In 1885, King Leopold II of Belgium gained personal control over the Congo Free State. His regime extracted ivory and rubber through coercion, terror, and forced labour. The atrocities became one of the clearest examples of imperial greed disguised as civilisation.

The Congo scandal shaped anti-imperial writing and provided the background for Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Poets and later postcolonial writers used the Congo as an emblem of European hypocrisy, exploitation, and the violence hidden beneath polished language.