Studying the global history era of 1750 - 1900, it is almost impossible to truly wrap our heads around the insanity that is the Conference of Berlin. Often called the "scramble for Africa," it was a series of meetings in which the men who led the European nations decided the future of the African continent. In effort to extract wealth and raw materials - they used a map of Africa, and systematically divided up the entire continent for their own domination - with only Liberia and Ethiopia excluded.
No man better illustrates this historic injustice than King Leopold II of Belgium. (King Leopold's Ghost is an incredible book on the topic). He took the Congo not for Belgium - but as his own personal property.
It is moments like these that make me proud to be a teacher of history...so that we can learn from our past (no matter how horrifying), and (hopefully) truly improve the human experience.
The BBC's video above does an excellent job with the topic...
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