LEOPOLD I

born Dec. 16, 1790, Coburg, Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld died Dec. 10, 1865, Laeken, Belg. French in full Lopold-georges-chrtien-frdric, Dutch in full Leopold George Christiaan Frederik first king of the Belgians (183165), who helped strengthen the nation's new parliamentary system and, as a leading figure in European diplomacy, scrupulously maintained Belgian neutrality. The fourth son of Francis, duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Leopold served with the allies against Napoleon's forces during the Napoleonic Wars (180015); in 1816 he married Charlotte, the only child of the future king George IV of Great Britain. Although the Princess died in 1817, Leopold continued to live in England until 1831, when he accepted his election as king of the Belgians, having declined the Greek crown the previous year. He immediately began to strengthen the Belgian Army and, with assistance from France and England, fought off the attacks of William I of The Netherlands, who refused until 1838 to recognize Belgium as an independent kingdom. Until 1839 Leopold helped maintain a LiberalCatholic coalition that expanded the educational system. In 1836 he granted greater political autonomy to large towns and rural areas. The coalition ended in 1839 with the removal of Dutch pressure through William I's recognition of the Belgian kingdom. Leopold signed commercial treaties with Prussia (1844) and France (1846) and maintained a neutral foreign policy, most notably during the Crimean War (185356). His throne was not seriously challenged during the revolutions of 1848. After the accession of a hostile regime under Napoleon III in France (1852), he sponsored a fortification of the Antwerp area, completed in 1868. Often referred to as the Nestor of Europe, Leopold was highly influential in European diplomacy and used marriages to strengthen his ties with France, England, and Austria. He married Marie-Louise of Orlans, daughter of the French king Louis-Philippe, in 1832; in 1840 he helped to arrange the marriage of his niece Victoria, queen of England, to his nephew Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He also helped negotiate the marriage of his daughter Carlota to Maximilian, archduke of Austria and later emperor of Mexico, in 1857. Leopold's influence declined with the growing power of Napoleon III and of Otto von Bismarck of Prussia. born July 3, 1676, Dessau, Prussia died April 7, 1747, Dessau byname The Old Dessauer, German Der Alte Dessauer prince of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian field marshal and reformer, inventor of the iron ramrod and responsible for the introduction of the modern bayonet; he founded the old Prussian military system that, generally unchanged until 1806, enabled Frederick II the Great to propel Prussia to the position of a European power. Beginning his military career serving against the French in 1695, Leopold commanded the Prussian contingent in the allied forces during most of the War of the Spanish Succession (170114). A friend of the Austrian field marshal Prince Eugene of Savoy, he fought in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and France, distinguishing himself at the battles of Hchstdt an der Donau (Bavaria; 1703), Cassano d'Adda (Italy; 1705), Turin (1706), Tournai (Belgium), and Malplaquet (France; both 1709). In 1715 he commanded the Prussian Army against Charles XII of Sweden, defeating him at Stralsund and on the island of Rgen. The long peace that followed gave Leopold the chance to use his considerable organizational talents. Introducing the iron ramrod (wooden ones tended to break in the heat of battle), the modern bayonet (replacing the plug bayonet that had to be removed from the barrel to fire the weapon), and the uniform marching step in his own regiment in the late 1690s, he extended these improvements to the entire Prussian Army after 1715. Under his strict, often brutal tutelage, the Prussian infantry achieved the discipline and rapidity of fire that made possible Frederick II's victories against vastly more numerous and powerful foes. In this endeavour, Leopold had the confidence and cooperation of his monarch, King Frederick William I (ruled 171340). As a result of his experience in the field, the Prince always favoured his own branch of the service, infantry, over cavalry and artillery. After the succession of Frederick II in 1740, war again broke out. Leopold, by now an old man, once more took a field command. On Dec. 14, 1745, as Frederick was hurrying to his aid, the Old Dessauer defeated a superior Austrian and Saxon army at Kesselsdorf, Saxony, the final action of his long career. born June 9, 1640, Vienna died May 5, 1705, Vienna Holy Roman emperor during whose lengthy reign (16581705) Austria emerged from a series of struggles with the Turks and the French to become a great European power, in which monarchical absolutism and administrative centralism gained ascendancy. Additional reading The best presentation of his reign is still to be found in Oswald Redlich, Weltmacht des Barock: sterreich in der Zeit Kaiser Leopolds I. (1927, reprinted 1961) and Das Werden einer Grossmacht: sterreich von 1700 bis 1740, 2nd ed. (1942, reprinted 1962), with references to source materials and a detailed bibliography. A good biography in English is John P. Spielman, Leopold I of Austria (1977). A modern summary of recent research may be found in Erich Zollner, Geschichte sterreichs, 4th ed. (1970), with bibliography.