An official report on conditions in the Congo exposes the Free State’s atrocities to the world. As pressure mounts on Leopold II to relinquish control of his colony, the king became increasingly determined to cling onto it until his dying breath.

The exploitation of the Congo and its people greatly intensifies as rubber becomes a valuable trade commodity. As the Free State begins to rake in profits, a few individuals take notice of the rampant human rights abuses in the colony and resolve to put a stop to them.

King Leopold II consolidates his control over the Congo. In his efforts to make the colony profitable, he oversees the establishment of a coercive regime of exploitation and moves to ruthlessly eliminate all resistance.

Leopold II, King of the Belgians, continues his efforts to acquire a colony in Africa. As he constructs an elaborate façade to mask his true intentions, he contracts the famous explorer Henry Morton Stanley to do the dirty work on his behalf.

In the mid-19th century, new technological advances and the emergence of large industrial economies usher in the age of ‘New Imperialism.’ As the world’s ‘great powers’ search for new territories to conquer, their eyes turn towards a region previously thought to be uninhabitable: Sub-Saharan Africa.