In 1885 this country's Leopold II established the Congo Free State as his own personal property
[DOC] [TLE] Belgium's Heart of Darkness | History Today [PAR] King Leopold II's personal rule of the vast Congo Free State anticipated the 
horrors ... his country to join the league of European empires, but the Belgian 
state refused ... Christened the Congo Free State in 1885, Leopold's playground 
was an... [DOC] [TLE] History Timeline - Friends of the Congo [PAR] From the Northwest Africa to where modern-day Congo is located ... 1884 - 1885, 
Start of European Colonization.