"As a constitutional monarch, Leopold II had no possibility of becoming a tyrant in Belgium. He could dismiss Parliament, but had to sign the bills it submitted to him, and to rule in consultation with his ministers. He did not even have a coronation, but an inauguration where he swore before Parliament to obey the Constitution. Yet Leopold had tremendous ambitions. He dreamed of a Belgium that could stand among the European powers, and for that he deemed colonies a necessity. By clever and stealthy means, he managed to gain control of a vast realm in Africa, the Congo, much of which became his personal property. Here, he indulged his desire for profit by exploiting the native population more ferociously than anyone before him. His excesses finally became so notorious that Belgium took control of the colony, giving the country the empire Leopold desired, but also blackening his memory."