Talk:Leopold II of Belgium

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This article has previously been nominated to be moved.

Discussions:

RM, Leopold II of Belgium → Leopold II, Not moved, 7 January 2023, discussion
RM, Leopold II of Belgium → Leopold II, Procedural close, 16 January 2023, discussion

Incomplete / Missing Citation?[edit]

It seems to me that Citation #16 (Rappoport, p. 268.) refers to a work that isn't cited anywhere else in the article, and I haven't been able to track down what "Rappoport" book this refers to. My suspicion is that the author is Leon Rappoport, but that could be wrong and I haven't been able to find a book that refers to the subject matter on its 268th page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sqldatabunny (talk • contribs) 21:18, 2 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

His own efforts[edit]

Editors have been removing from the lead the statement that the Free State came about through Leopold's own actions. This historical fact is described and referenced in the article, and is important in establishing Leopold's own responsibility for what happened there. Why are people removing it from the lead?

Did Leopold tell them to chop off the workers' hands?[edit]

How involved was Leopold in the punishments for the workers who supposedly did not work? How much time did Leopold spend in the Congo in his lifetime? 104.235.135.205 (talk) 22:23, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Leopold never ordered such punishments. They idea from the european military officers was to cut hands from corpses to prove that shooting by the indigenous militias was done to kill.

Living people were not meant to be punished by cutting the hand. According to the Casement report, this was a rare occurence perpetrated by soldiers who went out on their own to shoot game and cheated by "taking the hand of a living man" to account for the bullets.

In fact Leopold rarely gave much direct orders, he let the local companies and officers who were sent there do the work. He was just interested in the final profit. LouisBStevenson (talk) 21:42, 31 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

RfC of interest[edit]

(non-automated message) Greetings! I have opened an RfC on WT:ROYALTY that may be of interest to users following this article talk page! You are encouraged to contribute to this discussion here! Hurricane Andrew (444) 19:15, 24 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Wiki Education assignment: Race, Law, and Politics[edit]

This article is currently the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 17 January 2024 and 10 May 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Dorbwe (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Dorbwe (talk) 16:46, 23 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]