Editing Leopold II of Belgium (section)

==== Lado Enclave ====
{{Further|Lado Enclave|Battle of Rejaf}}
[[File:Obverse of a Belgian Congo 5 Franc.jpg|right|thumb|Leopold II's effigy on a Congo Free State 5 Franc, with the unabridged and translated lettering of "Leopold II, King of the Belgians, Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo".]]

In 1894, King Leopold signed a treaty with Great Britain which conceded a strip of land on the Congo Free State's eastern border in exchange for a lifetime lease of the [[Lado Enclave]], which provided access to the navigable Nile and extended the Free State's sphere of influence northwards into Sudan.<ref name="fWpet" /> After rubber profits soared in 1895, Leopold ordered the organization of an expedition into the Lado Enclave, which had been overrun by [[Mahdist Sudan|Mahdist]] rebels since the outbreak of the [[Mahdist War]] in 1881. The expedition was composed of two columns: the first, under Belgian [[Baron Dhanis]], consisted of a sizable force, numbering around 3,000, and was to strike north through the jungle and attack the rebels at their base at Rejaf. The second, a much smaller force of 800, was led by [[Louis-Napoléon Chaltin]] and took the main road towards Rejaf. Both expeditions set out in December 1896.<ref name="zGK8R" />

Although Leopold had initially planned for the expedition to carry on much farther than the Lado Enclave, hoping indeed to take [[Fashoda]] and then [[Khartoum]],<ref name="SGF4H" /> Dhanis' column mutinied in February 1897, resulting in the death of several Belgian officers and the loss of his entire force. Nonetheless, Chaltin continued his advance, and on 17 February 1897, his outnumbered forces defeated the rebels in the [[Battle of Rejaf]], securing the Lado Enclave as Free State territory until Leopold's death in 1909.<ref name="sMdrW" />