Martin is the younger son of Willem de Graaf, owner of de Graaf Iron and Steel Company. His father is a rather apolitical man, but his conservative views made him leave Belgium when French revolutionary forces occupied the country in 1794. Young Martin therefore grew up in England, where he studied law at Cambridge University. Martin graduated in 1829 and shortly after that, he returned to Belgium to reunite with his family, whose property has considerably grown since Willem de Graaf's return in 1819. Martin fought in the militias as a low-ranking officer during the Belgian revolution, which he has supported and considered an excellent opportunity for Belgium to get rid of tyranny forever. After the Dutch forces were defeated, Martin took part in the constitutional convention and cooperated with other "founding fathers" to create the first Belgian constitution, notably the judiciary branch and the self-governance. His original ideas of a modern republic found little support in the convention. Even though he accepted the inevitable, Martin still believed that republic is the only legitimate form of government. Martin also got married - shortly after the revolution he married Claire Ansleme. In 1837, Claire gave birth to Martin's only child so far - daughter called Catharina. Since de Graaf family is of a Dutch origins, Martin is a Protestant, and wishes to limit Church's influence over Belgium.
Martin de Graaf came to the convention to defend republicanism. Even though many conservatives and reactionaries used to label him as a "jacobin", de Graaf does not seek a rule of the mob, but a republic where upper and middle classes would have the decisive share of power. He considers the lower classes as particularly unqualified to rule and thinks their place is on the fields and in the factories rather than in politics. de Graaf also values Emperor Napoleon and his "successes on the field of rights of men". In his opinion, Belgium should be a strong, secular and unitary state. Unlike most of Belgians, Martin is not a Catholic but a Protestant, since de Graaf family came to Belgium from the Netherlands even before Belgium was liberated from Austrian rule. de Graaf also feels the need to protect the basic civil rights of Belgians no matter their social status and a strong military force to prevent the reactionary regimes around Belgium from attacking his homeland. While he does not call for radical expansion, he would not object any attempts to expand to the Dutch lands and colonies as a reparation for the years of oppresion. Martin also red Adam Smith's books and since his studies, he strongly opposes any government intervention in the economy.
Martin survived the coup which followed the convention and during the critical moments, he decided to stay in the capital and began to organise the home resistance against the conservative generals who came to power by force. However, HM Prosper Louis has managed to stop them, and also considerably improve de Graaf's opinion on the new monarchy, even though he still remained a republican deep in his heart. In the second elections of Belgium, de Graaf was offered a position in Michel Daret's cabinet, which he gladly accepted. His proposed police reform didn't pass completely, but some of its important parts later succeeded. After Michel Daret was assassinated, de Graaf worked day and night to arrest the shooter and crush the radical movements, and ultimately succeeded.
After MLP lost the next election to CCP, de Graaf became the Minister of Commerce in de Beauffort's national unity cabinet. Soon after his appointment, Dutch declared war on Belgium together with their allies. Even though he opposed interventionism, de Graaf used his powers to secure that the industry will do its best to serve the army's needs. After the Dutch threat was gone, de Graaf's liberal policies helped Belgian economy blossom again. Following van Brabant's retirement, de Graaf decided to run for leadership against 3 other liberals, succeeded and later became 3rd leader of the Moderate Liberal Party. De Graaf managed to put up rather unstable coalition consisting not only from his own MLP, but also of radical NDP and centrist CUP. During his term, he mainly focused on armament and stable economy with lower taxes. During his term, first seagoing Belgian warships were built. The ambitious Vanderhoof's plan wasn't even started, though, since de Graaf, after winning MLP's primaries without being opposed, lost the elections against conservative block, and since Willem Vanderhoof passed away shortly after elections.
During his term, his wife Claire gave birth to a son called Willem, named in honour of his grandfather, who passed away few months before de Graaf won MLP primaries.
De Graaf later supported the invasion of Sokoto, but was rather displeased about getting the USA in war, and blamed the MoFA for this failure. Historians would later prove that there was nothing that could be done to prevent this, though. After seeing the devastation the war has caused in Flanders, de Graaf chose to run for leadership for the third time, and was challenged by Thibault Potiquet, a young and ambitious liberal from Espaňa's wing. Surprisingly, de Graaf lost, and retired from politics. After he recovered from a serious illness, de Graaf accepted an office of Senator from his main opponent and close friend on one person, Marquis de Beauffort.
Yet, de Graaf would soon find himself betrayed by Beauffort, as his coup was aimed against everything de Graaf helped to build. Shocked by the recent development, and fearing of possilbe arrest, Martin de Graaf, who would often suffer from depression since the stroke occured, commited suicide, leaving both kids under de Espaňa's protection.
))
