Wikipedia

William II of the Netherlands

William II(Dutch:Willem Frederik George Lodewijk;English: William Frederick George Louis; 6 December 1792 – 17 March 1849) wasKing of the Netherlands,Grand Duke of Luxembourg,andDuke of Limburg.

William II
Portrait byNicolaas Pieneman,c. 1849
Reign7 October 1840 – 17 March 1849
Inauguration28 November 1840
PredecessorWilliam I
SuccessorWilliam III
Born(1792-12-06)6 December 1792
Noordeinde Palace,The Hague,Dutch Republic
Died17 March 1849(1849-03-17)(aged 56)
Tilburg,Netherlands
Spouse
​
​
(m.1816)​
Issue
HouseOrange-Nassau
FatherWilliam I of the Netherlands
MotherWilhelmine of Prussia
ReligionDutch Reformed Church
SignatureWilliam II's signature
Military service
Battles/wars
(incomplete)

William II was the son ofWilliam IandWilhelmine of Prussia.When his father, who up to that time ruled assovereign prince,proclaimed himself king in 1815, he becamePrince of Orangeas heir apparent of theUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands.With the abdication of his father on 7 October 1840, William II became king. During his reign, the Netherlands became aparliamentary democracywith the newconstitutionof 1848.

William II was married toAnna Pavlovna of Russia.They had four sons and one daughter. William II died on 17 March 1849 and was succeeded by his sonWilliam III.

Early life and education

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Willem Frederik George Lodewijk was born on 6 December 1792 inThe Hague.He was the eldest son of the then PrinceWilliamandWilhelmine of Prussia.His maternal grandparents were KingFrederick William II of Prussiaand his second wifeFrederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt.William had one younger brother,Frederick,and two younger sisters,PaulineandMarianne.

When William was two, he and his family fled to England after allied British-Hanoverian troops left the republic and entering French troops defeated the army of theUnited Provinces,claiming liberation by joining the anti-OrangistPatriots.William spent his youth inBerlinat thePrussiancourt, where he followed a military education and served in thePrussian Army.After this, he studied civil law atChrist Church,University of Oxford.[1][2][3]

Military service

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William II at theBattle of Waterloo,byNicaise de Keyser,1846.

He entered theBritish Army,and in 1811, as a 19-year-oldaide-de-campin the headquarters ofArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington,was allowed to observe several of Wellington's campaigns of thePeninsular War.Though not yet 20, the young prince, according to the customs of the time, was madelieutenant colonelon 11 June 1811[4]andcolonelon 21 October that year.[5]He took part in theSiege of Badajozand theBattle of Salamancain Spain in 1812. Later that year, on 8 September, he was made anaide-de-campto thePrince Regent[6]and on 14 December 1813 promoted tomajor-general.[7]His courage and good nature made him very popular with the British, who nicknamed him "Slender Billy". He returned to theNetherlandsin 1813 when his father became sovereign prince, and in May 1814 succeeded SirThomas Grahamas the highest-ranking officer of the British forces stationed there.[8]

On 8 July 1814, he was promoted tolieutenant-generalin the British Army,[9]and on 25 July togeneral.[10]As such, he was senior officer of the Allied army in theLow CountrieswhenNapoleonI of France escaped fromElbain 1815. He relinquished command on the arrival of the Duke of Wellington, and, though this was his first real battle, served as commander of theI Allied Corps,first at theBattle of Quatre Bras(16 June 1815) and then at theBattle of Waterloo(18 June 1815), where he was wounded[11]in his left shoulder by a musket ball.[12]He was aged 22. As a sign of gratitude for what the Dutch throne styled "his" victory at Waterloo, William was offeredSoestdijk Palaceby the Dutch people.[13][14]

Military historianWilliam Siborneblamed many casualties suffered by Coalition forces during theWaterloo campaignto William's inexperience.[15]In response, Siborne was accused by Lieutenant-GeneralWillem Jan Knoopof misrepresenting William's actions at Waterloo.[16]An inspection into the archives of Siborne by Dutch officerFrancois de Basin 1897 claimed to discover the "selective use of sources" and "numerous miscounts and untruths".[17]

Marriage

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Portrait of William II andAnna Pavlovna(1816) byJan Willem Pieneman

In 1814, William was briefly engaged to PrincessCharlotte of Wales,only child of the Prince Regent (laterGeorge IVof the United Kingdom) and his estranged wife,Caroline of Brunswick.The engagement was arranged by the Prince Regent, but it was broken off because Charlotte's mother was against the marriage and because Charlotte did not want to move to the Netherlands. On 21 February 1816 at the Chapel of theWinter PalaceinSt. Petersburg,William marriedGrand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia,youngest sister to TsarAlexander I of Russia,who arranged the marriage to seal the good relations betweenImperial Russiaand the Netherlands. On 17 February 1817 inBrussels,his first son, William, the future KingWilliam III,was born.

Portrait of William II, painted in 1817 byKarel Pieter Verhulst.

Already in 1819, he wasblackmailedover whatMinister of JusticeVan Maanentermed in a letter his "shameful and unnatural lusts": presumablybisexuality.Separately, his signing theconstitutional reform of 1848,enabling a parliamentary democracy, may have been partly influenced by blackmail.[18]He may also have had a relationship with adandyby the name of Pereira.[19]

Belgian Revolution

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The Prince of Orange at theTen Days' Campaign

William II enjoyed considerable popularity in what is nowBelgium(then the Southern Netherlands), as well as in parts of the rest of the Netherlands for his affability and moderation, and in 1830, on the outbreak of theBelgian Revolution,he did his utmost in Brussels as a peace broker, to bring about a settlement based on administrative autonomy for the southern provinces, under theHouse of Orange-Nassau.His father then rejected the terms of accommodation that he had proposed without further consultation;[20]afterwards, relations with his father were once again tense.

In April 1831, William II was sent by his father to be the military leader during theTen Days' Campaignin order to recover what would become Belgium. Although initially successful, the Dutch withdrew after French intervention on the side of the rebels. European mediation establishedLeopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha(widower of William's former fiancée, Charlotte) on the throne of a new monarchy. Peace was finally established in 1839 when Belgium was recognized by the Netherlands.[21]

Reign

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Theinaugurationof William II on 28 November 1840, by Nicolaas Pieneman

On 7 October 1840, on his father's abdication, he acceded to the throne as William II. Although he shared his father's conservative inclinations, he did not intervene in governmental affairs nearly as much as his father had. There was increased agitation for broad constitutional reform and a wider electoral franchise. Although William was certainly no democrat, he acted with sense and moderation.

1847 had been a year of political unrest. The Netherlands had seen food riots in the Northern Provinces and a plot had been discovered to murder the King and his eldest son. William II's personal life was fraught with difficulties as well. The king had for some time been in very poor health. He suffered from heart disease (among other things) and his doctor had told the family he didn't have long to live. On top of that, Williams beloved second son Prince Alexander had fallen ill in January 1847 and the 29-year-old's condition became increasingly concerning as the year continued. Prince Alexander went to Madeira to winter in a warm climate, but his health only worsened further and his desperate father sent his own personal physician to the island in a last bid attempt to save his son's life.[22]

TheRevolutions of 1848broke out all over Europe. InParistheJuly Monarchythat had stolen "William's" southern provinces fell in February 1848. Warned that the revolution might spread to the Netherlands next, William (who already knew his son had probably died, but still hadn't received an official announcement) decided to institute a more liberal regime, believing it was better to grant reforms instead of having them imposed on him on less favourable terms later. As he later put it, "I changed from conservative to liberal in one night". He chose a committee headed by the prominent liberalJohan Rudolf Thorbecketo create anew constitution,which was instituted on 17 March 1848. That same day Prince Alexander's death on 20 February was finally confirmed. William was absolutely destroyed by grief, lamenting how the entire world was nothing but a large grave that swallowed all glory and honour.[22]

The new document designed by the constitutional committee provided that theEerste Kamer(Senate), previously appointed by the king, would beelected indirectlyby theprovincial states.TheTweede Kamer(House of Representatives), previously elected by the provincial states, would be elected directly viacensus suffragein electoral districts, with the franchise limited to those who paid a certain amount in taxes. Ministers were now fully responsible to the Tweede Kamer. For all intents and purposes, the real power passed to the Tweede Kamer, and the king was now a servant of government rather than its master. That constitution of 1848, amended numerous times (most notably by the replacement of census suffrage byuniversal manhood suffrageand districts with nationwide party-listproportional representation,both in 1917) is still in effect today.

William swore in his first and only cabinet under the terms of the new constitution a few months before his sudden death inTilburg,North Brabant(1849).

In fiction

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He is a recurring character in the historical novels ofGeorgette Heyer,most notably inAn Infamous Army.

William appears as a character in thehistorical fictionnovelSharpe's WaterloobyBernard Cornwell,and itstelevision adaptation,in which he is portrayed byPaul Bettany.

Honours

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Monogram of William II

Relationships

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William II had a string of relationships with both men and women which led him to be blackmailed.[33][34][35][36]Thehomosexualrelationships that William II had as crown prince and as king were reported by journalistEillert Meeter[nl].[37]The king surrounded himself with male servants whom he could not dismiss because of what Meteer described as his "abominable motives" for hiring them in the first place.[38]One of his closest friends was the Wallonian aristocratAlbéric du Chastel.William II was blackmailed for the first time for his intimacies with men in 1818. After the Dutch secret police captured the blackmailers they were deported to the Dutch overseas colonies.[39]

Issue

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King William II and His Family(1832) byJan Baptist van der Hulst

William II and queen Anna Pavlovna had five children:

Ancestry

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See also:Family tree of Dutch monarchs

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek. Deel 1".DBNL(in Dutch).Retrieved1 September2017.
  2. ^"Z.M. (koning Willem II) koning Willem Frederik George Lodewijk, koning der Nederlanden, groothertog van Luxemburg, hertog van Limburg, prins van Oranje-Nassau".parlement(in Dutch).Retrieved1 September2017.
  3. ^"Willem Frederik George Lodewijk (1792–1849)".scheveningen1813-2013.nl.Retrieved1 September2017.
  4. ^"No. 16494".The London Gazette.11 June 1811. p. 1068.
  5. ^"No. 16533".The London Gazette.22 October 1811. p. 2033.
  6. ^"No. 16642".The London Gazette.8 September 1812. p. 1812.
  7. ^"No. 16824".The London Gazette.14 December 1813. p. 2528.
  8. ^Andrew Bamford (2014)."The British Army in the Low Countries, 1813–1814"(PDF).The Napoleon Series.Retrieved16 August2015.
  9. ^"No. 16915".The London Gazette.9 July 1814. p. 1393.
  10. ^"No. 16924".The London Gazette.9 August 1814. p. 1609.
  11. ^Hofschröer, Peter,1815, The Waterloo Campaign, The German Victorypp. 137, 200.
  12. ^"William, Prince of Orange, wounded at the Battle of Waterloo, 1815 | Online Collection | National Army Museum, London".collection.nam.ac.uk.Retrieved14 February2022.
  13. ^"Willem II, Koning (1792-1849)".Het Koninklijk Huis(in Dutch). Archived fromthe originalon 24 August 2014.Retrieved15 December2014.
  14. ^"Geschiedenis van het Paleis Soestdijk".Paleis Soestdijk(in Dutch). Archived fromthe originalon 10 December 2016.Retrieved16 June2015.
  15. ^Siborne, William. "History of the War in France and Belgium in 1815", 1844
  16. ^Knoop, Willem Jan. "Beschouwingen over Siborne’s Geschiedenis van den Oorlog van 1815", 1846
  17. ^Historisch Nieuwsblad, June 2015:"Willem II en de Slag bij Waterloo – 1815"
  18. ^Jaeger, Toef (29 November 2013)."Koning Willem II gechanteerd wegens homoseksualiteit".NRC.
  19. ^Hermans, Dorine and Hooghiemstra, Daniela:Voor de troon wordt men niet ongestrafd geboren, ooggetuigen van de koningen van Nederland 1830–1890,ISBN978-9035131149,2007.
  20. ^One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Edmundson, George(1911). "William II., King of the Netherlands".InChisholm, Hugh(ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 670.
  21. ^Van Assche, Dirk (April 2019)."Belgium and the Netherlands Officially Divorced 180 Years Ago".
  22. ^abWinter-Agterhuis, Tessa de (1 April 2024)."Onze Sasja is niet meer: Het verlies van een veelbelovende prins in het revolutiejaar 1848".Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis(in Dutch).137(1):64–83.doi:10.5117/TvG2024.1.005.WINT.ISSN0040-7518.
  23. ^"Militaire Willems-Orde: Oranje-Nassau, Willem Frederik George Lodewijk, Prins van"[Military William Order: Orange-Nassau, William Frederick George Louis, Prince of].Ministerie van Defensie(in Dutch). 8 July 1815.Retrieved3 May2020.
  24. ^Mémorial A n° 1 du 3 January 1842,Arrêté royal grand-ducal du 29 décembre 1841, Litt. A, portant institution, pour le Grand-Duché du Luxembourg d'un Ordre de la Couronne de Chêne.(Foundation of the Order)
  25. ^Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden(1845), "Großherzogliche Orden"pp. 32,48
  26. ^Hof- und Staatshandbuch für das Königreich Hannover: 1846.Berenberg. 1846. p. 36.
  27. ^Liste der Ritter des Königlich Preußischen Hohen Ordens vom Schwarzen Adler(1851), "Von Seiner Majestät dem Könige Friedrich Wilhelm III. ernannte Ritter"p. 16
  28. ^Almanach de la cour: pour l'année... 1817.l'Académie Imp. des Sciences. 1817. pp. 63, 78, 91.
  29. ^"Ritter-Orden",Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Österreichischen Kaiserthumes,1847, p.11,retrieved28 July2020
  30. ^Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach(1843), "Großherzogliche Hausorden"p. 8Archived6 July 2020 at theWayback Machine
  31. ^Guerra, Francisco (1819),"Caballeros Existentes en la Insignie Orden del Toison de Oro",Calendario Manual y Guía de Forasteros en Madrid(in Spanish): 42,retrieved17 March2020
  32. ^Staatshandbuch für Württemberg.Guttenberg. 1833. p. 35.
  33. ^"Intense Male Friendships Made King Willem II Liable to Blackmail".gay-news.Retrieved1 September2017.
  34. ^Jeroen van, Zanten (2013).Koning Willem II: 1792–1849.Vol. dl. 2. Amsterdam: Gay News.ISBN978-9461051851.OCLC864666575.
  35. ^"Willem II: intelligent, chantabel en in de knel".NRC(in Dutch).Retrieved1 September2017.
  36. ^"Boeken: Jeroen van Zanten, Koning Willem II (1792–1849)".Historisch Nieuwsblad(in Dutch).Retrieved1 September2017.
  37. ^Meeter, E. (1857).Holland: its institutions, its press, kings and prisons.
  38. ^Meeter, E. (1857).Holland: its institutions, its press, kings and prisons.pp.320.
  39. ^Jeroen van Zanten,Koning Willem II: 1792-1849,p. 274.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related toWilliam II of the Netherlands.
William II of the Netherlands
Cadet branch of theHouse of Nassau
Born:6 December 1792Died:17 March 1849
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of the Netherlands
Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Duke of Limburg
1840–1849 		Succeeded by
Dutch royalty
Preceded by Prince of Orange
1815–1840 		Succeeded by
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