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74-458: BHV may refer to: Black Heart Village , a Hip-Hop collective from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, formed in 2017 Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde , a former Belgian electoral and judicial district Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville , a department store in Paris, France Bovine herpesvirus (disambiguation) , a group of viruses Bahawalpur Airport Topics referred to by

148-634: A "scrap of paper". Britain declared war on Germany the same day. As early as 1830 a movement started for the reunification of Belgium and the Netherlands, called Orangism (after the Dutch royal color of orange ), which was active in Flanders and Brussels. But industrial cities, like Liège, also had a strong Orangist faction. The movement met with strong disapproval from the authorities. Between 1831 and 1834, 32 incidents of violence against Orangists were mentioned in

222-495: A commune in the Flemish Region can still continue to vote for French-speaking Brussels candidates, but a Fleming who moves into the (equally) monolingual Walloon Region cannot vote any longer for his Flemish candidates of choice from the two regions where Dutch is an official language ( Flemish Region and Brussels Region ). An element of discrimination is that French-speaking candidates from Brussels can compete for votes in

296-476: A complete end in 1967, the year in which the Belgian Constitution got an official Dutch version. Belgium, as a unitary state, consisted of nine provinces with several arrondissements. Each arrondissement also served as an electoral district, however some of them were later grouped together. One of the nine provinces was Brabant , which consisted of the arrondissements of Brussels, Leuven and Nivelles. Upon

370-618: A limited set of public services. Regular supra-national recommendations from the Council of Europe , a body without direct authority and therefore a lesser status in the legal order in Belgium, expressed concerns in 2002 that the minority of French speakers in Flanders should be recognized and protected as an official linguistic minority, as defined by advise of the Venice Commission . However, other reports from this institution provide arguments to

444-461: A more extensive court network, for example the Law Courts of Brussels , adds to this issue. The arrondissement consists of the following municipalities (in total accounting for around 1,595,000 inhabitants on 1 January 2006): (names are written in respectively French and Dutch) Many legal experts in Flanders, such as Paul Van Orshoven  [ nl ] and Matthias Storme , argue that there

518-679: A part of Flanders without being subject to the entire valid legislation (only the Belgian laws but not to the Flemish laws applicable in Flemish region), but Flemish candidates in the Walloon Region always have to obey both Belgian and regional/community legislation. Following the ruling of the Constitutional Court, after having remained unsolved after decades, the BHV issue was suddenly a hot topic. With

592-406: A threshold of 50%; whereas, over 30% the municipal authorities had to offer services in the minority language as well. A municipality could ask the government to change its linguistic status by a royal decree only after a census would have shown a passage over the 30% or 50% threshold. The 1932 law was implemented only once. As the invasion of Belgium by Germany in 1940 prevented the organization of

666-505: Is a violation of the non-discrimination principle between Belgians, taken in combination with articles 1 to 5 of the Constitution (especially article 4, defining the language areas). However, it left open the precise nature of any solution and thus did not demand the splitting of the electoral district but did not allow it to be kept as it is now. Nevertheless, the Court declared the results of

740-425: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde Prior to the sixth Belgian state reform in 2012, the area also formed the electoral arrondissement of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (BHV), which, as part of the same 2012 reform, was completely split into a Brussels electoral district and, together with the electoral district of Leuven, into

814-461: Is either Flemish or Walloon parties), although the area is partly monolingual Halle-Vilvoorde (belonging to the Flemish Community ) and bilingual Brussels (belonging to both communities), and consequently French-speakers living in monolingual Dutch-speaking Halle-Vilvoorde can vote for French-language parties, whereas Dutch-speakers living in monolingual French-speaking Walloon Brabant (equal to

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888-623: Is in fact also retained), since the French-speakers are against splitting BHV. In 2003, one week after the election, the Arbitration Court ( Dutch : Arbitragehof , French : Cour d'Arbitrage ), now the Constitutional Court of Belgium , declared the new election law unconstitutional . It judged that, among other things, the definition of the electoral arrondissement Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde for national and European elections

962-476: Is no way out, other than splitting BHV, that will respect the entire Belgian constitution. On the political level, Flemings argue that French-speakers who choose to live in Flanders should respect the Flemish institutions, legislation and official language (Dutch), and should stop requesting an exceptional status (of not having to respect the Flemish institutions that are constitutionally established and internationally recognized). French-speakers are asked to respect

1036-496: Is one judicial arrondissement, a legal case can be handled by both Dutch-speaking and French-speaking judges. This causes a problem comparable with the electoral situation: Brussels is bilingual, and Halle-Vilvoorde is monolingual Dutch, so it is possible that a French judge is appointed a legal case from the Dutch-speaking Halle-Vilvoorde region, which is unfair from a Flemish point of view. The fact that Brussels has

1110-562: The Armée du Nord and besieged the citadel taking it on 23 December 1832. William I would refuse to recognize a Belgian state until April 1839, when he had to yield under pressure by the Treaty of London and reluctantly recognized a border which, with the exception of Limburg and Luxembourg, was basically the border of 1790. On 19 April 1839 the Treaty of London signed by the European powers (including

1184-544: The Belgian Constitution was proclaimed. However, no actual monarch yet sat on the throne. The Congress refused to consider any candidate from the Dutch ruling house of Orange-Nassau . Eventually the Congress drew up a shortlist of three candidates, all of whom were French. This itself led to political opposition, and Leopold of Saxe-Coburg , who had been considered at an early stage but dropped due to French opposition,

1258-537: The Belgian Revolution in 1830, when the country was created as a unitary state . At that time, French was the only language in politics, administration, justice, the army and all education except primary, to the disadvantage of Dutch speakers. Some Dutch speakers therefore decided to raise their children in French. Discrimination of the Dutch language started to lessen from the end of the 19th century onwards and came to

1332-516: The Great Powers . The resulting 1830 London Conference of major European powers recognized Belgian independence. Following the installation of Leopold I as King of the Belgians in 1831, King William made a belated attempt to reconquer Belgium and restore his position through a military campaign. This Ten Days' Campaign failed because of French military intervention. The Dutch accepted the decision of

1406-402: The 2003 elections (already held under the law declared unconstitutional) to be valid to avoid having to redo the elections. The court however did not rule on all aspects of constitutionality. Among other things, it did not rule on the fact that some French-speakers now enjoy de facto rights that Flemish do not. This applies mainly to the fact that a French-speaker from Brussels who moves into

1480-643: The Belgian constitution or the European jurisprudence, which confirms a very limited definition of the 'language facilities'. As such, the Council of Europe and especially its 'rapporteurs', appear to be neglecting the special character of Belgium. It should also be noted that, the French language minority around Brussels is of quite recent origin (see Francization of Brussels ). There is no 'historic French-speaking minority' in these areas. Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution ( French : Révolution belge , Dutch : Belgische Revolutie/opstand/omwenteling )

1554-583: The Brussels-Capital Region. Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde has been the subject of a highly sensitive dispute within Belgium and was one of the main topics of the 2007–2011 Belgian political crisis . A majority of the Flemings wanted to split it into two arrondissements (like the administrative ones), while the Francophones wanted to keep it as it was or, at a minimum, split it with concessions. The lists for

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1628-465: The Constitution, but in law, and can be amended by a simple majority. Consequently, Bills intended at splitting the BHV arrondissement have been put forward several times and countered as many times by the French-speaking minority on grounds of the article 54 of the Belgian Constitution. The 1970 State reform also created the Dutch, French and German Cultural Communities and laid the foundations for

1702-554: The Dutch force took control of Antwerp and moved deeper into Belgium. The Belgian army of the Meuse was defeated in the battle of Hasselt . On 8 August Leopold called for support from the French and the British. As a result Marshal Étienne Maurice Gérard crossed the border with 70,000 French troops under his command on 9 August. The battle of Leuven (where King Leopold had placed his headquarters) began on 12 August. In order to avoid war with

1776-605: The Dutch-speaking area (where the French-speaking population had reached 56.9% in 1947). In 1964, the Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones (FDF), a party advocating the extension of Brussels, was founded. By 1970 all Belgian political parties had split into Dutch-speaking and French-speaking parties. The position of the linguistic border was endorsed in the 1970 State Reform (requiring a two-thirds majority) and, in return for contributing to this endorsement,

1850-523: The Dutch-speaking area and added to bilingual Brussels, which was fiercely resisted by their Flemish counterparts.) The same arrangement was made for a number of municipalities on new the border between the Dutch- and French-speaking areas, where local linguistic minorities could enjoy identical facilities: e.g. Flobecq and Enghien in the French-speaking area (where the Dutch-speaking minorities had reached respectively 7.2% and 12.1% in 1947); and Voeren/Fourons in

1924-482: The European powers were divided over the Belgian cry for independence. The Napoleonic Wars were still fresh in the memories of the major European powers, so once the French, under the recently installed July Monarchy , supported Belgian independence, the other European powers unsurprisingly supported the continued union of the provinces of the Netherlands. Russia, Prussia, Austria, and the United Kingdom all supported

1998-578: The Flemish Region should have the right to be treated as a linguistic minority that falls under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities . This would then give them a kind of an "extraterritorial" voting right. This point of view differs sharply from many French-speaking businessman and academics. 'Beci', a Brussels-based employers organisation with 90% membership of French-speaking businessmen, explicitly states it respects all

2072-457: The Flemish side, as the decennial linguistic census and the dynamic system were seen as a serious threat to their cultural territory; politicians began opposing them and Flemish mayors boycotted the 1960 census . In order to offset Flemish fears of uninterrupted progression of the French language into the Dutch-speaking area, a deal was struck in 1961–1962, during the Lefèvre - Spaak government; that

2146-601: The Flemish-nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) (the at that time CD&V cartel partner) and the left-liberal Spirit (the at that time SP.A cartel partner). Although the Flemish government and the Flemish parliament have no legal power concerning the case, the issue was seen as a commitment of the governing parties at a federal level, VLD and SP.A, to settle the case in the federal government. Voters can choose between candidates from both Flemish and Walloon parties (in all other electoral areas it

2220-419: The French-speaking minority was granted new measures which included the requirement of a special majority (a two-thirds majority in total and at least 50% in each linguistic group) to pass such laws as those of 1962 and 1963 in future; and (article 54) the possibility for any linguistic group to block a bill and open negotiations when it considers that such bill seriously jeopardizes its interests. According to

2294-506: The French-speaking parties, the compromise also included an agreement that in the future the existing voting and judicial opportunities for the large French-speaking minority around Brussels would be maintained and that the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde electoral and judicial arrondissement would remain unimpaired. The Flemish parties deny this, saying that this was never the intention. Importantly, these opportunities are not enshrined in

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2368-670: The London conference and Belgian independence in 1839 by signing the Treaty of London . After the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the Congress of Vienna created a kingdom for the House of Orange-Nassau , thus combining the United Provinces of the Netherlands with the former Austrian Netherlands to create a strong buffer state north of France; with the addition of those provinces

2442-459: The Netherlands became a rising power. Symptomatic of the tenor of diplomatic bargaining at Vienna was the early proposal to reward Prussia for its fight against Napoleon with the former Habsburg territory. When the United Kingdom insisted on retaining the former Dutch Ceylon and the Cape Colony , which it had seized while the Netherlands was ruled by Napoleon, the new Kingdom of the Netherlands

2516-545: The Netherlands) Recognized Belgium as an independent and neutral country comprising West Flanders , East Flanders , Brabant , Antwerp , Hainaut , Namur , and Liège , as well as half of Luxembourg and Limburg . The Dutch army, however, held onto Maastricht , and as a result, the Netherlands kept the eastern half of Limburg and its large coalfields. Germany broke the treaty in 1914 when it invaded Belgium on 4 August and dismissed British protests over

2590-607: The Netherlands, since they feared that the French would eventually annex an independent Belgium (particularly the British: see Flahaut partition plan for Belgium ). However, in the end, none of the European powers sent troops to aid the Dutch government, partly because of rebellions within some of their own borders (the Russians were occupied with the November Uprising in Poland and Prussia

2664-544: The approaching French the Dutch agreed an armistice with Belgium and withdrew after briefly taking control of the city. While the victorious initial campaign gave the Dutch an advantageous position in subsequent negotiations, the Dutch were compelled to agree to an indefinite armistice, although they continued to hold the Antwerp Citadel and occasionally bombarded the city from it. Gerard returned to Belgium in November 1832 with

2738-478: The arrangement of the linguistic border, which passes through this province, the province was abolished after several reforms: In 1989 Brussels-Capital Region was created, but the region was still part of the province of Brabant. With the reform in 1993 making Belgium into a federal state, Brabant became part of all three regions: the Brussels, Flemish and Walloon Region. Until 1995, the province of Brabant contained

2812-449: The bilingual area of Brussels (Evere, Ganshoren and Berchem-Sainte-Agathe/Sint-Agatha-Berchem), and language facilities were granted to French-speakers in four of the five municipalities where the percentage of French-speakers had passed the 30% threshold (Drogenbos, Kraainem, Wemmel and Linkebeek). There are no official figures to support claims, on the French-speaking side, that many more families shifted from Dutch to French after 1947. On

2886-557: The breach was lost on 26 September when a National Congress was summoned to draw up a Constitution and the Provisional Government was established under Charles Latour Rogier . The Provisional Government then issued a Declaration of Independence on 4 October 1830. On 20 December 1830 the London Conference of 1830 brought together five major European powers: Austria, the United Kingdom, France, Prussia and Russia. At first,

2960-452: The contrary (e.g. the fact that the francophones in Flanders cannot be regarded as looking back on longstanding and peaceful relations with the Flemish authorities). Also, they cannot be regarded as being "sufficient in numbers" within the Council's definition so as to constitute a linguistic minority within Flanders. Flemish authorities have stated that the recommendations from the Council of Europe are invalid as they did not take into account

3034-407: The course of history, the administrative and political situation in Belgium has changed considerably and BHV has grown to become a major exception within the contemporary federal state of Belgium. In 1921 Belgium was divided into two monolingual entities (French-speaking Wallonia and Dutch-speaking Flanders). Both languages could be used in Brussels (16 municipalities at that time). A special status

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3108-408: The decennial census, the next (and last) linguistic census took place in 1947. The results suggested that the progression of French language had kept intensifying. These results were disputed by Flemish politicians who questioned the survey methodology. The percentage of Dutch-speakers had fallen under the 30% threshold in nine municipalities while 12 and nine municipalities had respectively passed over

3182-481: The desperate and exasperated proletariat of Brussels, who rallied around the newly created flag of the Brussels independence movement which was fastened to a standard with shoelaces during a street fight and used to lead a counter-charge against the forces of Prince William. William I sent his two sons, Crown- Prince William and Prince Frederik to quell the riots. William was asked by the Burghers of Brussels to come to

3256-501: The division of Belgium into four linguistic areas, a democratically approved division with the support of a majority of French-speaking members of the Belgian parliament. Flemings say that they want the same level of respect for their institutions as is the case everywhere else in the European Union . Just as unanimously, at least among the political parties, most French-speaking politicians claim that those French-speakers who live in

3330-464: The elections for the Flemish Parliament in 2004 , all Flemish parties added to their programs the demand to split BHV. In the Flemish coalition agreement of 2004, the issue was included as "to be realised immediately", signed by the three large Flemish parties Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) and Different Socialist Party (SP.A), in addition to

3404-492: The electoral district of the province of Flemish Brabant . All Belgian electoral arrondissements now coincide with the Belgian provinces . Before the splitting, BHV was an exception in the province of Flemish Brabant because of its official bilingual policy. One peculiarity remaining after the reform is that inhabitants of the six municipalities with language facilities around Brussels can still choose to vote for electoral lists of

3478-513: The established order by force, but the 8,000 Dutch troops under Prince Frederik were unable to retake Brussels in bloody street fighting (23–26 September). The army was withdrawn to the fortresses of Maastricht , Venlo , and Antwerp , and when the Northern commander of Antwerp bombarded the town, claiming a breach of a ceasefire, the whole of the Southern provinces was incensed. Any opportunity to quell

3552-478: The establishment of three Regions. Later on, in 1980, the Cultural Communities became known as Communities. Also two regions were established: the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region. Although the creation of a Brussels Region was provided for in 1970, the Brussels-Capital Region was not established until a later reform. The province of Brabant had been one of the nine provinces of Belgium. But due to

3626-556: The existing institutions, including the boundaries between the language areas. Similarly, a growing number of French-speaking intellectuals and academics state that French-speakers living in the Flemish region should stop behaving as if they are not in Flanders and thus vote for the Flemish electoral college. Philippe Van Parijs , a leading French-speaking philosopher and economist from the UCL also defends strict 'territoriality' and for ending both

3700-446: The federal and European elections were composed of both Dutch and French-language parties (in all other electoral areas it is either Dutch or French-language parties), while the area is partly monolingual Halle-Vilvoorde and bilingual Brussels. Consequently, French-speakers living in the officially monolingual Dutch-speaking electoral district of Leuven in Flanders could vote for French-language parties in BHV, and Dutch-speakers living in

3774-408: The fixation of the language border in 1963, the arrondissement of Brussels was split into the bilingual arrondissement of Brussels-Capital and the unilingual Halle-Vilvoorde , but was retained as grouped arrondissements forming the electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. Furthermore, nothing in the judicial structure was reformed, leaving the judicial arrondissement of Brussels unchanged. In

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3848-485: The following electoral arrondissements: In 1995, this province was split into: However, the arrondissements stayed the same. For the elections in 2003 , new electoral districts were created based on the provinces instead of arrondissements, because the electoral areas were too small. With regards to Brussels and the arrondissements of the province of Flemish Brabant the old arrondissements (Leuven and BHV) were retained (Walloon Brabant has only one arrondissement, so this

3922-403: The former electoral arrondissement of Nivelles) cannot vote for Dutch-language parties. This is discrimination according to the Flemish. The Flemish want to split BHV, while French-speakers are opposed to such a split unless parts of the compromise reached in 1970 on the static system (see above) are revised at the same time. From the francophone point of view, the maintenance of the BHV district

3996-500: The language border would be officially fixed and would not be changed. The linguistic census and dynamic system would be abolished and replaced with a static system: the linguistic status of every municipality would be fixed once and for all. However, the process of deciding on the geographical position of such a static linguistic border led to bitter resentment, by both communities, including within political parties which had transcended language cleavages until then. Instead of reflecting

4070-510: The language facilities enjoyed by the French-speaking population in some municipalities . There are binding rulings (as early as from 1968) from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, an institution with direct authority in all EU states, to confirm that the recognition of specific minority rights for the French-speakers is to be limited to a very few number of municipalities and to

4144-597: The linguistic facilities and the 'extraterritorial' voting rights for French-speakers living in the Flemish Region . He defended it in an interview in De Standaard and Le Soir on 23 August 2007. There is a lack of consensus in national legal authorities about this subject as they seem divided between French and Dutch speakers. The French-speaking Community and the Flemish Community have a different interpretation of

4218-570: The newspapers. On 25 August 1830, at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, an uprising followed a special performance, in honor of William I's birthday, of Daniel Auber 's La Muette de Portici (The Mute Girl of Portici) , a sentimental and patriotic opera set against Masaniello 's uprising against the Spanish masters of Naples in the 17th century. After the duet, "Amour sacré de la patrie", (Sacred love of Fatherland) with Adolphe Nourrit in

4292-490: The north. Many outspoken liberals regarded King William I's rule as despotic. There were high levels of unemployment and industrial unrest among the working classes. On 25 August 1830, riots erupted in Brussels and shops were looted. Theatergoers who had just watched the nationalistic opera La muette de Portici joined the mob. Uprisings followed elsewhere in the country. Factories were occupied and machinery destroyed. Order

4366-559: The officially monolingual French-speaking electoral district Nivelles in Walloon Brabant could vote for Dutch-language parties in BHV. In 2003, the Court of Arbitration ruled the BHV district to be unconstitutional, citing unequal voting rights . It was abolished as part of the 2012 sixth Belgian state reform . The Brussels judicial and electoral arrondissement, corresponding to what became later Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, has existed since

4440-459: The press and in 1834 Minister of Justice Lebeau banned expressions of Orangism in the public sphere, enforced with heavy penalties. The golden jubilee of independence set up the Cinquantenaire park complex in Brussels. In 2005, the Belgian revolution of 1830 was depicted in one of the highest value Belgian coins ever minted, the 100 euro "175 Years of Belgium" coin . The obverse depicts

4514-403: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title BHV . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BHV&oldid=1009678561 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

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4588-456: The seven municipalities where French-speakers had reached between 27% and 48% at the census of 1947, 4 kept the extended linguistic and political facilities they had been granted in 1954 and two more were granted the same (Wezembeek-Oppem and Sint-Genesius-Rode/Rhode-Saint-Genèse). (Arguing that since 1947 many more people had shifted from Dutch to French, French-speaking Members of Parliament demanded that those six municipalities to be detached from

4662-468: The start of the Kingdom of Belgium. It is celebrated each year as Belgian National Day . King William was not satisfied with the settlement drawn up in London and did not accept Belgium's claim of independence: it divided his kingdom and drastically affected his Treasury. On 2 August 1831 the Dutch army, headed by the Dutch princes, invaded Belgium, in what became known as the " Ten Days' Campaign " On 4 August

4736-588: The tenor role, many audience members left the theater and joined the riots which had already begun. The crowd poured into the streets shouting patriotic slogans. The brawls and violence continued for several days, with protesters capturing key points in the city including the Parc de Bruxelles and the Palais de Bruxelles . The Belgian rebels began to organize and fortify their positions in preparation for further confrontations with Dutch forces. The following days saw an explosion of

4810-404: The threshold of 50% and 30% French-speakers. Only one municipality ( Rekkem ) had fallen under the threshold of 30% French-speakers. In order to mitigate their impact, the results of the 1947 census were not made public until 1954; after that an ad hoc law modifying the 1932 law was voted. Around Brussels, the three municipalities where French-speakers had passed the 50% threshold were transferred to

4884-489: The town alone, with no troops, for a meeting; this he did, despite the risks. The affable and moderate Crown Prince William, who represented the monarchy in Brussels, was convinced by the Estates-General on 1 September that the administrative separation of north and south was the only viable solution to the crisis. His father rejected the terms of accommodation that Prince William proposed. King William I attempted to restore

4958-524: The usual left/right divide, the laws which fixed the position of the linguistic border were voted (in 1962 and 1963) by the majority formed by Flemish members in Parliament against the minority formed by their French-speaking counterparts. These laws voted in 1962 and 1963: Bilingual Brussels was limited to the 19 municipalities it already encompassed since 1954. In the Flemish Halle and Vilvoorde, out of

5032-478: Was a part of the 1970 compromise. Flemish demands for the area to be split are met with demands by the Francophone community for the six special-facility communes to be officially added to Brussels proper. This Francophone demand would create a previously non-existent "corridor" between the French-speaking region of Wallonia and majority French-speaking Brussels, much to the dismay of Flemish politicians. Since this

5106-562: Was compensated with these southern provinces (modern Belgium). The revolution was due to a combination of factors, the main one being the difference of religion ( Catholic in today's Belgium , Protestant in today's Netherlands ) and the general lack of autonomy given to the south. Other important factors are Catholic partisans watched with excitement the unfolding of the July Revolution in France, details of which were swiftly reported in

5180-403: Was established wherever a large minority used the other language along the linguistic border. The Belgian law of 28 June 1932 on "the use of languages for administrative matters" reinforced the 1921 law and based the language status of every Belgian municipality on the decennial linguistic census. The criterion to belong to the Dutch-speaking or French-speaking language area was the attainment of

5254-404: Was proposed again. On 22 April 1831, Leopold was approached by a Belgian delegation at Marlborough House to officially offer him the throne. At first reluctant to accept, he eventually took up the offer, and after an enthusiastic popular welcome on his way to Brussels , Leopold I of Belgium took his oath as king on 21 July 1831. 21 July is generally used to mark the end of the revolution and

5328-541: Was restored briefly after William committed troops to the Southern Provinces but rioting continued and leadership was taken up by radicals, who started talking of secession. Dutch units saw the mass desertion of recruits from the southern provinces and pulled out. On September 27, a newly formed Provisional Government in Brussels declared independence and called for the election of a National Congress . . King William refrained from future military action and appealed to

5402-478: Was saddled with war debt). Britain would come to see the benefits of isolating France geographically with the new creation of a new Belgian buffer state between France, the Netherlands and Prussia. In November 1830, the National Congress of Belgium was established to create a constitution for the new state. The Congress decided that Belgium would be a popular , constitutional monarchy . On 7 February 1831,

5476-460: Was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands ) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium . The people of the south were mainly Flemings and Walloons . Both peoples were traditionally Roman Catholic as contrasted with Protestant-dominated ( Dutch Reformed ) people of

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