It was into this world that Leopold II was brought. We cannot take the actions of the king in isolation, it must be taken into account that the ideas of this time are a huge factor as to how and why he acquired his African empire. When Leopold assumed the throne in 1865 he was already one of Europe's most traveled monarchs. His time spent in Constantinople , Spain, Morocco, Britain and India as well as Egypt and China had given him a view of some of the great empires and of the benefits that their mother lands enjoyed. Belgium had no colonies, nor did it want any, but Leopold was convinced that an imperialist foreign policy was the way forward. As a constitutional monarch Leopold held no sway over government foreign policy so he decided to privately invest in a colony himself. It could be argued that this was the point where Leopolds goals turned somewhat more sinister. Had the Belgian government been willing to get involved in the colonial ideals of the king then he would not have had the power to corrupt as he did down the line. By leaving Leopold to pursue his own goals, rather than his countries, the government (although it did not realise it) was leaving the fate of a colony in the hands of one man who turned out to be susceptible to corruption.
When the conference at Brussels was held, the Belgian king suggested setting up a benevolent committee for the "propagation of civilization among the peoples of the Congo region". He meant to explore and trade in the Congo and wage war against the Arabic slave traders. It is impossible to know whether Leopold at this point was acting out of pure greed or whether he had the interests of his country at heart. There is little doubt however, that the countries called to the conference including Britain, France, Germany and the U.S. believed in the vision the king of Belgium portrayed. The "Association Internationale Africane" was set up to pursue Leopold's policies with Leopold himself as president.
