Chapter two of King Leopold's Ghost mainly involves King Leopold II. The chapter begins with a summery of his early life which included a distant relationship with his parents. One thing that stuck out to me was how quickly he moved up in the military rankings.By the age of twenty he was a major general. I would have thought that a person with that much power at a young age would be outgoing. But Leopold is described as a "fox", being shy and never taking chances.
King Leopold II went through a loveless marriage, filled with bickering, with the Archduchess Marie-Henriette. Leopold and the Archduchess were polar opposites. They quickly discovered they could not stand the sight of each other. This frustration seemed to fuel his emotions toward his political power. As a King, he felt his country was to small to contain him. He desired to rule a colony above all else. Being desperate in his search for land, "he tried to buy lakes in the Nile delta so that he could drain them and claim the land as a colony (36)". Colonies were created because King Leopold II desired financial, personal gain. The Congo River eventually became the primary interest of Leopold search. He had planned to a number of things in his colony, some of which, abolishing slavery.However, King Leopold discovered that buying his colony would not work. He had to take it by force to claim it as his own.
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