United Kingdom of The Netherlands (1816–1839)
The French occupation of the Dutch Republic ended on the defeat of Napoleon. In a secret convention called the Eight Articles of London, and then later ratified by the Congress of Vienna, the Great Powers agreed on the unification of the Dutch Republic, the Austrian Netherlands (approximately modern-day Belgium) and the former Prince-Bishopric of Liège into a single constitutional monarchy called the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, with the House of Orange-Nassau elevated to royal status and providing the king. A stronger country on France's northern border was considered (especially by the Russian tsar) to be an important part of the strategy to keep France's power in check.
William I, the son of the last stadtholder, William V, was crowned king. He also became the hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg. The newly created country had two capitals: Amsterdam and Brussels. Except for the Cape Colony, the Dutch colonies were returned to the Netherlands. The new nation two parts, with equal representation. The North (the Netherlands proper) had 2 million people, chiefly speaking Dutch but divided religiously, with Protestant dominance and a large Catholic minority. The South (known as "Belgium" after 1830), had a population of 3.4 million people. Nearly all were Catholic, but it was divided by language, with the Walloons along the French border speaking a French dialect, and the Flemish speaking a Dutch dialect. The upper and middle classes in the South all spoke French. About 60,000 Belgians were eligible to vote, and about 80,000 Dutch. Officially Amsterdam was the capital, but in a compromise the government met alternately in Brussels and The Hague
Adolphe Quetelet (1796-1874), the great Belgian statistician, calculated that the new nation was significantly better off than other states. Mortality was low, the food supply was good, education was good, public awareness was high and the rate of charity was the highest in the world. The best years wee in the mid 1820s.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Netherlands
Famous quotes containing the words united, kingdom and/or netherlands:
“We now in the United States have more security guards for the rich than we have police services for the poor districts. If you’re looking for personal security, far better to move to the suburbs than to pay taxes in New York.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)
“It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
“Greece is a sort of American vassal; the Netherlands is the country of American bases that grow like tulip bulbs; Cuba is the main sugar plantation of the American monopolies; Turkey is prepared to kow-tow before any United States pro-consul and Canada is the boring second fiddle in the American symphony.”
—Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (1909–1989)