1880 Large Antique Engraving - BELGIAN INDEPENDENCE -Jubilee Cavalcade, Brussels

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1880 Large Antique Engraving - BELGIAN INDEPENDENCE -Jubilee Cavalcade, Brussels:
$15.00

A superb double-page engraving published in The Graphic magazine dated September 4, 1880 - entitled:
\"The Jubilee of Belgian Independence - National Fete at Brussels\"
There is an inset image of \"King Leopold Responding to the Addresses of the Deputations\" - see scan and below.
Good condition with central fold as originally published (one easy way to differentiate from a later reproduction!). Unrelated text to the reverse. Page size 22 x 16inches
Great collectors item for the historian - see more of these in Seller\'s Other Itemswhich can be combined for mailing at no additional cost.
Leopold II of BelgiumFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaLeopold IIKing of the BelgiansReign17 December 1865 –
17 December 1909PredecessorLeopold ISuccessorAlbert ISovereign of the Congo Free StateReign1 July 1885 – 15 November 1908SpouseMarie Henriette of AustriaIssuePrincess Louise of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant
Stéphanie, Crown Princess of Austria
Clémentine, Princess NapoléonFull nameDutch: Leopold Lodewijk Filips Maria Victor
French: Léopold Louis Philippe Marie VictorHouseHouse of Saxe-Coburg and GothaFatherLeopold I of BelgiumMotherLouise of OrléansBorn9 April 1835
Brussels,BelgiumDied17 December of Our Lady of LaekenReligionRoman Catholic

Leopold II(9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the secondKing of the Belgians, and is chiefly remembered for the founding and exploitation of theCongo Free State, resulting in the deaths of 10 to 15 million Congolese people. Born inBrusselsas the second (but eldest surviving) son ofLeopold IandLouise of Orléans, he succeeded his father to the throne on 17 December 1865, reigning for exactly 44 years until his death. This was the longest reign of any Belgian monarch.

Leopold was the founder and sole owner of theCongo Free State, a private project undertaken on his own behalf. He used explorerHenry Morton Stanleyto help him lay claim to the Congo, an area now known as theDemocratic Republic of the Congo. At theBerlin Conferenceof 1884–1885, the colonial nations of Europe authorized his claim by committing the Congo Free State to improving the lives of the native inhabitants. From the beginning, however, Leopold essentially ignored these conditions. He ran the Congo using the mercenaryForce Publiquefor his personal enrichment. He used great sums of the money from this exploitation for public and private construction projects in Belgium during this period. He donated the private buildings to the state before his death, to preserve them for Belgium.

Leopold extracted a fortune from the Congo, initially by the collection ofivory, and after a rise in the price ofrubberin the 1890s, by forced labour from the natives to harvest and process rubber. Under his regime there were 2 to 15 million deaths among theCongolesepeople. Human rights abuses under his regime were a significant cause of the excess deaths. Reports of the deaths and abuse led to a major international scandal in the early 20th century, and Leopold was ultimately forced in 1908 by the Belgian government to relinquish control of the colony to the civil administration.

Contents[hide]

1Early life and education
2Marriage and family
3Early political career
4Domestic reign
- 4.1Builder King
- 4.2Attempted assassination
5Congo Free State
- 5.1Obtaining the Congo Free State
- 5.2Exploitation, atrocities, and genocide
- 5.3Criticism of his rule
- 5.4Relinquishment of the Congo
6Death and legacy
7Family
8Styles, arms and honours
9Ancestry
10Gallery
11See also
12References
13Bibliography
14External links

Early life and education[edit]Leopold in 1844

Leopold was born inBrusselson 9 April 1835. He was the second child of the reigning Belgian monarch,Leopold I, and his second wife,Louise, the daughter ofKing Louis PhilippeofFrance. TheFrench Revolution of 1848, which spared Belgium, had forced Louis Philippe to flee to theUnited Kingdom, ruled by Leopold\'s German cousinQueen Victoria. The royal families of Belgium and the United Kingdom were linked by numerous marriages, and were additionally both descended from theHouse of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Louis Philippe died two years later, in 1850. Leopold\'s fragile mother was deeply affected by the death of her father, and her health deteriorated. She died that same year, when Leopold was 15 years old.

Marriage and family[edit]

Three years later, in 1853 at the age of 18, he marriedMarie Henriette of Austriain Brussels on August 22. Marie Henriette was a cousin ofEmperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, and granddaughter ofLeopold II, Holy Roman Emperorthrough her father, Austrian archdukeJoseph. Marie Henriette was lively and energetic, and endeared herself to the people by her elevated character and indefatigable benevolence, while her beauty gained for her the sobriquet of \"The Rose of Brabant\".[1]She was also an accomplished artist and musician. A fine horsewoman, she was passionate abouthorseback ridingto the point that she would care for her horses personally. Some joked about this \"marriage of astablemanand anun\",[2]the shy and withdrawn Leopold referred to as the nun.

Four children were born of this marriage, three daughters and one son, also namedLeopold. The younger Leopold died in 1869 at the age of nine frompneumoniaafter falling into a pond. His death was a source of great sorrow for King Leopold, who lost his only heir. The marriage had become unhappy and the couple lived more or less separate lives. They separated completely after a last attempt to have another son, a union which resulted in the birth of their last daughter Clementine. In 1895 Marie Henriette retreated toSpato live out the remainder of her days. She died there in 1902.[3]

Apolitical cartoonpillorying Leopold\'s love affair with Caroline Lacroix.
The Abbot:Oh! Sire, at your age?
The King:You should try it yourself!

Leopold had many mistresses. In 1899 at age 65, Leopold took as a mistressCaroline Lacroix, a 16-year-old French prostitute, and they remained together for the next decade until his death. Leopold lavished upon her large sums of money, estates, gifts, and a noble title,Baroness Vaughan. Because of these gifts and the illegitimacy of their relationship, Caroline was deeply unpopular among the Belgian people and internationally. She and Leopold married secretly in a religious ceremony five days before his death; their failure to perform acivil ceremonyrendered the marriage invalid under Belgian law. After the king\'s death, it was soon discovered that he had left Caroline a massive amount of wealth, which the Belgian government and Leopold\'s three estranged daughters tried to seize as rightfully theirs. Caroline bore two illegitimate sons who were likely Leopold\'s; the boys would have had a strong claim to the throne had the marriage been valid.

Early political career[edit]Leopold as a younger man

As Leopold\'s older brother, also namedLouis Philippe, had died the year before Leopold\'s birth, Leopold was heir to the throne from his birth. When he was 9 years old, Leopold received the title ofDuke of Brabant, and was appointed a sub-lieutenant inthe army. He served in the army until his accession in 1865, by which time he had reached the rank of lieutenant-general.[1]

Leopold\'s public career began on his attaining the age of majority in 1855, when he became a member of theBelgian Senate. He took a lively interest in the Senate, especially in matters concerning the development of Belgium and its trade, and began to urge Belgium\'s acquisition of colonies. Between the years 1854 and 1865, Leopold travelled extensively abroad, visitingIndiaandChina, as well asEgyptand the countries on theMediterraneancoast ofAfrica. Leopold\'s father died on December 10, 1865, and Leopold took the oath of office on December 17, at the age of 30.[3]

Domestic reign[edit]Leopold II at his accession to the throne

In 1865 Leopold became king. Leopold explained his goal for his reign in an 1888 letter addressed to his brother,Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders: \"the country must be strong, prosperous, therefore have colonies of her own, beautiful and calm.\"[4]

Leopold\'s reign was marked by a number of major political developments. TheLiberalsgoverned Belgium from 1857 to 1880 and during their final year in power, legislated theFrère-OrbanLaw of 1879. This law created free, secular, compulsory primary schools supported by the state and withdrew all state support fromRoman Catholicprimary schools. In 1880 theCatholic Partyobtained a parliamentary majority and four years later restored state support to Catholic schools. In 1885 various socialist and social democratic groups drew together and formed theLabour Party. Increasing social unrest and the rise of the Labour Party forced the adoption of universal malesuffragein 1893.

During Leopold\'s reign other social changes were enacted into law. Among these were the right of workers to formlabour unionsand the abolition of thelivret d\'ouvrier, anemployment record book. Laws against child labour were passed; children younger than 12 were not allowed to work in factories, children younger than 16 were not allowed to work at night, and women younger than 21 years old were not allowed to work underground. Workers gained the right to be compensated for workplace accidents, and were given Sundays off.

The first revision of theBelgian constitutioncame in 1893 under Leopold\'s reign.Universal male suffragewas introduced, though the effect of this was tempered byplural voting. The eligibility requirements forthe senatewere reduced, and elections would be based on a system ofproportional representation, which continues to this day. Leopold pushed strongly to pass aroyal referendum, whereby the king would have the power to consult the electorate directly on an issue, and use hisvetoaccording to the results of the referendum. The proposal was rejected, as it would have given the king the power to override the electedgovernment; Leopold was so disappointed that he consideredabdication.[5]

Leopold emphasized military defence as the basis of neutrality, and strove to make Belgium less vulnerable militarily. He achieved the construction of defensive fortressesat Liège,at Namurandat Antwerp. During theFranco-Prussian War, he managed to preserve Belgium\'s neutrality in a period of unusual difficulty and danger.[1]Leopold pushed for a reform in military service, but he was unable to obtain one until he was on his death bed. Under the old system ofRemplacement, the Belgian army was a combination of volunteers and a lottery, and it was possible for men to pay for substitutes for service. This was replaced by a system in which one son in every family would have to serve in the military.

Builder King[edit]Thetriumphal archof theCinquantenairecomplex inBrussels

Leopold commissioned a great number of buildings, urban projects and public works, largely with the profits generated from exploitation of natural resources from the Congo. These projects earned him the epithet of \"Builder King\" (Koning-BouwerinDutch,le Roi-BâtisseurinFrench). The public buildings were mainly inBrussels,OstendandAntwerp, and include theHippodrome Wellingtonracetrack, theRoyal Galleriesand Maria Hendrikapark inOstend; theRoyal Museum for Central Africaand its surrounding park inTervuren; theCinquantenairepark, triumphal arch and complex, and theDuden Parkin Brussels, and the 1895-1905Antwerpen-Centraal railway station.

In addition to his public works, he acquired and built numerous private properties for himself inside and outside of Belgium. He expanded the grounds of theRoyal Palace of Laeken, and built theRoyal Greenhouses, the Japanese Tower and the Chinese Pavilion near the palace. In theArdennes, his domains consisted of 6,700 hectares (17,000 acres) of forests and agricultural lands,a golf courseand He also built importantcountry estateson theFrench Riviera, including theVilla des Cèdresand itsbotanical garden, and theVilla Leopolda.

Thinking to the future after his death, Leopold did not want the collection of estates, lands and heritage buildings he had privately amassed to be scattered amongst his daughters, each of whom was married to a foreign prince. In 1900, he created theRoyal Trust, by means of which he donated most of his property to the Belgian nation. This preserved them to beautify Belgium in perpetuity, while still allowing future generations of the Belgian Royal family the privilege of their use.

Attempted assassination[edit]

On 15 November 1902,ItaliananarchistGennaro Rubinohad attempted toassassinateLeopold, who was riding in a royal cortege from a ceremony in memory of his recently deceased wife, Marie Henriette. After Leopold\'s carriage passed, Rubino fired three shots at the King; the shots missed Leopold. Rubino was immediately arrested.