The claim in Hochschild's 1998 book, "Leopold's Ghost" is Leopold did a forgotten Holocaust in which - out of a ravenous desire for money from the rubber industry - enslaved millions in the Congo. He chopped off hands, slaughtered, and was indifferent to disease and starvation.

But the narrative is completely fake. Here are the facts. First, Leopold and the Belgians went to the Congo with the stated goal of suppressing already widespread Arab slave trade and tribal wars, not to exploit the Congo.

Only about 20,000 troops went to Congo making it absolutely impossible to properly manage such a chaotic country. To the extent that there was abuse, most was either from the Arab slavers or from local Congo soldiers and was the result of poor oversight not a deliberate policy.

The biggest fake claim was the false population decline claims. Hochschild's 10 million number was based on a pre-Leo census-less estimate and comparing that to more accurate estimates afterwards. This absolute reckless use of numbers is refuted when you consider:

Modern estimates show a slight INCREASE in the Congo population from 1885 to 1908. To the extent that there were deaths, they were due to slavery, disease, and warfare, not EIC policies, which saved lives through interventions.

Another thing that often gets people is the many photos of Belgians standing next to Congo citizens with hands chopped off. The implications of these photos is that it was the Belgians doing the chopping.

In reality, the Belgians were staging these photos to show the horrors of the Arab slave trade (where they did chop off hands) and tribal warfare. There was no evidence of widespread use of hand chopping by the Belgian authorities.

Further, Hochschild omits to tell his readers that Belgium had a huge Anti-Slavery effort. Slavery prior to the arrival of the Belgians was widespread and brutal - enforced by Arab slavers. Belgium worked hard to end this practice.

In short, the entire claim is fake. At worst, you could accuse Leopold of mismanagement. At best you could say he helped end the slave trade and bring some order to a chaotic nation. The 10 million dead number is absolutely fake.

BTW, Grok is in my comments trying to blue pill people on this so I asked Grok separately (outside this thread) what the population of Congo Free State was before and after Leopold II. Grok confirmed recent population estimates show no drop. So Grok agrees 10 mil dead is fake.

For those calling Grok not a source (I agree but remember I was correcting Grok here), you can check out Statistica that estimates the population of Congo based on scholarly consensus. The red box is the time of Leopold.

Also, for everyone saying "this or that writer spoke about the Belgians' Congo atrocities before Hochschild", my claim is not that Hochschild was literally the first person to talk about the Belgian occupation of Congo (obviously not) but just that he gave academic credibility

@poperespecter1 Your new crusade is gross. I get that it’s somehow connected to defending a Catholic monarch, but no one is scared off Catholicism by the bad actions of a Catholic king more than 100 years ago. But genocide denial for the glory of God? You make the faith look craven and immoral.

@librarythingtim There are plenty of scholars who agree with my position. The 10 million number is insane. Look at the below, do you think it is possible that 10 million were killed during that era? You can call it gross. I didn't plan on having a huge argument about this one. Sort of went

@poperespecter1 So I suppose British diplomat Sir Roger Casement, American pastor George Washington Williams, and many others who personally observed and protested Belgian rule in The Congo are all lying?

@irunbartertown I think there are two different claims. First, the claim that the Belgians were oppressive. Second that the Belgians killed 10 million people making them some of the worst butchers of history. You are making a case for the first claim. My primary purpose opposing this is to show

@poperespecter1 Doing genocide denial in general is insane but against a population which is majority Catholic when you claim to be Catholic is even crazier

@ThinkdontSee Both countries are catholic and the 10 million was based on the claim that the population was 20 million before Leopold and 10 million after. They had no census before and the 20 million was a swag made by missionaries. Few scholars believe it anymore. Most think the population

@poperespecter1 Everything you just wrote is rubbish, total rubbish. The Congolese who lived through the genocide says it happened so it did. You can't lie your way through this one

@Kinsmanchib The 10 million was based on the claim that the population was 20 million before Leopold and 10 million after. They had no census before and the 20 million was a swag made by missionaries. Few scholars believe it anymore.

@poperespecter1 This is a really sad thread from this account. I have met Congolese and been to that part of Central Africa. Anyone denying the atrocities perpetuated there has no clue, have never lived there or just plain malicious.

@benedict_usman This is the population of Congo. The red box is when 10 million were supposedly killed. Does that look right to you?

@poperespecter1 Stop clothing this barbaric sin... the man dehumanized our people,we still living with de pain n u are here lying on top...stop whitewashing criminals

@1ba_sina The 10 million was based on the claim that the population was 20 million before Leopold and 10 million after. They had no census before and the 20 million was a swag made by missionaries. Few scholars believe it anymore.

@poperespecter1 this why religion sucks, all must fit their narrative, not reality

@zigg____ The 10 million was based on the claim that the population was 20 million before Leopold and 10 million after. They had no census before and the 20 million was a swag made by missionaries. Few scholars believe it anymore.