It did not take long for the effects of the events in France to spread it neighbors, the first among them the Provincial States, also known as Austrian Netherlands. In truth though the Austrian Netherlands was just a powder keg waiting to explode, having already seen a minor uprising in the year of 1787, while that uprising was quickly suppressed then it helped fuel further discontentment among the Emperor’s subjects, while also worrying the Austrian authorities.
All of this began in 1781 when the Emperor, having just taken full power following the death of his mother, took a tour of the Austrian Netherlands, upon which he concluded that the region was a backwater in dire need of reforms, reforms which he would provide to modernize his lands. The first attack came already the following year in the form of the Edict of Tolerance, as he had always disproved of clerical power, finding it a barrier against effective rule and loyalty. The edict was a direct attack on the Catholic Church within the provinces, abolishing the privileges the Catholics enjoyed. It was a deeply unpopular move, as the vast majority of the population was Catholic and as such the support he received from the minority was minimally useful at best.
What followed made him no further friends as he attacked the guilds, removing their privileges to tariffs on the grain trade, followed by replacing the local charities with one central controlled Brotherhood of Active Charity. All the reforms carried out was in attempt to centralize the state, the biggest being the two decrees of 1787, which abolished many of the old administrative structures which had been in place since Emperor Charles V, and the second decree abolishing the old semi-feudal and ecclesiastical courts. Instead centralizing the state once more with a single court of justice and splitting the provinces into nine different administrative zones, each in the control of an Intendant who would now govern it.
But in 1789, the Emperor would change course, instead of following in his path of reform he changed around, or at least publically did, ordering Ferdinand von Trauttsmandorff, the Minister Plenipotentiary to attempt to drive a wedge between two main opposing parties of the Emperor, the Statists and the Vonckists. The Emperor however feared, perhaps due to the recent events in France and the revolt two years ago, that another revolt would be incoming following the success of the revolutionaries in France. To counteract this should it happen, the Emperor sent an army numbering about ten thousand men to be deployed in Brussels, the administrative center of the Austrian Netherlands, under the command of Field Marshal Blasius Columban, with Archduke Charles commanding a brigade.
Trauttsmandorff was aware of the approaching army, and as such sought to if not drive a wedge between the two parties, then stall them until Prince Albert Casimir August of Saxony, the governor of the Austrian Netherlands, deemed them to be close enough for them to crush any revolt. Trauttsmandorff set about his work, meeting with the leaders of the Statists and the Vonckists, offering them small concessions to ease the tension and show them that the Emperor was willing to work with them for their grievances, while waiting for the army to appear.
Ferdinand von Trauttsmandorff, Minister Plenipotentiary and a very hated man in the Austrian Netherlands
While the Statists where unconvinced, finding the offerings lackluster and unsatisfactory. The Vonckists on the other hand found it welcoming, having already been in some support of the Emperor and his reforms, they found the easing of the iron grip to be the first sign of cooperation between the Emperor and his subjects, rather than forceful will. While there was still some of the more extreme elements within the group opposing the Emperor, then Trauttsmandorff sent word to Casimir and Columban that the situation was coming under control, resulting in the latter slowing down his march to give his men some rest as it was no longer considered urgent.
The mood changed overnight on the 19of November as word reached the Austrian Netherlands of the Emperor’s new legal reforms, which would be implemented across the provinces, further weakening their independence, which many now saw as the last straw. The Vonckists felted betrayed and the Statists were outraged after having been promised concessions by Trauttmansdorff, furthermore the news of the army approaching reached the annals of power in Brussels, sending the politicians into a further fury. As Trauttmansdorff woke up that morning he was rushed away, as angry mobs were outside his home demanding his arrest. Word quickly spread of the events which had unfolded during the early hours of the morning and Casimir ordered the local garrisons to put it down, while sending words to Columban of the new events that transpired, the army still only near Frankfurt.
A week later, as the Austrian army was finally approaching from the south, the rebels struck from the north as they crossed into the northern Austrian Netherlands, meeting the army under von Schröder, both number slightly above two thousand men, but the Austrian army far better equipped and trained. That however ended up meaning very little, as the rebels took up positions within the town of Turnhout and prepared, Schröder responded in kind by sending in the army to occupy the city and put a swift end to the rebellion, as had happened in 1787. The result was a humiliation for the Austrian forces as the soldiers were unable to fight properly within the city, being used to fighting out in the fields instead, and as such were defeated.
The news spread like wildfire across the Provincial States, a new fervor erupting across the lands, forcing Casimir to flee Brussels, riding with haste south to escape the revolutionaries. As the revolutionary army marched into the upper half of the Austrian Netherlands their numbers swelled. Young men joined their cause, fighting for independence against a tyrannical Emperor stepping on their rights, and before long Brussels had fallen, along with the rest of the North to the revolutionaries.
At the same time, small militias began rising in the South of the Austrian Netherlands, but to little avail. The ten-thousand men strong army under Columban had arrived and quickly put an end to any would be militia or opposition to the Austrian regime, much to Casimir’s relief when he arrived two days later. Placing the southern Austrian Netherlands firmly back under their control.
In Brussels, the revolutionaries were greatly worried about the news of the Austrian army having arrived already, united the two different factions in unison that the main aim would now be to expel the Austrians from their nations, while declaring the United Belgian States as a recruitment drive happened all over the north.
(-500 soldiers and 75 cavalry to Austria. Northern half of Austrian Netherlands in open revolt and the rebels have declared the United Belgian States.)
