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Leopold I of Belgium Quotes

Leopold I was the first king of the Belgians, reigning from 21 July 1831 until his death in 1865.

The youngest son of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Leopold took a commission in the Imperial Russian Army and fought against Napoleon after French troops overran Saxe-Coburg during the Napoleonic Wars. After Napoleon's defeat, Leopold moved to the United Kingdom, where in 1816 he married Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of the Prince Regent . Leopold and Charlotte's marriage was happy, but it ended after a year and a half when Charlotte died after delivering a stillborn son. Leopold continued to enjoy considerable status in Britain.

After the Greek War of Independence , Leopold was offered the throne of Greece under the 1830 London Protocol that created an independent Greek state, but turned it down, believing it to be too precarious. Instead, he accepted the throne of Belgium in 1831 following the country's independence in 1830. The Belgian government offered the position to Leopold because of his diplomatic connections with royal houses across Europe, and because as the British-backed candidate, he was not affiliated with other powers, such as France, which were believed to have territorial ambitions in Belgium which might threaten the European balance of power created by the 1815 Congress of Vienna.

Leopold took his oath as King of the Belgians on 21 July 1831, an event commemorated annually as Belgian National Day. The following year, he married Princess Louise of Orléans, with whom he had four children: Louis Philippe, Leopold, Philippe, and Charlotte. The King had another two sons, George and Arthur, by his mistress Arcadie Meyer. Leopold's reign was marked by attempts by the Dutch to recapture Belgium and, later, by internal political division between liberals and Catholics. As a Protestant, Leopold was considered liberal and encouraged economic modernisation, playing an important role in encouraging the creation of Belgium's first railway in 1835 and subsequent industrialisation. As a result of the ambiguities in the Belgian Constitution, Leopold was able to slightly expand the monarch's powers during his reign. He also played an important role in stopping the spread of the Revolutions of 1848 into Belgium. He died in 1865 and was succeeded by his son Leopold II. Wikipedia  

✵ 16. December 1790 – 10. December 1865
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Famous Leopold I of Belgium Quotes

“Take a serious look at yourself. Ask yourself questions about your mood, the way you view the world and people, think about your mistakes and the dangers they unleash. Today the character of a person determines whether he can exercise influence and authority, far more than all the minds on this earth. As you know, this is all the more true in Belgium, and Belgians want to see in their leader the qualities they will never want from themselves.”

Leopold I of Belgium

https://klara.be/leopold-ii-aflevering-2-0 Leopold I In a letter to his son Prince Leopold II

“It is not for us that we exhort you to learn, but for yourself, because ignorance is an inability, a real disaster, because social positions and protection are no longer there as before, there is a ground for malice and even hatred.”

Leopold I of Belgium

Leopold II, The Whole Story https://odysee.com/@BelgianCongo:3/Leopold-II-Het-Hele-Verhaal-Aflevering-1:1 King Leopold I to his son Prince Leopold II.

“I am saddened by the case of Constantinople, this journey was so well served to you, and you have spoiled it with a childishness.”

Leopold I of Belgium

Leopold I In a letter to his son Prince Leopold II https://klara.be/leopold-ii-aflevering-2-0

“My fate is bound up with that of England, and whatever befalls the green isle, I shall not easily abandon it.”

Leopold I of Belgium

Early Belgian colonial Efforts: The long and fateful shadow of Leopold I, Page 60 https://rc.library.uta.edu/uta-ir/bitstream/handle/10106/382/umi-uta-1517.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Leopold to the Archduke John in Richardson, 71.

“My heart knows of no other ambition than that of seeing you happy.”

Leopold I of Belgium

Foreign Relations of the United States, Translation of the speech from the throne. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1866p2/d57 On ascending the throne, Leopold I to the Belgians.

“I will be more and more concerned with giving you sound and true political ideas, few people are better able to do this than I; since the age of 16 I have been involved in the big affairs of Europe.”

Leopold I of Belgium

A royal puppet show in the Belgian royal family. The education of the first Belgian royal children. (Greet Donckers) http://www.ethesis.net/koningshuis/koningshuis_deel_II.htm#Hoofdstuk_2:_Publieke_sfeer%C2%A0_ AKP, Fund Leopold I, III Archives Conway, Letter from King Leopold I to Prince Leopold, 11 November 1850, 20/3.

“Belgium is a boiler that needs valves.”

Leopold I of Belgium

Source: All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), 6. Baron Auguste Lambermont (1819-1905), The uncrowned king of economic liberalism http://www.ethesis.net/leopold_II/leopold_II.htm#2.%20 Leopold I once said to Lambermont. DE ROBIANO, A. Baron Lambermont: His life and his Work. Brussel, 1905, 59.

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