Development Factors in the Era of King Leopold Amnah Altaher University of Dayton Development Factors in the Era of King Leopold Several kings reigned for many years, but there were no There is no manifestation of development and improvement in the countries they ruled. However, some leaders who have led countries for years have brought about different positive changes in those societies. King Leopold II became king of Belgium; he privately controlled and owned the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. In 1908, the region was annexed by Belgium as a colony known as the Belgian Congo. Leopold used his personal control to strip the county of vast amounts of wealth, much of it in the form of ivory and rubber. These labor-intensive industries were serviced by slaves, and local populations were forced to work through various means, including torture, imprisonment, mutilation, and terror. There are three factors considered relevant to explaining how King Leopold of Belgium acquired an African empire in the Congo: exploration, industrial technology, and the media. The first factor, exploration was considered an important factor that played a good role for King Leopold. acquire his empire. Several explorers helped him explore rare keys that allow him to rule the empire. The first character is Sir Henry Morton Stanley who was a Welsh journalist and explorer, famous for several expeditions to Africa. In the first chapter, the author presented a perfect history of his life; he traveled a lot from place to place. One point that he was the founder of Dr. Livingston and The important thing that he In 1874, Stanley returned to Africa and, starting from Zanzibar, crossed the continent along the...... middle of paper... . ..linked to the control exercised by Leopold over the media. On the other hand, Leopold's opponents also used the media, but in a different way. Morel created his own illustrated weekly, which served as an unofficial clearinghouse for stories about Congo and African atrocities. While Leopold spent enormous sums of money, Morel devoted an enormous amount of time to it. His willingness to oppose Leopold made him the natural recipient of any anti-Leopold news, and Morel regularly received deliberately leaked information from the Congo. Finally, official government reports largely escaped Leopold's direct control. Thus, both the Casement Report and the Commission of Inquiry Report had a profound impact on the media representation of Leopold's colony. That the colony was ultimately annexed by Belgium is an adequate testament to the power of media manipulation, a secondary theme evident in the text..