King Leopold II took over leadership of Belgium from his father, King Leopold I, in 1865, and in 1885, hoping to gain power and wealth as well as assuming control of overseas territories like most other European nations of the time, Leopold created, through political lobbying and military force, the Belgian Free State. Its name a grim irony, the Belgian Free State gave Leopold and his cohorts power over the African territory of the Congo, which he soon exploited for its large supplies of ivory and rubber -- the latter an especially lucrative resource after the invention of the pneumatic tire.