Belgian Rule

Stanley's accounts of the region's potential wealth attracted the attention of King Leopold II of Belgium, who saw central Africa as an area for colonial expansion. Leopold met with Stanley and together they formed the Committee for the Study of the Upper Congo. Under its direction, Stanley returned to the Congo, acquired territory from the indigenous peoples, and opened trading posts. Leopold then formed the International Association of the Congo, a private development company. Under the company's name, he applied for recognition of his holdings as an independent state. Recognition was granted by the Treaty of Berlin (1885), which established the Congo Free State with Leopold as sovereign.

Progress was made in transportation, communication, and urban development, but increasing criticism over the exploitation of blacks by Belgian agents caused Leopold to give up his interest in the area. It was annexed by Belgium in 1908 and was renamed the Belgian Congo.

During World War I Belgian troops from the Congo took part in the conquest of German East Africa. In 1941 the Congo army helped win Ethiopia from the Italians.