Final answer:
King Leopold II employed propaganda and false promises to combat negative press about his rule's brutality in the Congo Free State. He also leveraged international diplomacy to legitimize his control, despite the reality of exploitation and severe human rights abuses.
Step-by-step explanation:
King Leopold II faced significant negative press regarding his brutal governance of the Congo Free State, which was essentially his private colony. In an era marked by brutality and exploitation, the atrocities committed under his rule were egregious and included forcing Congolese laborers to harvest rubber and ivory under inhumane conditions. When the local population failed to meet quotas, Belgian agents would resort to hostage-taking, mutilation, and murder as punitive measures. Such actions led to a severe population decline over 25 years.
Despite these horrors, which eventually became known internationally through the efforts of journalists and campaigners, King Leopold was able to maintain control by misleading the international community. At the Berlin Conference, he made false promises of a free-trade zone and claimed his rule would benefit the Congolese, a stark contrast to the reality of his personal enrichment. Only after decades of public outcry and condemnation did the Belgian Parliament strip Leopold of his private ownership, taking over direct administration of the territory in 1908.
Leopold combated the negative press by utilizing propaganda to portray his regime as civilized and benevolent. He also strategically navigated international politics to legitimize his claims over the Congo Free State, all while denying or downplaying the evidence of abuse and exploitation that emerged.