Albert I (1875-1934) was king of the Belgians from 1909 to 1934. He was especially concerned with the social welfare of his subjects and the development of commerce and industry in Belgium.

Albert was born in Brussels on April 8, 1875, the son of Philip, Count of Flanders, and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern. His uncle Leopold II was the reigning king of Belgium. The death of the only son of Leopold II in 1869 and the death of Albert's older brother in 1891 made Albert the heir to the Belgian crown. In 1900 he married Elisabeth, a daughter of the Duke of Bavaria. They had three children: Leopold, Duke of Brabant (1901), Charles, Count of Flanders (1903), and Marie José (1906). Albert began his reign on the death of Leopold II in 1909.

Both Albert's granduncle Leopold I and uncle Leopold II accepted the principle that Belgium was a parliamentary monarchy, but they had often taken a very...