King Leopold II of Belgium had brutally seized the Congo for resources such as rubber, ivory, and precious metals in the late nineteenth century. Leopold declared the Congo, the "Congo Free State" during its time of Belgian occupation. Rather than colonize the territory as other imperialist countries did, Leopold conquered and privately owned the entire region. His ownership of the land and its native people was determined by the United States and the European powers of the time (Cox). 

The Congolese natives were massacred for their land and resources. Though they were cooperative to the Belgian colonizers, they were forced to work as slaves for rubber harvesting. The colonizers also took advantage of the supply of Ivory, and killed masses of the native African forest elephant. The exploitation of the Congolese would continue for approximately two decades, until the atrocities of King Leopold II and his soldiers were revealed to the world ("Belgian Congo"). 

The atrocities committed during this time are the focal point of the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. The novel discusses the horrors that the Congolese endured while rejecting colonialism. 

"Belgian Congo." Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/place/Belgian-Congo. 

Cox, Mary-Lea. "Author Hochschild Recounts Lost History of Horror in the Belgian Congo." Wilson Center, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/author-hochschild-recounts-lost-his....

"Democratic Republic of the Congo." Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/place/Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo.