1887: King Leopold II Worries About The Future Of Belgium And Europe

The World's Sovereigns 1889 (photomontage)
The one in the center is Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany, seated to his left on a chair is Queen Victoria.
King Leopold II of Belgium is the second man on his right (long dark beard), while the two men standing right next to him are; Left: Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria; Right: Tsar Aleksandr III

While in London in 1887 to attend the celebrations for his cousin Queen Victoria’s 50 years of reign, Belgium’s second King, Leopold II (who later became infamous for his role in the Congo massacre), wrote the following to his chief of state:

King Leopold II

Europe’s political future remains rather uncertain […]. If we wish to remain independent, we need to strengthen ourselves and prove ourselves worthy of our independence.

As you can tell, he was already quite worried about what was fomenting behind the curtains within Europe’s highest political spheres.

Upon his return, King Leopold II desired to have a true Belgian army raised instead of their current conscription system which mainly allowed richer folks to pay poorer ones to take their spot in this army. Unfortunately, these changes were voted down by the Chamber of Ministers in July.

So the King decides to play a little game: pretend that he doesn’t want to uphold his obligations (such as attending an important party in Bruges in August) to show his displeasure with his government, then finally accede to their entreaties upon the condition that they let him hold a speech (WARNING: it is quite a long read). The maneuver works, and on August 15, 1887, King Leopold II says the following to a large crowd:

Happy Birthday Belgium!

Tomorrow, July 21, will be the celebration of Belgium's first step towards independence, aka the beginning of its revolution (which started with a Broadway-like play, if you will).

185 years of independence (discounting the years of occupation, of course). It's rather young for an "Old World" country, but that's one of the things that makes Belgium so interesting, isn't it?

In any case, I'm reading this great book that was published in 1930 by the Editions illustrées du "SOIR" Bruxelles published in celebration of Belgium's 100 year anniversary (ah, how I love history!). And in its first pages, I found this great genealogical tree of the Royal Family which I thought I'd share with you here (notice how beautiful Princess Astrid was, so beautiful and such a tragic fate after the publication of this book).

PS: Apologies for the crookedness of the picture...

Leopold I In Animation

Just found out that this cool Belgian animation team at Mad Cat Studio is putting together a 26-minute long humorous (yet historical) cartoon based on Belgium's creation and its first king!

True facts, you say? That is right. Like the fact that the Belgian "army" had no true weapons to fight the Dutch army seeking to regain its lost territory (see here for a little more on Holland's previous role)--a minor detail the ministers had forgotten to take into account, apparently!

For those of you interested in giving this awesome project a hand, here's their crowdfunding site:
Leopold roi des belges

King Leopold, The Lady-Killer

Before becoming Belgium's first king, Prince Leopold spent some time at Napoleon's court, where his good looks made him a favorite with none other than the Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, and her sister Hortense (married to Napoleon's brother Louis), among many others.

Not only that, but Leopold was later remember by Napoleon, during the latter's exile at Saint Helena, as "the most beautiful man [he] ever saw at the Tuileries palace."

Josephine and Hortense de Beauharnais

And that was before he turned 20!

The Birth And Evolution Of An Artificial State

Belgium: n. from the Latin word Belgica, which means the Netherlands. In reference to the Celtic tribe that lived over that area, the Belgae, and were the bravest and strongest according to Caesar.

Belgium was officially created and recognized by the Western Powers in 1831 (almost a year after the Belgians asserted their independence from the Netherlands), when Prince Leopold Georg Christian Friedrich of Saxe-Coburg was made first King of the Belgians, a claim backed mainly by the Brits.