Editing Albert I of Belgium (section)

==Post-war years==
{{see also|Loppem Agreements}}
Upon his return to Brussels, King Albert made a speech in which he outlined the reforms he desired to see implemented in Belgium, including an improved military, [[universal suffrage]] and the establishment of a Flemish University in [[Ghent]].

===Trip to the United States===
[[File:King Albert at Columbia LCCN2014709808.jpg|thumb|King Albert at [[Columbia University]] after receiving an honorary degree, 1919]]
From 23 September to 13 November 1919, King Albert, Queen [[Elisabeth of Bavaria (1876–1965)|Elisabeth of Bavaria]], and their son [[Leopold III of Belgium|Prince Leopold]] made an official visit to the [[United States]]. King Albert and his party arrived in New York City on 2 October.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=RDP19191003.2.10&srpos=80&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-------- |title=Ovation is Given King |work=Riverside Daily Press |date=3 October 1919}}</ref> The party would then proceed to visit several sites in the Eastern United States including [[Boston]] and [[Niagara Falls]], before heading to the Western United States.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sorchan |first1=Beatrice |title=Across America With The King Of The Belgians |date=1921 |publisher=E.P. Dutton & Company |url=https://archive.org/details/acrossamericawit027221mbp/mode/2up}}</ref> King Albert and his party arrived in California on 10 October.<ref name="Belgians">{{cite news |title=Belgians Greeted In California |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDDU19191011.2.22&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-------- |access-date=16 March 2023 |work=San Diego Union and Daily Bee |date=11 October 1919}}</ref> Upon arrival in [[Sacramento]], the King awarded the [[Order of Leopold II]] to the engineer who was on board the King's special train. During his brief stay in Sacramento thousands came to see the Belgian royals, with mothers even holding out their babies for the King to kiss.<ref name="Belgians"/> During a visit of the historic [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] [[pueblo]] of [[Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico]], King Albert decorated [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|Father]] [[Anton Docher]] with Knight in the [[Order of Leopold II]].<ref>Keleher and Chant. ''The Padre of Isleta''. Sunstone Press, 2009, p. 94.</ref> Docher offered the King a [[turquoise]] cross mounted in silver made by the Tiwas Indians.<ref>W. A. Keleher. ''The Indian sentinel''. 1920, vol. 2. pp. 23–24</ref><ref>Samuel Gance, ''Anton ou la trajectoire d'un père'', L'Harmattan, 2013, p.174.</ref> Ten thousand people travelled to Isleta for this occasion. That same year he was elected an honorary member of the New York [[Society of the Cincinnati]]. 
In New York, the King received a [[ticker tape parade]] in his honor. The visit was considered a success by the Belgian authorities.<ref name="auto"/>

===Introduction of universal male suffrage===
Since the [[Belgian general strike of 1893]], plural votes had been granted to individual men based on their wealth, education, and age,<ref>Els Witte, Jan Craeybeckx, Alain Meynen ''Political History of Belgium: From 1830 Onwards'', Academic and Scientific Publishers, Brussels, 2009, p. 278. {{ISBN|978-90-5487-517-8}}</ref> but after the [[Belgian general strike of 1913]] the promise had been made to have [[constitution]]al reform for ''[[one man, one vote]]'' universal suffrage but the German invasion of Belgium in August 1914 and the subsequent occupation delayed the implementation of the commission's proposal.

In 1918, King Albert forged a post-war "Government of National Union" made up of members of the three main parties in Belgium, the Catholics, the Liberals, and the Socialists<ref name="Bronne"/><ref name="Keyes"/> and attempted to mediate between the parties in order to bring about ''one man, one vote'' universal suffrage for men. He succeeded in doing so.<ref>Charles d'Ydewalle, ''Albert and the Belgians: Portrait of a King'', Translated from the French, by Phyllis Megroz, London, 1935, p. 198 and the following pages.</ref>

===Paris Peace Conference===

[[File:ModernEgypt, Fouad I, DHP13402-1-32 01.jpg|thumb|King Albert (left) with his wife and [[King Fuad I of Egypt|Fuad I of Egypt]], 1930]]
The Belgian Government sent the King to the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]] in April 1919, where he met with the leaders of France, Britain and the United States. He had four strategic goals:
# to restore and expand the Belgian economy using cash reparations from Germany;
# to assure Belgium's security by the creation of a new buffer state on the left bank of the Rhine;
# to revise the obsolete treaty of 1839;
# to promote a 'rapprochement' between Belgium and the [[Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg|Grand Duchy of Luxembourg]].

He strongly advised against a harsh, restrictive treaty against Germany to prevent future German aggression.<ref name="Dujardin">Vincent Dujardin, Mark van den Wijngaert, et al. ''Léopold III''</ref> He also considered that the dethronement of the princes of Central Europe and, in particular, the dissolution of the [[Austria-Hungary|Habsburg Empire]] would constitute a serious menace to peace and stability on the continent.<ref name="d'Ydewalle"/> The Allies considered Belgium to be the chief victim of the war, and it aroused enormous popular sympathy, but the King's advice played a small role in Paris.<ref>Margaret MacMillan, ''Paris 1919'' (2003) pp. 106, 272</ref>

===Later years===
Albert spent much of the remainder of his reign assisting in the postwar reconstruction of Belgium.

In 1920 Albert changed the family name from "[[House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Belgium)|Saxe-Coburg-Gotha]]" to "[[House of Belgium]]" (''van België'', in Dutch; ''de Belgique'' in French) as a result of strong anti-German sentiment.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.belgium.be/sites/default/files/downloads/280410_monarchie_EN.pdf|title=The Belgian monarchy|website=Belgium|access-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011220130/https://www.belgium.be/sites/default/files/downloads/280410_monarchie_EN.pdf|archive-date=11 October 2018|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> This mirrored the British royal family's name-change to [[House of Windsor]] in 1917.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/272558033/House-of-Saxe-Coburg-and-Gotha|title=House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|website=Scribd|access-date=11 October 2018}}</ref>

Albert was a committed conservationist and in 1925, influenced by the ideas of [[Carl E. Akeley]], he founded Africa's first national park, now known as [[Virunga National Park]], in what is now [[Democratic Republic of Congo]]. During this period, he was also the first reigning European monarch to visit the United States.<ref>{{cite book|author=William Mark Adams|title=Against Extinction: The Story of Conservation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJ38la9nQdEC&pg=PA5|year=2004|publisher=Earthscan|page=5|isbn=9781849770415}}</ref>