Jesus Hated First Peoples

[Rev. Rye]

Yeah, the first time I heard about it, I was shocked that shit like this was sanctioned (and on such a scale) by a European monarch in the 20th Century. Medieval era? Yeah. Non-European in more modern times? Maybe if this was a penalty with a long-standing tradition; I know some Islamic societies cut off thieves' hands (like Saudi Arabia and the more Muslim-controlled parts of Nigeria), although many other Muslims tend to have a far more liberal approach to that particular passage. And if the Yakuza counts as such a society, I know they're prone to cutting off finger joints when they really drop the ball.  

But a Belgian king from a little over a century ago? Even Hitler wasn't into this sort of shit.

King Leopold II of Belgium makes Hitler look like a saint.  He was a true bastard.

It's honestly hard to compare the two: in terms of sheer body count, it's really bloody hard to gauge the scale of devastation that King Leopold wrought on the Congo, especially since the first census in the area happened in 1924, well after the death of King Leopold, and the estimates range from 2.2 million to 30 million.

As for motives and MO, the two couldn't be more different. Hitler wanted to take over the world and remake it in his own image (idealized though it may be), and fully intended for enormous swaths of the population to be eliminated (by a means that wouldn't be finalized until 1942). King Leopold, on the other hand, wanted to rule over a huge colony like the other European monarchs of the era, and wanted the glory and profit to come from it. The massive atrocities were not actually a part of the plan, but it's abundantly clear that, regardless of it all, the fact that they would commit some major atrocities was most likely inevitable, even if something to that scale was not intended. It's like trying to compare Ted Bundy and Timothy McVeigh.