Netherlands Monarch, British Army General. He reigned as King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Duke of Limburg from his cornonation on October 7, 1840 until his death on March 17, 1849. His family had fled to Great Britain in 1795 when French and German forces invaded his nation. He grew up in England, joined the British Army and served as aide-de-camp to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington during the Peninsular Wars against French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. He eventually rose to full-rank General and Corp commander in the Allied forces against Napoleon, and commanded a corps during the June 1815 Battle of Waterloo. When his father, King William I, abdicated the Netherlands throne in October 1840, William II succeeded him. His relatively short reign was marked by the turmoil of the populist revolutions that spread through Europe, and his ruling in a more progressive and liberal agenda was a response to the revolutions.

Netherlands Monarch, British Army General. He reigned as King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Duke of Limburg from his cornonation on October 7, 1840 until his death on March 17, 1849. His family had fled to Great Britain in 1795 when French and German forces invaded his nation. He grew up in England, joined the British Army and served as aide-de-camp to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington during the Peninsular Wars against French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. He eventually rose to full-rank General and Corp commander in the Allied forces against Napoleon, and commanded a corps during the June 1815 Battle of Waterloo. When his father, King William I, abdicated the Netherlands throne in October 1840, William II succeeded him. His relatively short reign was marked by the turmoil of the populist revolutions that spread through Europe, and his ruling in a more progressive and liberal agenda was a response to the revolutions.