In November 1830, a National Congress was established to create a Belgian constitution. Fears of mob rule associated with republicanism after the French Revolution of 1789, as well as the example of the recent July Revolution in France, led the Congress to decide that Belgium would be a popular, constitutional monarchy. The Congress approached several candidates, but chose Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a minor but well-connected German noble, to be the first King of the Belgians. He was officially inaugurated on 21 July 1831, after taking an oath to abide by the Constitution. This king, Leopold I, was generally unsatisfied with the amount of power allocated to the monarch, and sought to extend it wherever the Constitution was ambiguous or unclear while generally avoiding involvement in routine politics.