Provisional Government of Belgium (1814–1815)
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General-Government of Belgium | |||||||||
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| Capital | Brussels | ||||||||
| Common languages | Dutch, French, Limburgish | ||||||||
| Religion | Catholicism, Protestantism | ||||||||
| Government | Provisional government | ||||||||
| Frederic Augustus Alexander, Duke of Beaufort-Spontin (until February 15, 1814) Karl van der Horst (until May 6, 1814) Karl von Vincent (until August 1, 1814) William I of the Netherlands | |||||||||
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| Today part of | Belgium | ||||||||
The Provisional Government of Belgium or the General Government of Belgium governed the Southern Netherlands from February 1814 to September 1815, when the Southern Netherlands was definitively incorporated into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The official documents at that time are in French, in which it was labeled as 'Gouvernement Général de la Belgique' or in German as 'Generalgouvernement von Belgien'. In Dutch it was described as 'Algemeen Bestuur der Nederlanden'.[1]
In January 1814, by order of the Sixth coalition, represented by the Central Commission for the Administration of the Lands Recaptured from France, under the leadership of Baron vom Stein, several General Governments (Gouvernement Général) were established in the recaptured or liberated areas.
In the Treaty of Paris (1814) and the following Congress of Vienna, the Great Powers decided to transfer responsibility of the Southern Netherlands to the occupying powers of England and the Netherlands. Baron von Stein's commission was dissolved on June 15. Governor-General De Vincent[2] was replaced by Prince William of Orange on August 1, 1814.[3]
From March 16, 1815, until the full union with the Northern Netherlands on September 21, 1815, the government was in Personal union with the Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands under the House of Orange-Nassau.[3]
Sovereign Prince William
The London Protocol of June 21, 1814 invited Prince William to accept the position of Governor-General of Belgium and to prepare for the unification of the Netherlands. Willem accepted this on July 21 and announced on August 1 that he was taking over the government of Belgium. On March 16, 1815, he himself assumed sovereignty. This created a personal union of the Northern and Southern Netherlands under the leadership of a Sovereign Prince.[4]
After taking office, Willem appointed the new government on August 12, 1814, which was installed on August 15. He replaced the Administrative Council with a Secret Council (Geheime Raad).[5] The heads of the departments were the Commissioners-General. This government was dissolved on September 16, 1815.[1]
References
- ^ a b Luttenberg, Gerrit (1840). Register der wetten en besluiten, betrekkelijk het openbaar bestuur in de Nederlanden, over het tijdvak van 1796 tot en met 1839 (in Dutch). Doyer. p. 21.
- ^ Dominicus Hubertus Tellegen, Bernard (1878). De Gids, De wedergeboorte van Nederland (in Dutch). p. 125.
- ^ a b DBNL. "A.C.J. de Vrankrijker, De grenzen van Nederland · dbnl". DBNL (in Dutch). Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- ^ Colenbrander, H. T. (1908–1909). Ontstaan der Grondwet (in Dutch). Martinus Nijhoff.
- ^ "Geheime Raad, 1814–1815". search.arch.be (in Dutch). Retrieved July 4, 2021.