Leopold II of Belgium

Imagine a king who loved building! That was Leopold II of Belgium. He was king for a super long time, 44 years, which is longer than most of your grandparents have been alive!

He loved making Belgium look beautiful by building grand buildings, parks, and streets. He was so good at building that people called him the 'Builder King'. He wanted his country to be grand and impressive, like a giant castle made of stone and dreams.

But Leopold also had a secret project far, far away in Africa, called the Congo Free State. He never even visited it! He used brave explorers to claim this land for himself.

He wanted to get rich from the rubber that grew there. He made people work very, very hard to get the rubber, and if they didn't get enough, he made them suffer. This part of his story is very sad and not at all like building a happy park.

To get lots of rubber, Leopold's helpers were very cruel. They forced people to work, and if they didn't bring enough rubber, their hands were cut off! This is a truly horrible thing to imagine.

Many, many people got sick, starved, or were hurt because of Leopold's greed. It’s like if someone took all your toys and made you work all day to give them away, and if you didn't, they took your favorite toy away forever.

Leopold II is remembered for two very different things. He's remembered as the 'Builder King' for making Belgium look amazing with all his projects. But he is also remembered for the terrible suffering he caused in the Congo.

It’s important to learn about both sides of his story. It teaches us that even powerful people can do both good and very bad things, and we must always remember the people who were hurt.