Congo Reform Association
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The Congo Reform Association exposed gross and rampant abuses of labor in King Leopold II of Belgium's Congo Free State, leading to the annexation of Congo by Belgium in 1908. In 1904 Edmund Dene Morel and Roger Casement founded the Congo Reform Association. The movement was formed to aid the people of the Congo by drawing attention to their plight. Branches of the association were established as far away as the United States. In 1924 Morel was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the association.
The association gained the support of several famous writers such as Joseph Conrad, Anatole France, Arthur Conan Doyle and Mark Twain who contributed with their literary production to the cause. The novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad was inspired by his journey as a ships captain on the Congo River. Mark Twain wrote a political satire named King Leopold's Soliloquy, and Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the The Crime of the Congo.
