Which European monarch privately owned the largest territory in Africa during the colonial period?

It was Leopold, King of the Belgians. (Referred to in history as "The Burtcher of the Congo." Although other countries owned colonies in Africa, Leopold owned the Congo Free State personally, not through his country. His regime was known as one of the most brutal and bloodiest in its treatment of the natives, and was roundly criticized by many in the world when it was disclosed the nature of the torture and reprisals his troops carried out . Only 90 years ago, the agents of King Leopold II of Belgium massacred 10 million Africans in the Congo. Cutting off hands as we see in Sierra Leone today, was very much part of Leopold's repertoire. Today, Leopold's "rubber terror" has all been swept under the carpet. Adam Hochschild calls it "the great forgetting" in his brilliant new book, King Leopold's Ghost, recently published by Macmillan. This is a story of greed, exploitation and brutality that Africa and the world must not forget. This story is actually best understood when told in ...  more