Editing Monarchy of Belgium (section)

=== Leopold I, Leopold II and Albert I ===
[[Leopold I of Belgium|King Leopold I]] was head of Foreign Affairs "as an ''[[ancien régime]]'' monarch", the foreign ministers having the authority to act only as ministers of the king.<ref name=Vankalen>{{cite book| language=fr| quote=''...dirigeant personnellement les Affaires étrangères, comme un souverain d'Ancien Régime, en discutant toutes les questions importantes avec ses ministres, ceux-ci n'ayant d'autorité que pour autant qu'ils étaient ministres du roi...''| first=Frans| last=Van Kalken| title=La Belgique contemporaine (1780–1949)| location=Paris| publisher=Armand Colin| year=1950| page=43| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ai_XjgEACAAJ&q=Van+Kalken,+La+Belgique+contemporaine|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Leopold I quickly became one of the most important shareholders of the ''[[Société Générale de Belgique]]''.<ref name=Lebrun>{{cite book| first=Pierre| last=Lebrun| title=Essai sur la révolution industrielle en Belgique: 1770–1847| publisher=Palais des Académies| location=Bruxelles| edition=Second| year=1981| language=fr| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FcQ1AQAAIAAJ&q=Essai+sur+la+r%C3%A9volution+industrielle+en+Belgique|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
[[File: Equestrian Statue of Leopold II by Thomas Vinçotte - Cinquantenaire Museum - Brussels, Belgium - DSC08901.jpg|thumb|250px|Equestrian statue of [[Leopold II of Belgium|King Leopold II]] in Brussels, Belgium]]
Leopold's son, [[Leopold II of Belgium|King Leopold II]], is chiefly remembered for the founding and capitalization of the [[Congo Free State]]  as a personal fiefdom. There was scandal when the [[atrocities in the Congo Free State]] were made public, causing the Free State to be taken over by the Belgian Government. Many Congolese were killed as a result of Leopold's policies in the Congo before the reforms of direct Belgian rule.<ref name=Forbath>{{cite book| title=The River Congo: The Discovery, Exploration and Exploitation of the World's Most Dramatic Rivers| publisher=Harper & Row| year=1977| isbn=978-0061224904| last=Forbath| first=Peter| page=278| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UtgwAQAAIAAJ&q=The+River+Congo:+The+Discovery,+Exploration+and+Exploitation+of+the+World's+Most+Dramatic+Rivers|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| author-link=Fredric Wertham| last=Wertham| first=Frederic| title=A Sign For Cain: An Exploration of Human Violence| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A0VuPQAACAAJ&q=A+Sign+For+Cain:+An+Exploration+of+Human+Violence| year=1969| publisher=Paperback Library|url-access=subscription }}{{page needed|date=July 2014}}</ref><ref name=Hochschild>{{cite book| author-link=Adam Hochschild| last=Hochschild| first=Adam| title=King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa| year=1998| publisher=Houghton Mifflin| isbn=978-0618001903| url=https://archive.org/details/kingleopoldsghos00hoch_1| url-access=registration| quote=King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa.}}</ref> The Free State scandal is discussed at the [[Royal Museum for Central Africa|Museum of the Congo]] at [[Tervuren]] in Belgium.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/an-unsettling-visit-to-kongo|title=A Belgian Visit to "Kongo"|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=2018-10-20|language=en-US}}</ref>

On several occasions Leopold II publicly expressed disagreement with the ruling government (e.g. on 15 August 1887, and in 1905, against Prime Minister [[Auguste Beernaert]])<ref>Raymond Fusilier, ''Les monarchies parlementaires en Europe'' Editions ouvrières, Paris, 1960, p. 399.</ref> and was accused by [[Yvon Gouet]] of noncompliance with the country's parliamentary system.<ref>Yvon Gouet, ''De l'unité du cabinet parlementaire'', Dalloz, 1930, p. 232, quoted by Raymond Fusilier, p. 400.</ref>

Leopold II died without surviving legitimate sons. The line now descends from his nephew and successor, [[Albert I of Belgium]], who ruled while 90% of Belgium was overrun by the forces of [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Kaiser Wilhelm II]] and is notable for his forays into [[Colonization of the Congo basin#King Leopold II of Belgium|colonial rule]] of the [[Belgian Congo]] and later, [[German East Africa#Break-up of the colony|abeyant Wilhelm]], the [[League of Nations]] mandate in [[Ruanda-Urundi]]. In 1934, [[Albert I of Belgium#Death|Albert died under mysterious circumstances]] as he [[rock-climbing|climbed solo]] on the Roche du Vieux Bon Dieu at [[Marche-les-Dames]].