King Leopold II of Belgium was passionate about geography and everything that had something to do with maps. He also loved to travel, and it was during one of his trips when he realized that he could turn Belgium into one of the world’s richest countries.
To make this possible, he first need a colony. His focus then shifted to Asia, specifically the islands considered to be the gateway to other nearby countries: the Philippines.
According to historian Ambeth Ocampo, most of the details of King Leopold’s quest to make Philippines a Belgian colony can be found in the 1962 book entitled A La Recherde d’un Etat Independent: Leopold II et les Philippines 1869-1875.
In 1866, a year after his accession to the throne, King Leopold II asked his ambassador in Madrid to negotiate with the Queen of Spain about the possibility of ceding the Philippines to Belgium.
But here’s the catch: It was a common knowledge at that time that Leopold’s government was against his imperialistic plans. They believed that the idea of colonization “entails naval vessels and an army to protect interests halfway across the world,” and Belgium was not yet ready to take that risk.
As expected, his first attempt failed. And so was the second when he even attempted to get personal loans from English banks, which ended in rejection.
He also devised a scheme that would first turn the Philippines into a independent country, and later into a colony under the Belgian monarch. Unfortunately, this, too, failed miserably.
In the end, his dream of having a colony finally came true when he proclaimed his sovereignty over Congo, a country in Africa.
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