In the history of Belgium, the period from 1789 to 1914, dubbed the "long 19th century" by the historian Eric Hobsbawm, includes the end of Austrian rule and periods of French and Dutch rule over the region, leading to the creation of the first independent Belgian state in 1830.
In the years leading up to 1789, the territory today known as Belgium was divided into two states, called the Austrian Netherlands and Prince-Bishopric of Liège, both of which were part of the Holy Roman Empire. The area was captured by the French during the French Revolutionary Wars and incorporated into the French First Republic from roughly 1794 to 1815. In the aftermath of Napoleon's final defeat in 1815, the Congress of Vienna added the territory of Belgium to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
In 1830, with the Belgian Revolution, the Belgian provinces declared their independence, which was recognized by the great powers in 1839. From 1885 the creation of a personal colony by King Leopold II, the Congo Free State caused an international outcry over human rights abuses, and forced the Belgian state to annex the colony in 1908, which became the Belgian Congo. In 1909, after his uncle's death, Albert I began his reign, which lasted until 1934. Despite having declared neutrality, Belgium was invaded by the German Empire in August 1914, beginning the country's involvement in World War I.
The "long 19th century" saw profound cultural and economic changes in Belgium. The Industrial Revolution, which began to take effect in Belgium during the period of French rule, transformed the country's economy over the course of the period. By 1914, Belgium was acknowledged as one of the most densely industrialized countries in Europe, with notable coal mining and manufacturing industries.
At the start of the period, French was the dominant language, and was the only one approved for use in legal and government business; however Belgium became officially bilingual in 1870 and Dutch was officially recognized as an equal language to French in legal matters in 1898.
General aspects
Geography and demographics
The territory of Belgium varied little over the period. Belgium's border with the Netherlands was almost the same as that which had been created after the Dutch Revolt in the early 17th century, and its western border was almost the same as those of the 18th-century polities the Austrian Netherlands and Prince-Bishopric of Liège. It was only after the French annexation of 1795 that the territory became a single entity. In the 1830s, Belgian revolutionaries sought to create an independent state within the borders of the nine provinces that had been established under French occupation while ending the traditional roles of the small duchies, princedoms and counties which had traditionally been the basic territorial units. Aside from Zeelandic Flanders, part of Luxembourg, and Eastern Limburg, which were ceded to the Dutch to compensate for the loss of the rest of the territory, the outline of Belgium in 1914 was virtually identical to that established by the French in 1795. The three ceded territories had a total of 300,000 inhabitants at the time.
The northern half of Belgium, which would come to be known as Flanders, was a largely agricultural area containing the important port of Antwerp, the city of Ghent and the capital, Brussels. In the southern half, which would come to be known as Wallonia, a number of smaller towns and cities along the valley of the Sambre and Meuse rivers – the sillon industriel ("industrial valley") – became the focus of industrialization. In the west of the valley, around Charleroi, was the Pays Noir ("Black Country"), which held significant coal deposits. In southeast Belgium, along the border with Luxembourg and Prussia (later Germany), was the heavily forested and agricultural region known as the Ardennes.
In 1784, the population of Belgium was about 2.65 million. Around a quarter of the population in the Austrian Netherlands resided in cities, reflecting a level of urbanization that was exceptional in eighteenth-century Europe. During the 19th century, the population both expanded and urbanized. Between 1830 and 1875 the population of Brussels grew from 100,000 to 180,000, and by 1910 the population of the metropolitan area soared to 750,000. The population of Belgium was almost universally Roman Catholic, though free-thinking movements like Freemasonry were also popular among intellectuals and the urban middle classes.
Throughout the "long 19th century," as a common destination for political refugees, Belgium was home to important émigré communities, particularly in Brussels. From 1871, many of the Paris Communards fled to Brussels, where they received political asylum. The far-right politician General Georges Boulanger arrived in 1889. Other notable exiles living in Belgium included the writer Victor Hugo and the theorist Karl Marx.
Language
While in control of Belgium, France and the Netherlands each tried to take some measures to encourage assimilation of their national languages, but in neither case did their rule last long enough for either language to become fully entrenched across the region or for local dialects to be displaced.
In 1784, 65 percent of the population spoke Dutch. In 1846, 57 percent of Belgians spoke dialects of Dutch or Flemish as their primary language while 42 percent spoke dialects of French, such as Walloon, Picard or Gaumais. Under one percent of the population spoke German. Across the country, the aristocracy and middle classes spoke French, often as a second language, and French was the language of the legal system and government. There was a huge variation in accents, spelling and grammar across the country, particularly in Flanders, where regional dialects were almost incomprehensible to those from other regions.
In Brussels, Dutch speakers made up about 90 percent of the population in 1784. In 1842, 38 percent spoke French while the share of Dutch speakers was 61 percent; many residents spoke dialects such as Marols instead of the standard languages. By the end of the period, social change and internal immigration from Wallonia contributed to the growing importance of French in Brussels.
Periods
Austrian rule and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège
In 1789, the area of modern-day Belgium was divided into two independently-governed polities, both part of the Holy Roman Empire. The Austrian Netherlands, which included most of the territory of modern-day Belgium, had been in existence since the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 when the Habsburg monarchy annexed the section called the Spanish Netherlands from the Spanish branch of the house. The traditional principalities, duchies and counties surviving from the Middle Ages retained great regional autonomy. The economy of the Austrian Netherlands developed little, as its neighboring states imposed high export tariffs and the port of Antwerp remained blocked by the Dutch. Although Enlightenment ideals developed among the urban bourgeoisie, most of the population remained suspicious of education and extremely politically conservative. The Catholic church was particularly influential, despite the attempts of Emperor Joseph II to reduce its power.
The Prince-Bishopric of Liège was a small ecclesiastical state that had been in existence since the 10th century. It was ruled by a line of prince-bishops. By the 1780s the state's capital, Liège, was the largest city in Belgium. The prince-bishopric was not a single continuous country, but rather consisted of several islands of territory surrounded by the Austrian Netherlands. One of the foremost industrial regions of the time, the prince-bishopric was known for its successful wool, armaments and coal-mining industries, and traded widely. The state was notionally governed by agreement of the Three Estates (the clergy, the nobility, and commoners), but from 1684, officials were elected by 16 separate chambers, each composed of wealthy nobles and guild members elected for life. Many groups were unrepresented, including the bourgeoisie, industrialists and lower clergy. The spread of the Enlightenment, which became popular in Liège in the 18th century, bred further discontent with the political system.
Revolutions of 1789
On 18 August 1789, just months after the start of the French Revolution, a revolution broke out in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. In a meeting at the town hall, the democrat Jean-Nicolas Bassenge called for the reinstatement of two popular mayors who had been dismissed by the prince-bishop. The revolutionaries forced their way into the city's citadel and forced Prince-Bishop Constantin-François de Hoensbroeck to ratify the appointments. The prince-bishop acquiesced but fled the principality for Trier a few days later. With the prince-bishop gone, the revolutionaries declared Liège a republic. Just twenty days after the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen had been approved in France, a nearly identical document was introduced in Liège declaring all citizens equal before the law and proclaiming freedom of thought and expression. Despite the revolutionaries pleading their case, the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire condemned the revolution and ordered the restoration of the old regime. The army of Liège was finally defeated by the Austrians, who re-occupied the city in January 1791. The Prince-Bishop was reinstated.
In the Austrian Netherlands, a populist revolt called the Brabant Revolution broke out in 1789 as a result of the perceived injustices of the Austrian regime. Emperor Joseph II's liberal reforms particularly angered Catholics, who feared a further decline in church influence, while for some his policies had not been sufficiently radical or liberal. Fighting began in October 1789 as an émigré patriot army in the neighboring Dutch Republic invaded the country and defeated the Austrians at Turnhout. The émigré army succeeded in pushing the Austrian forces out of all the territory except Luxembourg. A loose confederation of states in the region was formed as the United Belgian States. The use of the word "Belgium" in 1789 was the first time that the term had been officially employed to denote the region since Roman times. The revolution was conservative in character, not seeking to create a radically different social or religious order. Once established, the revolutionaries divided into political factions. The liberal Vonckists, led by Jan Frans Vonck, were eventually denounced and forced into exile by their conservative rivals, the Statists, led by Henri Van der Noot. The Brabant revolutionaries were finally defeated by Holy Roman forces, who occupied Brussels in December 1790.
Following the crushing of the two revolutions, a number of Brabant and Liège revolutionaries regrouped in Paris, where they formed the joint Committee of United Belgians and Liégeois (Comité des belges et liégeois unis), which united revolutionaries from both territories for the first time. Three Belgian corps and a Liège Legion were levied to continue the fight for the French against the Austrians.
French rule
In the aftermath of the execution of King Louis XVI, revolutionary France was attacked by Prussian and Holy Roman forces from the Austrian Netherlands. Though the French defeated the Austrian army in the Battle of Jemappes in 1792 and briefly occupied the Austrian Netherlands and Prince-Bishopric of Liège, they were pushed out by an Austrian counterattack in the Battle of Neerwinden the following year. In June 1794, French revolutionary troops expelled Holy Roman forces from the region for the last time after the Battle of Fleurus. The French government voted to formally annex the territory in October 1795 and it was split into nine provincial départements within France.