Johan II

Johan II (born Johan Bart Edward, 1881-1967) was the 14th King of Brunant. He ruled from 1913 to 1967, which is the longest reign of any Brunanter monarch. He is the grandfather of current king Anthony I.

Early life
Johan was born in 1881 to King Pieter II and Queen Sophie of Brunant in the Realpaleis at Koningstad. His father had recently been crowned king following the deposition of his grandfather after the Liberal Revolution. He was their firstborn child and heir from birth. Johan came from an ancestry of nobles and royals, and he was related to every Brunanter king except for Pieter I and Willem II. The king, who grew up speaking German at home would never fully master Dutch, though he did speak enough to give speeches and such. In 1900 Johan joined the Royal Guard and served with the artillery. Johan commanded an artillery unit though he saw no action during his career.

Accession and reign
On October 23, the Royal Family was riding in an open coach through Brezonde when an onlooker, Jean-Paul Marois pulled out a gun and fired several shots at the king, the crown prince and Princess Caroline. Caroline was unharmed but both Pieter and Johan had been hit. They were taken to a nearby house to be treated but Pieter was not likely to survive, having been shot twice in the chest. Prince Johan was in grave condition, but upon his father's death a few hours later he was proclaimed king.

He came to power upon his father's death in 1913. One of his major actions was the involvement of Brunant in the Great War (1914-1918). Johan believed that Belgium's neutrality had to be defended, even by a small nation. This was a controversial issue as his family was mostly German and his own mother was against declaring war. Nevertheless he announced the declaration of war against the German Empire on February 11, 1915. In 1916 he came to visit troops near the front lines, though this was a low-profile and surprise visit as to not alert the Germans.

Johan faced a crisis when Maarten Dolmatoff was elected Prime Minister in 1923. Being a Communist, there was heavvy opposition from many politicians and there was huge demand for him to be dismissed. In 1928 he was elected President and there was even more pressure, but Johan did not dismiss him; he said that upholding the constitution was more important than preventing communists from coming into power. His stance during this crisis earned him much applause from citizens for fully believing in the constitution and democracy The great depression affected Brunant deeply and the king, wanting to help out, instructed the palace staff to set up a soup kitchen near the Realpaleis' lawn to assist needy locals. On some occasions Queen Elisabeth and even Johan also helped out.

When Germany invaded Brunant in 1941, the king left Brunant with the royal family to his wife's home country of Lovia. He left Brunant in order to prevent becoming a "puppet ruler" under the Nazi regime. Before leaving, he gave a teary-eyed speech stating that he would "return to my nation and in the process bring liberty to the people". During the war Johan became a financial donor to the Underground Revolution and resistance movements in the country. The king returned in 1945 and was given a massive welcome at Koningstad. But many were displeased that he had left and were not to happy with his return. There were fears of a communist insurrection and there was pressure from the far left to hold a referendum to decide the country's future, as a kingdom or a republic. On July 28, 1946 91.7% of Brunanters voted in favor of retaining the monarchy.

He ruled until 1967, when he was succeded by his son Marten II.

Family
His mother (and father) had hoped for their son to marry foreign royalty, and was hoping he would marry a Bavarian princess. But, Johan married a Lovian-American woman, Elizabeth Carson, on August 2 1910. It had been a secret marriage conducted in Lovia and was only revealed to his parents in 1912, which they did not approve of. But, the prince was deeply in love with his wife and went on with the marriage. With Elizabeth, they had two children:


 * Prince Marten (1923-2011)
 * Princess Angela (born 1927)

Elizabeth became unable to have more children, but the couple was overjoyed with their children, and so was the Brunanter public. They became the first really mobile family and used vehicles to travel the country and visit people.

Personal life
King Johan was an avid car owner/driver from early on in his reign. The King purchased a Dodge sedan in 1918 which would serve them for 11 years. In 1939 he was the first king to have an official state car, a Martell-Werner Landau limousine. Among Johan's other vehicles were a 1929 Packard Deluxe Roadster, a 1932 Bugatti Type 55 Roadster and a 1952 Ferrari 212-225. The king also purchased several Brunanter cars, to set an example and encourage others to buy domestic vehicles.

Johan loved to go horseback riding with his wife. He owned a stable with nine horses, but his favorite was Pegasus, an Arabian horse given to him by the Sheikh of Sharjah.

Ancestry
Johan, unlike his successors, came from a background mostly consisting of nobles. The majority were of German (some German-Danish) origin. Some of his other ancestors were Prussian Kings, and he was also related to Tsar Paul of Russia and Empress Maria Theresa of Austria (his grandfather's grandmother).