March 16, 1815 – Founding of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, deadline – deadline – WDR – deadline

The list of fun during the Vienna Congress is long. In addition to fireworks, military parades, wild boar hunts and battlefield tours, banquets, concerts and masked balls are held. At the summit meeting of European nobles and their diplomats, which lasted from September 1814 to June 1815, politics were also played out. After Napoleon’s decisive defeat in the Battle of Nations in 1813, pre-Napoleonic Europe was destined to be restored.

With the blessing of the victorious powers of Russia, Austria and Great Britain, the Dutch nation was created. “The United Kingdom of the Netherlands was founded in Vienna between two dances, as Prince Claus once said,” said German-Dutch historian Christoph Driessen. . The territory of the new state included the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and a small part of northern France. “We had it all together once, and now we’ve said, ‘Okay, let’s put it all together again.’” The United Kingdom of the Netherlands intended to act as a buffer state to protect the victorious powers from future French expansionist desires.

William of Orange established the hereditary Dutch monarchy

Date of founding of the state: At the end of the eighteenth century, Napoleon and his revolutionary army were already marching from victory to victory. In addition to Belgium in 1806, he also invaded the Netherlands, which had previously tried to create a republic based on the revolutionary model of France. The self-proclaimed emperor turns it into a kingdom and appoints his brother Louis To the throne that is supposed to rule the country as the extended arm of the Corsicans. But Napoleon underestimates his little brother’s independence. A few years later, he deposed Louis, who was close to the people, sent him into exile and occupied the Netherlands.

The French occupation of the Netherlands did not end until 1813 with Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Leipzig. The winner of the subsequent Peace Congress of Vienna was William of Orange: on 16 March 1815, during the Congress of Vienna, he was elected king of the new state – thus establishing the Dutch hereditary monarchy of the House of Orange. However, William I rarely missed the opportunity to disdain his Belgian Catholic subjects. His policies are entirely directed towards Dutch Protestant interests. In addition, different religious beliefs and languages ​​make it difficult for French-speaking Belgians and Dutch to grow up together. In addition, Belgium has twice the population and is an industrialized country, while the Netherlands lives on trade.

Uprising of the Belgians

The end of the unequal partnership begins on August 25, 1830. That evening the opera “La moet de Portici“For the French composer Daniel Francois, the soul of Uber On the program. His work on the popular uprising in Naples struck a chord with dissatisfied Belgians. There is an uprising against their neighbors. When the Dutch king bloodily suppressed the rebellion, the South Dutch declared themselves independent and called themselves the Belgians. The major powers recognize the new state, and the United Kingdom’s experiment has failed.

William I tried in vain to restore unity by force for nearly ten years. However, in 1840 he abdicated. The empire split into two independent kingdoms: Belgium and the Netherlands.

As of: March 16, 2015

Program Tips:

on World Development Report 2 You can always hear the deadline at around 9:40 AM. Replay: Monday-Saturday at 6:40pm Deadline will be available as a podcast after the broadcast.

“ZeitZeichen” on WDR 5 (9:05 AM) and WDR 3 (5:45 PM) also commemorates the founding of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands on 16 March 2015. “ZeitZeichen” is also available Podcast.