CHAPTER IT 
THE FOUNDING OF THE CONGO INDEPENDENT STATE 
THE time was propitious. Europe was at peace and the 
leading states were growing steadily in stability and strength. 
The way and the means had been gradually preparing along 
every line. The field lay ready and open to all comers. 
Nothing further was needed to set in motion a widespread 
movement for colonies than some powerful motive, some 
aggressive act, that would arouse the jealousy, the ambition, 
or the cupidity of nations. Such a determining impulse was 
not long in coming. The organization and activities of the 
International Congo Association and the entrance of Ger- 
many into Southwest Africa stimulated the interest of Great 
Britain and France in African colonization, and brought 
on a general forward movement for territory in the Dark 
Continent. 
In September, 1876, King Leopold II of Belgium, then 
forty years of age, presided over a conference at Brussels, 
for the purpose of founding an international society which 
should promote the exploration of Central Africa. Some 
forty representative scientists, diplomats, and publicists 
from Great Britain, Belgium, Austria, France, Germany, 
Italy, and Russia were present, and the question was dis- 
cussed with considerable enthusiasm. It was planned to 
equip expeditions which should explore scientifically the 
great unknown region lying between the Zambesi River and 
the Sudan, and extending from ocean to ocean, to suppress 
the slave trade and to introduce Western civilization there. 
An organization called “L’Association Internationale pour 
I’Exploration et la Civilisation de ’Afrique Centrale,” but