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Post by gameboy on Feb 22, 2020 6:56:10 GMT
I know google is my friend. But I'd like to discuss the topic. Most the European nations with Atlantic coastlines had colonies. (They all did, except Ireland and Norway). But Belgium was never known as a great seafaring nation.
I'm just surprised that Britain and France let Belgium grab such a huge chunk of central Africa.
Thoughts?
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Feb 22, 2020 7:21:16 GMT
Fiscal interests within the Belgium financial market. Why was Switzerland neutral in WWII? Wasn't in Hitler's best interest to invade.
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Post by politicidal on Feb 22, 2020 14:24:19 GMT
Quickly skimming Wikipedia like a bum, it seems like Leopold was a helluva salesman and reassured the Europeans that his motivation was purely philanthropic and/or scientific. Henry Morton Stanley played a great role advertising Leopold’s proposal. The United States helped get the ball rolling by becoming the first one to recognize Belgium’s claim.
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Feb 22, 2020 14:44:50 GMT
Fiscal interests within the Belgium financial market. Why was Switzerland neutral in WWII? Wasn't in Hitler's best interest to invade. There was a plan by Germany and Italy to invade Switzerland during WW2 called Operation Tannenbaum but it was finally cancelled in 1944. But its unknown to why Hitler never ordered the invasion of Switzerland.
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Post by RiP, IMDb on Feb 22, 2020 18:35:26 GMT
It's OWNING, NOT OWING!!
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Post by gameboy on Feb 23, 2020 16:29:52 GMT
Fiscal interests within the Belgium financial market. Why was Switzerland neutral in WWII? Wasn't in Hitler's best interest to invade. There was a plan by Germany and Italy to invade Switzerland during WW2 called Operation Tannenbaum but it was finally cancelled in 1944. But its unknown to why Hitler never ordered the invasion of Switzerland. Everything boils down to money. I'm sure that the Swiss banking system had something to do with Hitler not invading. The majority of Swiss are also German.
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Post by gameboy on Feb 23, 2020 16:59:08 GMT
Fiscal interests within the Belgium financial market. Why was Switzerland neutral in WWII? Wasn't in Hitler's best interest to invade. I broke down and googled. King Leopold of Belgium acquired the Congo as personal property in 1885 convincing other European nations that he would do humanitarian work. It was called Congo Free State. King Leopold did the opposite and imposed a reign of terror on the Congolese. So in 1908 the nation of Belgium took over and made it a colony.
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Post by politicidal on Feb 24, 2020 2:09:11 GMT
Fiscal interests within the Belgium financial market. Why was Switzerland neutral in WWII? Wasn't in Hitler's best interest to invade. I broke down and googled. King Leopold of Belgium acquired the Congo as personal property in 1885 convincing other European nations that he would do humanitarian work. It was called Congo Free State. King Leopold did the opposite and imposed a reign of terror on the Congolese. So in 1908 the nation of Belgium took over and made it a colony. ...soon to be a major motion picture directed by Ben Affleck. No seriously, he's adapting King Leopold's Ghost apparently.
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Post by gameboy on Feb 24, 2020 2:12:25 GMT
I broke down and googled. King Leopold of Belgium acquired the Congo as personal property in 1885 convincing other European nations that he would do humanitarian work. It was called Congo Free State. King Leopold did the opposite and imposed a reign of terror on the Congolese. So in 1908 the nation of Belgium took over and made it a colony. ...soon to be a major motion picture directed by Ben Affleck. No seriously, he's adapting King Leopold's Ghost apparently. Imagine this guy Leopold trying to keep the Congo as his own little playground. He must have been an arrogant POS.
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Post by politicidal on Feb 24, 2020 2:24:39 GMT
...soon to be a major motion picture directed by Ben Affleck. No seriously, he's adapting King Leopold's Ghost apparently. Imagine this guy Leopold trying to keep the Congo as his own little playground. He must have been an arrogant POS. This may or not be apocryphal but it certainly displayed his mindset:
“I do not want to miss a good chance of getting us a slice of this magnificent African cake.”
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Post by gameboy on Feb 24, 2020 2:51:12 GMT
Imagine this guy Leopold trying to keep the Congo as his own little playground. He must have been an arrogant POS. This may or not be apocryphal but it certainly displayed his mindset:
“I do not want to miss a good chance of getting us a slice of this magnificent African cake.”
Yup, and Leopold convinced the other European colonial powers that he wanted the Congo for philanthropic reasons.  This is why I started this thread. Simply googling the history would not have given us the opportunity to really explore this topic.
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