Question

The ______ imposed a reign of terror on the colonised people, including mass killings and forced labour.

• A. Congo Free State
• B. French Congo
• C. Republic of Soth Africa
• D. Central African Republic

Answer 1

The correct option is A Congo Free State

King Leopold II presented himself as a philanthropist eager to bring the benefits of Christianity, Western civilisation, and commerce to African natives. It was the world’s only private colony, and Leopold referred to himself as its “proprietor.” Initially, he was most interested in ivory, a material that was greatly valued in the days before plastics. Another thing that attracted Leopold was rubber. One lucrative source of wild rubber was the Landolphia vines in the great Central African rainforest, and no one owned more of that area than Leopold. His private army would march into a village and hold the women hostage, forcing the men to scatter into the rainforest and gather a monthly quota of wild rubber. The effects were devastating. Many of the women hostages starved, and many of the male rubber gatherers were worked to death.