Leopold IV of Werania
| Leopold IV | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Portrait in 1936 | |||||
| Holder of the Bundespräsidium of Werania King of Cislania-Brücken King of Ruttland | |||||
| Reign | 30 July 1913 – 17 September 1936 | ||||
| Predecessor | Rudolf VI | ||||
| Successor | Maximilian III | ||||
| Chancellors | |||||
| Born | 24 April 1882 Westbrucken, Werania | ||||
| Died | 17 September 1936 (aged 54) Šilokrautė | ||||
| Burial | 9 October 1936 Westbrucken, Werania | ||||
| Spouse | Princess Sophia (Undated.) | ||||
| Issue | |||||
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| House | Schwarzollen-Brücken | ||||
| Father | Sigismund | ||||
| Mother | Elisabeth, Princess Royal | ||||
| Religion | Solarian Catholicism | ||||
Leopold IV (Sigismund Leopold Adalbert; 24 April 1882 - 17 September 1936) was the second holder of the Bundespräsidium of Werania from 1913 to his assassination in 1936. His 23 year reign spanned several important events in Weranian history including the Great Collapse, the election of the Popular Front government in 1915, the Great War and the beginning of the collapse of the Weranian empire.
The third son of Werania's founding emperor Rudolf VI, Leopold married Princess Sophia of Estmere in 1900. At the age of 31 he ascended to the throne after his fathers death shortly prior to the Great Collapse. Leopold IV was a less politically interventionist Emperor then his father allowing the socialist Weranic Section of the Workers' International to take power in 1915; however his intense anti-socialism led him to encourage the split in the party and the shift to more right-wing politics. A strong Gaullophobe Leopold supported Werania's alliances with Narozalica and Estmere against Gaullica; to this end he became strongly supportive of nurturing Senria as an "unsinkable dreadnought" against Gaullican expansionism in the far south.
During the Great War Leopold IV was seen as a much more active leader; in his capacity as commander of the armed forces he oversaw control of Weranian military strategy, although by the end of the war had abdicated much of this responsibility to his generals. Known for his strong rhetoric and personal bravery he was hugely popular during the war with at several times generals and politicians approaching him to create a royal dictatorship, a prospect he refused to consider.
Following the Great War Leopold IV aimed to reorganise the Weranian state to curb the power of elected politicians and promote a nonpartisan system based around the monarchy; as a start to these reforms Leopold IV ordered a large centralisation of the state in 1935 that proved widely unpopular in Ruttland. As a result when visiting the province in 1936 he was shot by a Ruttish nationalist Zigmas Bobelis of the Union of Fighters for Ruttland, a Ruttish nationalist group. He was succeeded by his son Maximilian.
Leopold IV continues to be a popular monarch in Werania, being ranked as the greatest Weranian in a Morgenpost poll in 2006. Historians are generally divided over his reign with his foreign policy and domestic policy particularly in the leadup to and following the Great War indicating greater authoritarianism over time.