Leopold II of Habsburg-Lorraine
Leopold II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1790 to 1792, succeeding his brother Joseph II after the latter's radical Enlightenment reform program had provoked revolts and near-collapse across the Habsburg lands. Leopold had previously served as Grand Duke of Tuscany where he implemented his own programme of enlightened reforms with considerably more caution and attention to local conditions than his brother - making Tuscany something of a model of enlightened governance. When Leopold succeeded Joseph II in March 1790, he inherited a crisis and moved with impressive speed and political skill to defuse it, rolling back many of Joseph II's more provocative measures. In foreign policy, Leopold faced the explosive consequences of the French Revolution. He was the brother of Marie Antoinette and issued the Declaration of Pillnitz in August 1791 jointly with Prussia - a declaration that appeared to threaten intervention but was carefully hedged to avoid actually committing Austria to war. Leopold died suddenly in March 1792 before the full consequences of the revolutionary crisis became clear.
- Lived: 1747 CE – 1792 CE
- Nationality: austrian
- Roles: emperor, head_of_state
