be the optimal answer to the Congo Question. Despite Belgium's position as a neutral state, both countries issued a joint démarche on 23 January 1908 demanding that the Belgian government annex control of the CFS and reform the territory in accordance with the articles of the Berlin Act. Morel and the CRA, aware of the geo-political constraints of any alternative, viewed the solution as the most practical for achieving their aims at reform, leading the movement to place public support and endorsement behind the Belgian Solution as early as 1905. The annexation occurred in late 1908 bringing slow and incremental reform, but by 1913 free trade and the effective dismantling of the Leopoldian system, as well as the increasing importance of Belgium to the Entente, led to British recognition of the Belgian Congo. The CRA, acknowledging the gains made, publicly disbanded on 16 June 1913, with Morel declaring that "the native of the Congo is once more a free man", though both he and the movement were aware this was not in fact the case; tensions in Europe and a sharp decline in public support since the 'success' of the annexation, necessitated the declaration and disbandment of the association as the only rationale decision left. See also International African Association Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference 1889–90 Brussels Conference Act of 1890 References Alexander, N.G. (2016). E.D. Morel (1873–1924), the Congo Reform Association, and the History of Human Rights. Britain and the World. 9 (2), 213-235. Anstey, R (1966). King Leopold's Legacy: The Congo Under Belgian Rule 1908-1960. London: Oxford University Press. 1-22. Ascherson, N (1999). The King Incorporated: Leopold the Second and the Congo. 2nd ed. London: Granta Books. Bourne, H.R.F. (1904). The Congo Question. Fortnightly review, May 1865-June 1934. 75 (445), 49-59. Clay, D. (2016). Transatlantic Dimensions of the Congo Reform Movement, 1904–1908. English Studies in Africa. 59 (1), 18-28. Cline, C, A. (1967). E. D. Morel and the Crusade against the Foreign Office. The Journal of Modern History. 39 (2), 126-137. Daniels, J. (1908). The Congo Question and the "Belgian Solution". The North American Review. 188 (637), 891-902. Hasian, M, (2013). Colonial Hermeneutics of Suspicion, the Spectacular Rhetorics of the Casement Report, and the British Policing of Belgian Imperialism, 1904–1908. Critical Studies in Media Communication. 30 (3), 224-240. Hochschild, A (2012). King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa. 2nd ed. London: Pan Books. Kearns,