European Kingdoms

United Kingdom of the Netherlands (House of Orange-Nassau) (Low Countries)
AD 1813 - 1831

Low Countries All Modern States British Isles Germanic Tribes Western Europe

Coastal north-western Europe is known as the Low Countries. Today the region consists of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The Southern Netherlands were dominated by the Spanish Habsburgs (from 1555). They soon became known as the Spanish Netherlands in opposition to the rebellious Seven United Provinces in the north.

War and treaty resulted in the Spanish Netherlands becoming the Austrian Netherlands in 1715, but for less than a century. The northern Netherlands were invaded in 1795 and the territory was renamed the 'Batavian Republic' while the southern Netherlands were drawn directly under republican rule as the French Netherlands.

Following the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814, the Congress of Vienna in June 1815 agreed on the creation of a unified state out of the various territories of the Low Countries, immediately following which Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo (see feature link). Much of the grand duchy of Luxembourg and even the prince-bishopric of Liège would also be included in the new kingdom.

The Belgian territories which formed much of the southern half of the kingdom were not to be left in the hands of France but instead would create a single strong buffer state against any further potential French aggression.

The kingdom was to be ruled by the protestant King William I of the Netherlands, prince of Orange-Nassau. It was largely created for the convenience of Europe, regardless of the wishes of the Belgian and Dutch people. Divided since the sixteenth century, the northern and southern Netherlands were now reunited.

However, they had developed in markedly different ways during the two intervening centuries. The north was commercialised while the south had increasingly become industrialised. William I did much to foster a flourishing Belgian industry by commissioning the construction of new roads and canals and establishing new commercial and financial companies, sometimes at his own expense. The southern territories became a leader in the Industrial Revolution.

Principal author(s): Page created: Page last updated:

(Information by Peter Kessler, Drs Dirk van Duijvenbode, and William Willems, with additional information from BBC News, from Foreign Policy and the French Revolution: Charles-François Dumouriez, Pierre LeBrun, and the Belgian Plan, 1789-1793, Patricia Howe (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), from The First World War, John Keegan (Vintage Books, 2000), and from External Links: A Short History of Holland, Belgium & Luxembourg (available for download as a PDF from Stanford University), and Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Belgium from Revolution to the War of the Sixth Coalition 1789-1814, Dale Pappas (The Napoleon Series Archive), and The Belgian Dynasty (Royal Family of Belgium), and Belgium.be (Official Information & Services website), and Kemmelberg (a History Files microsite).)

1813 - 1831

Son of William V. Holland 1813-1815. King 1831-1840.

1815

The duke of Wellington's Anglo-Dutch-German army defeats Napoleon's French army at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June in conjunction with the Prussian army, ending twenty-five years of war in Europe.

By the power of the subsequent Congress of Vienna, William is elevated to the status of king to rule the 'United Kingdom of the Netherlands', incorporating the former 'Seven Provinces' and the French Netherlands. He is also made grand duke of Luxembourg.

King William I of the 'United Kingdom of the Netherlands' struggled to please both halves of his state despite fostering industry and trade in both of them, with the result that the two halves split in 1831

1821 - 1827

Conflicting interests between the north Netherlands and the south create an economic split after 1821. King William I is not willing to protect the south to the detriment of the north, which leads to grievances against the government.

Unionism arises in 1827, merging forces from both young progressive Belgian liberals and Catholic Church clerics who want to restrict the king's power. The king agrees to make concessions but refuses to release his ultimate authority.

1830 - 1831

The Belgians split from Dutch rule and the following year proclaim their own kingdom. The country shortens its name to 'Kingdom of the Netherlands', although the king remains monarch of Luxembourg. In 1839 he also becomes duke of Limburg.