. Secondly, they and also Portugal and the UK ended up with massive empires. And then aside from that, just like French fries are called 'French' even though they're Belgian, I wouldn't be surprised if people just kinda assume that it was France that colonized Congo because they speak French. What makes me wonder is the fact that the atrocities of the Netherlands in Indonesia are comparatively known by people, and I think this may be because a book was published about it - a book that can still be found today (the one by Multatuli). Because Leopold's excesses in the Congo were way worse, so by comparison, they really should be better known. But then, Congo was the wildest, most be-jungeled part of the African continent (the book 'Heart of Darkness' exemplifies that), and nobody was really interested in owning it or going there, which is why the other countries allowed Leopold to have it in the first place. Aside from that, I sometimes think there must be some kind of spell on Belgium where people just never think about Belgium in general. When I go to other countries, I often have people guess where I'm from, and I've heard anything from the UK to France and Germany to Norway to Hungary and Romania, but never Belgium. When I say Belgium, people are either surprised or they say "Oh, Belgium. I've been to Bruges/ have been wanting to go to Bruges". But even though they have literally been there, they never think about the fact that this place exists. They'll rattle off every country where they know my physical features are common except Belgium. So maybe it's just that. The Netherlands, at least, people think about it any time Marijuana is mentioned - which they aren't entirely happy with either, but from my point of view, at least people do think about them (like it would be different if it were murder or something, but weed isn't a bad thing). TL;DR: You're right, people should absolutely know about Leopold's atrocities. I think we're just so forgettable as a country that even the writers of history books just kinda don't think to mention us.

Because they want to expose Hitler more than the animal Leopold ! They want to cover up his crimes against the Congolese people

The Belgium government owe reparations to the people of The Congo, return stolen museum artifacts, followed by a public apology and sincere regret.

@@sjoncb the government and its people today dont owe the congo anything anymore. The people now have nothing to do with what happened there in the past, even the common people then had nothing to do with it and dont believe the idiot in this video, generation after generation, everyone living here knows exactly what monstrous things happened in the congo under leopold 2. It is most definetly taught in school.

@@sjoncb besides, since you dont know, for years and years the biggest part of belgian humanitarian aid has gone to the congo, since 2018 that amount is about 25.000.000 euro a year

@ric Gikonyo love your logic but that number is only since 2018 and each year, not belgiums fault that you keep having 'leaders' that dont care about there people and only care about there own bankaccount🤷‍♂️

So why the statues of praise

its not implying that. the title is referring to him tricking the other countries at the time

The point is "it *was* a coverup"

Remi Ots ge blijft kopieren en plakken ge kunt ook een beetje variatie doen..., en ik denk da als mense commenten ze u eerste bericht wel gaan leze... ma voor de rest benk et wel me u eens, buiten dat er ook nog altijd veel royalisten zijn (waaronder ik ook) Edit: kvind wel ook daje een beke vlaams Nationalistish overkomt.

Remi Ots and yet, still a false history as said, go watch the alternative hypothesis video, and check his math/sources, because clearly no one is checking the official narrative, whatever it is now based on the fashion of the day.

Get rid of the statues then

Also-"King Leopold's Ghost", by Adam Hochschild. Absolutely harrowing.

Yeah, didn't like the book the first time I read it, but appreciated it on the next. I wouldn't say it's a "good" book, but it was informative.

Watch the alternative hypthesis's video on it. The "full story" is rarely ever told.

"Heart of Darkness" is a great work of fiction. Emphasis on fiction.

The Belgium government owe reparations to the people of The Congo, return stolen museum artifacts, followed by a public apology and sincere regret.

Did it redeem itself by compensating the Congo,did it. If not it just might be a shity nation just like the United States

very well argument accepted however did belgium redeem itself and compensate the congo???? i believe not. please also note the fact that your government and state continued these and many more atrocities until the early 1960s'.

@@asedky I understand your point completely. And I am not saying anywhere in my argument that our government did redeem itself or compensated the DRC. Which I do firmly believe they should. It's just a shame the whole Belgian population is blamed, while many of us can't do a damn thing about it.

@Anke Everaerdt the blame on the belgian people is limited to the responsibility of tolerating such - a big limitation though. although i do not like the comparison to nazi germany, as it would stretch the historic context, the german people carried the responsibility of the atrocities committed by their leaders, government and state. it is a perversion of history to see your king (a descendant of king leopold) and his wife, live an affluent life, claiming civility, benefiting from the riches, amaced from the congo and stacked away in switzerland. belgium is not isolated in having committed atrocities out of self interest. but its amazing history and culture should have compelled its society to stand up to its responsibility.

@@asedky Look, I have no clue where you're from, but I do believe that as a single person you may voice your opinion, if the higher powers aren't concerned, that voice will get lost unfortunately. Such would be the case in your country as well. And if you disagree, than god bless the country you live in, because then you will have achieved true democracy. Again, and I can't state this enough, it's true that atrocities were committed and that many of people in charge of our country turn a blind eye. Also, as if I, a young "nobody" could change the past or actually change the point of view of our leaders?! No, many of us Belgians can't... Then, your comparison to Nazi-Germany. Take a history book and educate yourself! Sure, there are enough, as not the most German people who feel the blame. But so do we Belgians. But the common German can't change nor do something about it. And as a last note, my first reaction was completely different from what we are discussing now. You got sidetracked and only wanted to make me guilty for defending the fact that we DO know all of these monstrous crimes happened, which was clearly stated in the video we all seemed to be ignorant of that fact! The only ones pretending are those in power. So, I hope you know that I personally do feel sorry for all the suffering the Congolese people had to endure. If I could, I'd change what happened in an instant. So would I for many other African countries that suffered under European kolonialism.

Can you name a city in Belgium without a statue or monument to Leopold?

@@JanjayTrollface Do you honestly expect people to know by hart which city in their country has which statues?

I live in Liège and don't recall any Léopold the 2nd statue in my city.

Youthure No, but it seems from your original post that you did. So I just wanted to clear up that either you don't know what you're talking about, or you are not interested in what if you are saying is true or not. Which is it?

MrMarcmaster A quick google search reveals to me that there may be no statues or monuments to Leopold in Liege. Thank You for pointing this out.

Strawberry Kiys definitely a terrible thing that happened but Africans faces atrocities for centuries from Europe and the West. That doesn’t compare to killings that happened in 2007

@@griffiththechad9483 stfu it’s their own fault for being unevolved

@ unevolved yeah?? OK hope you'll say the same when that happens to you

Three kinds of humans: sheep, wolves, and shepherds! Forget virtue signaling and identity politics and look inward and decide which of the three are you : )

Never mind the Arabs still enslaving Africans today though, skin colour isn’t right is it?

It was a different world colonization was not looked at as something negative.We did evolve, well most of us.

And Austria too :D.

And what about the human zoos for Congolese that your government set up?

All Belgians could have known. But yet...nobody cared enough to put the resources and the people back where they found them. So...you don't matter. Next issue...

Blah b - So, how many real victims are we talking about then?

I'm German and I disliked it as well for the exact same reasons Blah b from the Netherlands pointed out.

I never heard of this either while in school. I first learned of this horrific atrocity from the RU-vid channel "Simple History". I've heard about the horrors of slavery over millennia, this has to be some of the worst (other than maybe Greece or Rome with the gladiators, etc.). What a tragedy that the Belgians are stuck with this monster on their line of monarchs.

Do you see you are from the US I'm Russian and we didn't know a thing, it is still cover-up all the time.

also the story of the biggest african enslavers and genociders the muslims not being told

Bizarrement, quand on demande l'avis d'un docteur en Histoire comme le docteur Pierre-Luc Plasman, spécialiste de la question, les chiffres avancés par les enquêtes britannique sont très largement exagéré. Quand Léopold à su ce que faisait l'unique officier qui coupait les mains, il est entré dans une colère noir et il l'officier a été arrêter. Léopold n'a d'ailleurs jamais été au Congo de sa vie. Si tu t'étais renseigner un minimum tu dirais plutôt de lui que c'était un roi batisseur, c'est lui qui a pousser l'urbanisme de la Belgique actuel et qui a construit les grands monuments. Je te suggère vivement d'aller voir son interview sur BX1 qu'on trouve sur youtube facilement.

High school, right? Not a word from your parents, grandparents, uncles other family members people around? What could be the reason for that?

The real consolation happens when Belgium pays its debts for the intentionally impoverished Congolese.

@@radnasirhill Because not everyone talks about history. Like my parents never finished their education didn't pay attention in class why the f^ck would they be telling me about the belgian colonization in the congo if they couldn't even tell you when the ussr fell.

@@kappalol8250 why? Because your Belgian grandfather's use to chop off innocent fellows hand for not bringing enough rubbery stuff from the forest till 1964 my dear friends. People who did moved into our home after my elders deportation also dont like to mention that particular time in their history. Some nations are proud of their elders some are ashamed. How does Belgian olympians feel when they compete against sportsmans from Congo? Looking for a hole to hide?

I have it on good authority that the Belgians still worship him as a god. Every household is required by Belgian law to have a shrine with a gold leaf covered Belgian chocolate statue of Leopold in their home. The capital of the Congo still has statues of him everywhere since the ghost of Leopold will curse anyone who trys to take one down.

@@arthas640 Not to mention the mandatory growing of The Beard, women included.

@@arthas640 Who is this 'good authority'? Because whoever told you that, simply lied.

@@karsten9895 The ministry of irony

@@MarkusM121 Oh, my bad. I didn't read on. Just the frist sentence. The joke is on me.

LITERALLY

Jonas Hellebuyck He’s not an historian and I wouldn’t rely on him for the truth.

Simon is extremely biased or blindered at best and an outright propagandist at worst.

It is clear he was talking about the early 20th century when he said Belgians weren't taught about it.

ScamalDorcha wrong! He's clearly using the present tense.

Oh boy tyen you didn't hear about stalin and gengis khan

Oh, I’m well aware of Stalin. I believe he might just eke our hitler, if only slightly. They’re both as bad as eachother. Genghis Khan, I actually don’t know much about. Apart from that a measurably large number of people at least in certain parts of the world are direct descendants from him.

damn

Well.. they can't beat modern life though: just a push on a button and a country gets blown away foregood. Go figure how cruel and shallow we have become. Suddenly the color of skin does not matter. Except when you are black: then you don't have any buttons to wipe away countries. I wonder why...

Oh well, Genghis used any kind of cruelty to get it his way. ~ Btw the muslims eventually ganged up with (one of?) the last crusader's stronghold in the Arab world to defeat the Mongols. Now.. if that does not sound terrifying :)

Sounds exactly like what went on from 2016 to 2021 (and in many places, still does) in my country.

Maybe he was great among Italians but with the suffering of other millions of people in other countries ,the same way some Belgium at the time probably believe that it was a great king simple because he brought wealth to their country but with the suffering of millions of people in Africa ,children ,mothers and fathers which it is sad because at this point what is the definition of a good person ,a person that is good to every human no matter what race they are or a person that is good to you and your family ?.

Musso did do good things for Italy

This is why I hate it when Belgian people complain about Chinese "colonialism" in Africa these days. Like yeah China's improving Africa's economy and Belgium has them enslaved and hands chopped off all for fun 😢😢😢😂😂

nn alan Human zoos were a common thing at that time. Two examples: 1893 Chicago Columbia Exposition has at least two and at about this time the NYC Zoo had a pigmy.... many many more examples... not forgiving any of them but this was a thing unrelated to the Congo in particular.

Of course it is your fault You are white and from Belgium, just the same as Leopold was, I bet you even gave him tips on how to be cruel to black people.

He sold Belgium to the state like it was okay for you to buy it?! 😂😂😂 But you want sympathy for buying human beings and their land for profit...JUST LIKE HE DID?! This world is trash.

Stephaniy Lewis you honestly believe the "Belgian people" of today bought King Leopold II's private colony? You seem to spread your uninformed and prejudiced comments everywhere.

@Stanley Dougé Racist!

Bizarrement, quand on demande l'avis d'un docteur en Histoire comme le docteur Pierre-Luc Plasman, spécialiste de la question, les chiffres avancés par les enquêtes britannique sont très largement exagéré. Quand Léopold à su ce que faisait l'unique officier qui coupait les mains, il est entré dans une colère noir et il l'officier a été arrêter. Léopold n'a d'ailleurs jamais été au Congo de sa vie. Si tu t'étais renseigner un minimum tu dirais plutôt de lui que c'était un roi bâtisseur, c'est lui qui a pousser l'urbanisme de la Belgique actuel et qui a construit les grands monuments. Je te suggère vivement d'aller voir son interview sur BX1 qu'on trouve sur youtube facilement.

REPATRIATE FLANDERS!

It's not a "small detail" it's literally what he strats with, it's in the title too. He's presenting the false narative that Leo II is presented as a hero. Should schools tell about his atrocities more? Probably. Should his statues be removed? Definitly. But he is not presented as a hero what so ever.

Another Dutchman here. I’ve been on school/university 23 of my 29 years, and I’ve always enjoyed high level education. We never spoke about this during history class. It wasn’t in our history books. Our history lessons were most about the second world war, and only the communist side of the story :) but I read about Leopold myself and tell people ablut him. Many fellow Dutchman haven’t heard of him nor his deeds

Frahamen Yeah, I was just trying to give it a little patch of salt, since I know a lot of these episodes take a ton of work to set up, but it's a big mistake in the video for sure.

dtothez187 Yeah, but you studied in The Netherlands, I assume. I've been to both Belgian and Dutch high schools. I didn't even know who Leopold II was during my time at the Dutch one, because it wasn't of any big importance to Dutch education. But in the Flannish (Belgian) schools, the teachers will make sure you'll know about his deeds.

No...

@LIVIU DRAGNEA Few crimes? That implies that they're fucked up

@LIVIU DRAGNEA BS. Germany was among the worst, with the Herero and Namaqua Genocide being a precursor to the Holocaust.

LIVIU DRAGNEA wait whaaat? I hope i are joking did u ever heard about german tanzania it was horrible what u did to people of tanzania more worst than holicust oh wait only jews are important 🖕🏾

@@ayanlejaguar3539 And the genocide in Namibia committed by the Germans during colonial rule.

agree and agree , Hitler must be taking tips from him , what a rotter ,

That was by far not the only fact neither the most important fact that he didn't get right about your country.

Still applies to modern Congo.

I'm guessing you've read The River; Edward Hooper?!?

Sadly, I am not a literary connoisseur.

It wasn’t very much mentioned in bp. But why would killmonger be mad at something that happened well over 100 years ago?

@@dr.max9yt459 Not everything is literal.

@@dr.max9yt459 Also, he would definitely be upset about wealth and lives being taken from an African country. Are you dense? 🤔

@@eightykakes15 no it’s just stupid, it’s sad that it happened, it’s actually horrible. But that’s so stupid he’s still mad for something 100+ years ago and he went on a rampage for something that happened so long ago

@@dr.max9yt459 Yes. It's stated in Black Panther... He ask "Where was Wakanda". They show you in the opening that while Wakanda thrived and developed Vibranium technology, other African countries (and the world in general) suffered slavery and tyranny. Again, yes, this is why Killmonger was upset. Yes, he would still be upset. I am still pissed. Many of all races are still upset.

The reason it is not a cover up is because they can't. 😏😒

They are too ashamed to teach the whole truth knowing it will cause a mass hatred for the Belgium people, so they try their best to cover up as much as they can

Leopold I (the first Belgian King) was from German Safe-Colburg IIRC, the same house as Prince Albert (Victoria and Albert were first cousins also). What a shame that Victoria and her children had to have this monster as an extended family member.

*Saxe-Colburg

Heartbreaking ; a monster.

Ever seen a statue of Hitler in Berlin? Ya something is wrong with your thinking

ehhh he did some bad things but over all he was a major factor in saving legitimately hundreds of thousands or even millions of lives so even though i agree that his later politics and writings are... not so good his actions as a whole are good

Yeh I was feeling good about E. D Morel until your comment. The 'shame' is on him considering his expose of King Leopold II. Although he did set the ball rolling. But he was also a racist... just not one willing to accept murderous treatment I guess.

I guess the west just did the innovation thing and brought chattel slavery to the world, kudos

Only the West successfully abolished slavery.

@@Zorro9129 West made it unlawful. Slavery will never end. But try to go off though...

The truth is inaccurate right when it exposes the crimes of your ancestors.