United Kingdom of the Netherlands

This article is about the specific polity United Kingdom of the Netherlands and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.

If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics

The United Netherlands was created in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars through the fusion of territories that had belonged to the former Dutch Republic, Austrian Netherlands, and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.

Summary

The United Kingdom of the Netherlands was established in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna, following the defeat of Napoleon. It brought together the former Batavian Republic, the Kingdom of Holland, and the Austrian Netherlands (present-day Belgium) into a single constitutional monarchy under the House of Orange-Nassau.

The new kingdom was seen as a means to create a strong buffer state against potential French aggression in the region. It was led by King William I, the former Prince of Orange, who sought to centralize power and promote economic integration between the Dutch and Belgian territories.

Politically, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was a constitutional monarchy, with a bicameral legislature and a monarch wielding significant executive authority. However, tensions soon arose between the Dutch and Belgian populations over issues of language, religion, and economic policy.

The Belgians, who had been under Austrian and then French rule for decades, resented what they saw as Dutch domination. They chafed at the growing influence of the Dutch language and the perceived favoritism shown to the northern provinces. These grievances ultimately led to the Belgian Revolution of 1830, which resulted in the secession of Belgium and the establishment of the independent Kingdom of Belgium.

The loss of the Belgian territories was a major blow to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. King William I tried to maintain the union, but was ultimately forced to accept Belgian independence in 1839 with the Treaty of London. This marked the end of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands, confined to the former Dutch provinces.

Establishment

March 1815: The United Netherlands was created in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, with William I of Orange-Nassau becoming the first King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815. This marked the unification of the Northern and Southern Netherlands under one sovereign principality.

March 1815: The United Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed, which added the former territory of the low countries that had been ruled by the Austrian Empire to the Netherlands, and had William I as its king. His son William joined the fighting at Waterloo, whose battle site was located in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Though the Dutch initiated their request to William I, the great powers of the Napoleonic wars had made a secret pact to support a strong nation on that border with France with William as its king.

June 1815: Lingen fell to Hanover with the Congress of Vienna.

June 1815: To secure a central position at the Battle of Waterloo Napoleon secured Charleroi.

June 1815: A French army hoccupies Genappe before the Battle of Quatre Bras.

June 1815: French retreat after being defeated in the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815).

Chronology

Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

1. French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Were a series of conflicts between France and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompass first the French Revolutionary Wars against the newly declared French Republic and from 1803 onwards the Napoleonic Wars against First Consul and later Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. They include the Coalition Wars as a subset: seven wars waged by various military alliances of great European powers, known as Coalitions, against Revolutionary France - later the First French Empire - and its allies.

1.1.Congress of Vienna

Was a series of international diplomatic meetings after the end of the Napoleonic wars whose aim was a long-term peace plan for Europe. It redraw the borders of Europe and partially restored the Monarchies of the pre-revolutionary period.

1.2.War of the Seventh Coalition (The Hundred Days)

Napoleon escaped the exile he had been forced after the War of the Sixth Coalition and reorganized the French army. He was defeated by a coalition that included Great Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia and sent into permanent exile on the island of Saint Helena.

2. Belgian Revolution

Was the independence war of Belgium against the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

2.1.Belgian Revolt

Was a revolt in modern-day Belgium against the the United Kingdom of the Netherlands that started the Belgian Revolution.

August 1830: On August 25, 1830, after a performance of the romantic-nationalist opera La muette de Portici (The Mute of Portici) by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber at the Brussels Opera, the call of vive la liberté erupted in the audience.

October 1830: With the exception of the municipality of Mook en Middelaar in North Limburg and the cities of Maastricht and Luxembourg (which was a federal fortress of the German Confederation and where Prussian troops were therefore stationed), the whole of Belgium was in the hands of the Freikorps by the end of October.

3. Further events (Unrelated to Any War)

June 1816: Moresnet was a mall Belgian-Prussian condominium in central-western Europe that existed from 1816 (Aachen Agreement) to 1920 and was jointly administered by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (Belgium after its independence in 1830) and the Kingdom of Prussia.

January 1831: The 1830 London Conference of major European powers recognized Belgian independence.

April 1839: With the de facto secession of Belgium, the Netherlands was left as a rump state and refused to recognise Belgian independence until 1839 when the Treaty of London was signed, fixing the border between the two states and guaranteeing Belgian independence and neutrality as the Kingdom of Belgium.