Ch. I: The Belgian Revolution (1830)
To understand the events of the 1830s Belgian Revolution, we must first understand the causes for rebellion. Historically, the area of modern day Belgium was often divided, not just culturally but also administratively. Up until 1714, a good portion of what we call today Belgium was under direct Spanish administration. This was fairly complicated, due to the fact that the area was so far away from Iberia and had no cultural ties to the peninsula at all. Following the Treaty of Rastatt in 1714, Spanish controlled lowlands (today's Belgium) were handed over to the Kingdom (later Empire) of Austria as concessions.
While the Austrians never intended to maintain direct control over the lowlands, they did establish a joint Flemish - Austrian trading company,
the Ostend Company, in hopes of competing with the Dutch and the British in the East Indies Region. While the company was later closed down as a direct circumstance of Austrian agreement to the Treaty of Vienna in 1731, it did establish a strong trader presence in the area of what is today Antwerpen. An attempt to create an independent state in the southern lowlands failed, however, due to the Treaty of Versailles (1758).
The southern lowlands were later annexed by the 1st French Republic in 1794, which brought them under French rule and added another culture to the region's already mixed population. Belgium remained under French rule until Napoleon's defeat in 1815. The area was handed to the Kingdom of Netherlands under Oranje rule and the kingdom itself adopted the name of United Provinces of the Netherlands to reflect the cultural diversity of the nation. This was, however, as far as it actually went in regards to respecting cultural differences in the kingdom.
The Belgian Revolution had many causes and consequences; the main causes were alleged ill-treatment of the French-speaking Catholic Walloons in the Dutch-dominated United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the difference of religion between the Belgians and their Dutch king. Aside from that, Dutch dominance in economic, political, and social institutions of the Kingdom were also a point of frictions between the two nations. Furthermore, despite the fact that two thirds of the population lived in the south, they were only given the same amount of representatives as the north was, arguing that while the southern provinces may have been more populous, the north had more provinces in total.
Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie - the origin of the 1830 Belgian Revolution
This lead to the situation where the Dutch, despite being a minority in their own nation, had the majority of the votes in the Lower Assembly. Couple that with a largely pro-Dutch king who had significant powers and authorities in the kingdom and you end with some results that were at the very least unfavorable for the Wallonian and Flemish populations of the south. An example being the signing of the
Free Trade Act which crippled the southern agricultural provinces by reducing grain prices in the kingdom or the
1823 Language Act; making the Dutch language the official language in all Flemish provinces.
On 25 August 1830 at the
Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, an uprising began after a special performance of Daniel Auber's The Mute Girl of Portici; an opera with nationalistic and patriotistic themes. The crowd poured into the streets, shouting shouting patriotic slogans, and swiftly took possession of all government buildings in Brussels. The Dutch army was sent to quell the revolts, but after local brigades refused the order and joined in the protests, what little remained of the loyalist army retreated north.
On September 23rd, nearly a month after the protests began, King William I attempted to restore the established order by force, but the 8,000 Dutch troops under Prince Frederick were unable to retake Brussels in bloody street fighting. A Declaration of Independence followed on 4 October 1830.
The Royalist forces were unable to retake Brussels. Pictured; The Flemish and French rally behind a common flag in Brussel's park.