Following the Congress of Vienna in 1814, the small country of Belgium was joined with the Dutch state of Holland to form what would be called the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This forced integration, imposed by mainly Austrian and English powers, would last a scant 15 years before Belgium revolted and proclaimed independence for itself.
The Congress of Vienna Reshapes Western Europe
The Congress of Vienna was called together in 1814, following Napoleon’s final defeat. The job of the congress was to put Western Europe back together after nearly two decades of warfare. One of the casualties of the Napoleonic Wars was Belgium. A union between Holland and Belgium seemed perfect- at least in theory. The Dutch agriculture and knack for commerce and trade would be well balanced by the manufacturing industries of Belgium. However, the powers at the Congress of Vienna failed to take in account differences in religion, language, customs and history.
Night at the Brussels Opera House
On August 25th, 1830 a revolt broke out, inspired by the showing of The Mute of Portici by Auber. The opera was based on a revolt by the Neapolitans against the French and was taken as a direct parallel of the Dutch oppression on the Belgians. Riots grew and by the end of the year European nations began recognizing Belgium as an independent country. Since the rest of Europe, for the most part, was busy with problems at home, there was little fuss about Belgium declaring independence.
A New King of Belgium
Now that Belgium was its own country once more, it needed a leader, preferably a king. The French king, Louis Phillip graciously suggested one of his relatives. Great Britain said “I don’t think so,” and moved to elect a relative of Queen Victoria instead. On June 4, 1831 a new national congress elected a German prince, Leopold of Saxe-Coburg as King of the Belgians. A liberal constitution came along with Leopold. Even though Belgium had its own king and recognized independence among the rest of Europe, Holland refused to acknowledge them as a political power for another eight years.
A New Relationship between the Dutch and the Belgian
In 1839 Holland finally acknowledged Belgium independence. This would mark the beginning of the modern Dutch and Belgian states. Belgium was declared neutral by all the major European powers, an agreement that would last until German invasion in WWI. Belgium and Holland (The Netherlands) would remain on good, but separate terms until after WWII, when they, along with Luxembourg, would form the Benelux Union.
Sources:
Burns, Ralph, Lerner, Meacham. World Civilizations, Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1982.
Life World Library. The Low Countries. New York: Time Life Books, 1963.
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