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Austrian Netherlands

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Austrian Netherlands
Österreichische Niederlande (German)
Pays-Bas Autrichiens (French)
Oostenrijkse Nederlanden (Dutch)
Belgium Austriacum (Latin)
1714–1797
The Austrian Netherlands in 1789
  •   Austrian Netherlands
  •   Habsburg monarchy
StatusPersonal union of Imperial fiefs within Empire
CapitalBrussels
Common languages
Religion
Roman Catholic
GovernmentGovernorate
Governor 
• 1716–1724 (first)
Eugene Francis
• 1793–1794 (last)
Charles Louis
Plenipotentiary 
• 1714–1716 (first)
Lothar Dominik
• 1793–1794 (last)
Franz Karl
• Upper house
Habsburg
• Lower house
Bourbon
Historical eraEarly modern
7 March 1714
8 November 1785
1789–1790
18 September 1794
17 October 1797
CurrencyKronenthaler
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Spanish Netherlands
French First Republic
United Belgian States
Today part of
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History of Belgium
Leo Belgicus
Prehistory
Neolithic flint mines of Spiennes 4300–2200 BC
Ancient
Belgae, Eburones & Treveri ~51 BC
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 • Ambiorix's revolt 54–53 BC
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 • Wars of Liège 1465–68
Habsburg rule 1482–1556
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Northern Renaissance 15th–16th century
Spanish rule 1556–1714
 • Seventeen Provinces 1549–81
 • Dutch Revolt 1568–1648
 • Southern Netherlands
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 • Brabant Revolution 1789–90
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The Austrian Netherlands[a] was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Rastatt in 1714. It lasted until Revolutionary France annexed the territory after the Battle of Sprimont in 1794 and the Peace of Basel in 1795. Austria relinquished its claim on the province in 1797 through the Treaty of Campo Formio.

The Netherlands, previously the Burgundian Netherlands, inherited by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs, having revolted against the absolutism and centralism of Philip II of Spain, their common sovereign, launched a war which led in fact, in 1568, to the formation in the north of the Republic of the United Provinces, a new state whose independence would finally be recognized by the King of Spain in 1648 during the Treaty of Münster, and in the south of a group of around ten provinces which Philip II and then his successors managed to preserve under the name of Spanish Netherlands.

In 1700, King Charles II of Spain designated the French Prince Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV, as his successor. He preferred him to a member of the cousin branch of the Austrian Habsburgs. Louis XIV accepted this choice on behalf of his wife, whose dowry had never been paid. A coalition was formed between the Austrian Habsburgs, England, and the United Provinces against Louis XIV's France and Philip V's Spain.

History

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See also: History of Belgium
Naval jack of Flanders in the 18th century
Silver coin: 1 kronenthaler Maria Theresa, 1767
Silver coin 1 kronenthaler Francis II, 1793

The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) later led to a division of the Low Countries between the Dutch Republic in the north and the Southern Netherlands, which later became Belgium and Luxembourg. The area had been held by the Habsburgs, but was briefly under Bourbon control in the War of the Spanish Succession. Under the Treaty of Rastatt (1714) which ended that war, the remainder of the Spanish Netherlands was ceded to Austria. Administratively, the country was divided into four traditional duchies, three counties and various lordships.

From the Burgundian Netherlands to the Austrian Netherlands (1477-1714)

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The Burgundian Circle in 1512

The provinces of the Netherlands, which at the end of the reign of Charles V (1555), numbered seventeen (the Seventeen Provinces), were gathered by the dukes of Burgundy from 1384 to 1477. The main ones were the Duchy of Brabant, the County of Artois, the County of Flanders, the County of Hainaut, the Duchy of Luxembourg, the County of Namur, the County of Holland, and the County of Zeeland. Most of them are part of the Holy Empire, except Artois and Flanders, fiefs of the Kingdom of France.

The death of Charles the Bold led to a conflict with France, the War of the Burgundian Succession, at the end of which Charles's successor, Philip the Handsome, son of Mary of Burgundy (1457–1482) and the Habsburg Maximilian I (Holy Roman Emperor) but retained the remaining Burgundian possessions (County of Burgundy and the Burgundian Netherlands).

His successor, Charles of Habsburg (1500–1558), who became ruler of the Netherlands in 1516, became king of Castile and king of Aragon the same year, and in 1519, upon the death of Maximilian, he became head of the House of Habsburg and was elected emperor under the now common name of Charles V (Charles V). To the Dutch provinces he already held, he added Tournai (1521), the Principality of Utrecht (1528) and the Duchy of Guelders (1543), and obtained from the King of France the end of French suzerainty over Artois and Flanders (Treaty of Madrid of 1526), which were integrated into the Empire.

Brabant Revolution

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Main article: Brabant Revolution

In the 1780s, opposition emerged to the liberal reforms of Emperor Joseph II, which were perceived as an attack on the Catholic Church and the traditional institutions of the Austrian Netherlands. Resistance grew, focused in the autonomous and wealthy Duchy of Brabant and County of Flanders. In the aftermath of rioting and disruption in 1787 known as the Small Revolution, many opponents took refuge in the neighboring Dutch Republic where they formed a rebel army. Soon after the outbreak of the French and Liège revolutions, the émigré army crossed into the Austrian Netherlands and decisively defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Turnhout on 27 October 1789. The rebels, supported by uprisings across the territory, soon took control over much of the territory and proclaimed independence. Despite the tacit support of Prussia, the independent United Belgian States, established in January 1790, received no foreign recognition and soon became divided along ideological lines. The Vonckists led by Jan Frans Vonck advocated progressive and liberal government, whereas the Statists, led by Hendrik Van der Noot, were staunchly conservative and supported by the Church. The Statists, who had a wider base of support, drove the Vonckists into exile through terror.[1]

By mid-1790, Habsburg Austria ended its war with the Ottoman Empire and prepared to suppress the rebels. The new Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold II, was also a liberal and proposed an amnesty for the rebels. After defeating a Statist army at the Battle of Falmagne (22 September 1790), the territory was soon overrun and the revolution was defeated by December. The Austrian reestablishment was short-lived and the territory was overrun by the French in 1794 (during the War of the First Coalition) after the Battle of Fleurus.

Imperial Council of State

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The Council of State acted as government, and formed the council by imperial consent:[2]

French rule

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Main articles: Battle of Sprimont and Southern Netherlands § French annexation

1794 was the third year of the War of the First Coalition. The Austrians gave up on contesting the Low Countries after the Battle of Fleurus (26 June), and left them to the French. After three months of military occupation, on 15 October a Central High Administration of Belgium was installed. On 1 October 1795 the departments were activated and the definitive annexation started, liquidating the Belgian Governing Council, which ceased on 22 November. France annexed the Austrian Netherlands from the Holy Roman Empire and integrated them into the French Republic. The commissioner of the Directory, Louis Ghislain de Bouteville du Metz [fr], finished his work on January 20, 1797, after which no common Belgian authority remained.

Notes

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  1. ^ Dutch: Oostenrijkse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas Autrichiens; German: Österreichische Niederlande; Latin: Belgium Austriacum

Citations

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  1. ^ Brown, Kevin (2017). "Artist and Patrons: Court Art and Revolution in Brussels at the end of the Ancien Regime". Dutch Crossing. 48: 1–28. doi:10.1080/03096564.2017.1299964.
  2. ^ Almanach de la cour de Bruxelles sous les dominatione autrichienne et francaise, la monarchie des Pays-Bas et le gouvernement belge, de 1725 a 1840 (etc.)

Sources

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