fme_651335 - BELGIQUE - ROYAUME DE BELGIQUE - LÉOPOLD II Médaille, 8e exposition de l’automobile et du cycle

BELGIUM - THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM - Leopold II

(10/12/1865-17/12/1909)

Leopold II (9/04/1835-17/12/1909) is the eldest son of Leopold I and Louise d'Orléans. He married Marie-Henriette, Archduchess of Austria, who gave him three daughters: Louise, Stephanie, and Clementine. He leaned over England referred to repel Napoleon III from 1866 to 1869. His reign was marked by economic and industrial development of Belgium, which became more a major colonial power through personal annexation of the Congo by King at the Congress of Berlin in 1885. Without a male heir, his nephew Albert I succeeded him in 1909. He had left the Congo to Belgium in 1908.