Leopold Iii 1901

LEOPOLD III. (1901- ), king of the Belgians, was born on Nov. 3, 1901, the son of Albert I. (q.v.), whom he succeeded on Feb. 17, 1934. He married, on Nov. io, 1926, Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905-1935) ; and of this marriage were born Princess Josephine Charlotte (Oct. II, 1927), Prince Baudouin (Sept. 7, 1930), and Prince Albert (June 6, 1934).

LEOPOLD II.

(1797-187o), of Habsburg-Lorraine, grand duke of Tuscany, was born on Oct. 3, 1797, the son of the grand duke Ferdinand III., whom he succeeded in 1824. During the first 20 years of his reign he devoted himself to the internal develop ment of the State. His was the mildest and least reactionary of all the Italian despots of the day ; he refused to adopt the Austrian methods of government, allowed liberty to the press, and permitted political exiles from other states to dwell in Tuscany undisturbed. In 1845-46 riots broke out and Leopold granted a number of administrative reforms.

The election of Pope Pius IX., gave fresh impulse to the Liberal movement, and on Sept. 4, 1847 Leopold instituted the National Guard-a first step towards the constitution ; shortly afterwards Cosimo Ridolfi was appointed prime minister. The granting of the Neapolitan and Piedmontese constitutions was followed (Feb. 17, 1848) by that of Tuscany, drawn up by Gino Capponi. The revolution in Milan and Vienna aroused a fever of patriotic en thusiasm in Tuscany, where war against Austria was demanded; Leopold, giving way to popular pressure, sent a force to co-operate with Piedmont in the Lombard campaign. His speech on their departure was uncompromisingly Italian and Liberal. "Soldiers," he said, "the holy cause of Italian freedom is being decided to-day on the fields of Lombardy. Already the citizens of Milan have purchased their liberty with their blood and with a heroism of which history offers few examples. . . . Honour to the arms of Italy! Long live Italian independence!" The Tuscan contingent fought bravely, if unsuccessfully, at Curtatone and Montanara. On June 26 the first Tuscan parliament assembled, but the failure of the campaign in Lombardy led to the resignation of the Ridolfi ministry, which was succeeded by that of Gino Capponi. Disorder continued, there was actual civil war in Leghorn, and the demo cratic party became more influential. Capponi resigned, and Leo pold reluctantly agreed to a Montanelli-Guerrazzi ministry.

New elections in 1848 returned a constitutional majority, but it ended by voting in favour of a constituent assembly. There was talk of instituting a central Italian kingdom with Leopold as king, to form part of a larger Italian federation, but the grand-duke, alarmed at the revolutionary and republican agitations in Tuscany and encouraged by the success of the Austrian arms, was, accord ing to Montanelli, negotiating with Field-Marshal Radetzky and with Pius IX., who had now abandoned his Liberal tendencies, and fled to Gaeta. Leopold had left Florence for Siena, and eventually for Porto S. Stefano, leaving a letter to Guerrazzi in which, on account of a protest from the pope, he declared that he could not agree to the proposed constituent assembly. The utmost

confusion followed. On Feb. 9, 1849 the republic was proclaimed, and on the 18th Leopold sailed for Gaeta. A third parliament was elected and Guerrazzi appointed dictator. But the defeat of Charles Albert at Novara caused consternation. The majority, while fearing an Austrian invasion, desired the return of the grand duke, and in April 1849 the municipal council usurped the powers of the assembly and invited him to return. Leopold accepted. The Austrians occupied Lucca and Leghorn, and although Leopold sim ulated surprise at their action, it has since been proved that Aus trian intervention was due to the request of the grand-duke. On May 24 the latter appointed G. Baldasseroni prime minister, on the 25th the Austrians entered Florence, and on July 28, Leopold him self returned. In 1850 he concluded a treaty with Austria sanc tioning the continuation for an indefinite period of the Austrian occupation with Io,000 men; in September he dismissed parlia ment, and the following year established a concordat with the Church of a very clerical character.

He feebly asked Austria if he might maintain the constitution, and the Austrian premier, Prince Schwarzenberg, advised him to consult the pope, the king of Naples and the dukes of Parma and Modena. On their advice he formally revoked the constitution (1852). Political trials were held, Guerrazzi and many others being condemned to long terms of imprisonment, and although in 1855 the Austrian troops left Tuscany, Leopold's popularity was gone. The popular party headed by F. Bartolommei and G. Dolfi realized that only by the expulsion of Leopold could the national aspirations be realized. When in 1859 France and Piedmont made war on Austria, numbers of Tuscan volunteers joined the Franco Piedmontese forces. Finally the grand-duke's participation in the war was formally demanded. On April 27 the grand-duke and his family departed for Bologna undisturbed. Thus a bloodless revolution was accomplished, and after an interregnum Tuscany was incorporated in the kingdom of Italy. On July 21, Leopold abdicated in favour of his son Ferdinand IV., who never reigned, but issued a protest from Dresden (March 26, 1860). He died in Rome on Jan. 29, 1870.

See G. Baldasseroni, Leopoldo II. (Florence, 1871), useful but reactionary in tendency, the author having been Leopold's minister, G. Montanelli, Memorie sull' Italia (Turin, 1853) ; F. D. Guerrazzi, Memorie (Leghorn, 1848) ; Zobi, Storia civile della Toscana, vols. iv.-v. (Florence, 1850-52) ; A. von Reumont, Geschichte Toscanas (2 vols., Gotha, 1876-77) ; M. Bartolommei-Gioli, Il Rivolgimento Toscano e l'azione popolare (Florence, 1905) ; C. Tivaroni, L'Italia durante it dominio Austriaco, vol. i. (Turin, 1892), and L' Italia degli Italiani, vol. i. (Turin, 1895). See also RicAsou; BARTOLOMMEI; CAPPONI, GIN(); etc.