Africa is often described as an unstable continent due to many conflicting internal issues. The majority of these problems were not self-inflicted, but were due to outside influences, and the most significant impacts were imperialism and the colonization of African nations that took place between the 19th and 20th centuries. Among all African countries, the Belgian Congo was one of the poorest and most unfairly treated countries. Yes, imperialism and colonization are some of the main reasons why Africa was broken and still is today, but the only reason why the Belgian Congo suffered the most among all other nations was mainly due to King Leopold II of Belgium. King Leopold II's extreme ignorance of the Belgian Congo caused it to collapse to damaging levels. With little or no support systems in place, the Congo region has never truly received the help needed to improve its situation. For most of the 19th century, European nations did not care enough to explore the insecure Congo. Being new and unexplored, they did not want to take the risk of facing unknown deadly diseases, so they did not consider this region worth controlling. But unlike many others, King Leopold II made a profit when it came to uncharted African lands and declared in 1876: "I don't want to miss that we get a piece of this magnificent African cake." So, despite all the negative possibilities, in 1877 King Leopold II of Belgium assembled a team with Henry Morton Stanley to examine this unseen region and make treaties with the natives. Not only did he believe that colonies could only bring positive returns, such as economic progress and respect for other nations. He considered it his right to help the Con...... middle of paper ......s. Besides ethnic and cultural differences, the natives of the Congo suffered a much harsher obstacle, which were the cruel ones of King Leopold. punishments. As previously mentioned, Leopold was a brutal and inhumane ruler and his actions were unlike any others. His most notorious punishment was cutting off the hands of workers who failed to meet quotas. Since the demands were so high and unrealistic, the natives would fight in the villages to cut off their hands in order to be ready when they did not meet the quota. This led to many deaths and a large population of mutated people. On top of that, he would simply starve or kill workers who disobeyed. As a result, these cruel acts attracted press attention in the early 1900s, and by 1908, pressure from other countries would end up being the main reason why King Leopold II lost control of the Congo..