Belgium Under Austrian Rule

BELGIUM UNDER AUSTRIAN RULE The change of dynasty did not involve any change in the political system established in 1579 by the Peace of Arras. Just as there had been no Spanish domination, there was now no Austrian domination. National autonomy was maintained ; the traditional institutions were preserved ; the provinces continued to vote their own taxes. The only connection between Belgium and Austria was that they had the same sovereign. The Austrian emperors were represented by a governor at Brussels, just as the kings of Spain had been. The emperor also appointed a "minister plenipotentiary" at Brussels, with whom his chancellery corresponded directly, to keep watch over the conduct of the governor.

The Barrier Treaty.

In order to prevent any further attempt at annexation on the part of France, England and the United Provinces required the emperor to sign the Barrier Treaty (Nov. 15, 1715). This treaty gave the United Provinces the right to maintain garrisons at Namur, Tournai, Menin, Furnes, Warneton, Ypres and Termonde. Belgium was thus for a second time sacri ficed to its northern neighbour, for whose safety it was made a bulwark. The frontier between Belgium and France, now that Louis XIV. had made restitution of the last towns he had taken (Tournai, Ypres, Dixmude, etc.), was drawn almost exactly as it stood in 1929.

The country, which had been the cockpit of Europe since the middle of the 17th century, was now exhausted. The population was profoundly discontented. Disturbances broke out at Brussels in 1717, under the administration of the marquis de Prie, min ister plenipotentiary of the Governor Eugene of Savoy, who never established himself in Brussels and was governor only in name. The marquis de Prie earned the detestation of the people by ordering the execution of Francois Anneessens, who had tried to oppose the vote of the taxes by the Brussels municipality (1719). He was equally disliked by the nobility. The emperor recalled him in 1724, and the Archduchess Marie Elizabeth be came governor.

The Ostend Company.

Peace having been restored, an at tempt was made to improve the economic situation of the country. There was no hope of reviving the prosperity of the port of Antwerp, since the closing of the Scheldt had been ratified by the Treaty of Utrecht. Certain schemes which had been considered first in the time of Maximilian Emmanuel of Bavaria were, how ever, taken up once more. The proposal was to develop the maritime trade of Ostend and to connect it by means of canals 'with the Scheldt, the Meuse and the Rhine. On Dec. 19, 1722, the emperor Charles VI. founded an India company in Ostend with a capital of six million florins. England and the United Provinces were, however, alarmed at the prospect of a rival of this kind. It would have been necessary to go to war to make them agree to it, and as the emperor could not undertake this, he had to resign himself. On May 31, 1727, the Ostend company (q.v.) was sacrificed to "the welfare of Europe." The Jansenist controversy, which during the past fifty years had raged with great bitterness, was a source of uneasiness to the Government. It was concluded under the governorship of Marie Elizabeth, who imposed the Bull Unigenitus as a rule for religion and for the State. This was a fresh victory for the Jesuits, who now ceased to have any opponents in the country.

Maria Theresa.

On the death of Charles VI., on Oct. 20, 1740, the Belgian provinces recognized Maria Theresa without opposition. The War of the Austrian Succession, however, soon spread to Belgium which, in 1744, was invaded by the French under Maurice de Saxe. The Dutch garrisons of the Barrier capitulated at once without attempting any resistance. The defeat of the English at Fontenoy on May 11, 1745 gave Louis XV. the possession of Belgium, for which Louis XIV. had striven in vain. He only occupied it as a pledge, however, and it was restored to Maria Theresa by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (Oct. 18, 1748).

Maria Theresa is the only foreign ruler of Belgium whose memory has remained in the affections of the nation. Her reign was a period of recovery for the country, and the population at tributed the credit of this to her. As a matter of fact. Maria Theresa cared nothing for the retention of the Netherlands, which she was constantly trying to exchange for Bavaria. She only kept her Belgian provinces because she could not do otherwise. At the same time, she tried to make the best possible use of them, and in her own interest she administered them in such a way as to be able to benefit by their resources.

The alliance which she concluded with France in 1757 secured a period of peace for Belgium which lasted 35 years. The time of rest thus provided after a century of almost incessant war was utilized to the best advantage. Private individuals and the authorities of the provinces worked together in restoring the prosperity of the country and developing industry and agricul ture. Roads and canals were constructed; Flemish agriculture reached such a degree of prosperity that it was regarded as a model. The old linen and lace industries were revived. In Hain aut, coal-mining and the glass industry were actively developed. The population increased with the national wealth.

The Government assisted the efforts of the people judiciously. Maria Theresa entrusted the administration in 1744 to her brother-in-law Charles of Lorraine, who became extremely popu lar in the country. She provided him with able ministers plenipo tentiary, who adjusted customs tariffs in such a way as to protect national industries, established depots to facilitate transport, and introduced new industries.

Other reforms were introduced in order to rouse the population from the intellectual apathy into which it had fallen since the middle of the 17th century as an inevitable consequence of the misfortunes of the country. An Academy, which still exists, was founded at Brussels in 1772. When the Society of Jesus was suppressed in 1773, the Government was able to set up "Royal Colleges" in several of the towns. These were the first lay educa tional establishments to be created in Belgium.

Maria Theresa's innovations were inspired by the doctrine of "enlightened despotism" which the majority of European states, following the example of Prussia, were adopting as a feature of their policy. She obtained acceptance for them because of the benefits conferred by her government, and because of the skill with which she managed to avoid offending the conservatism of her Belgian subjects. Her successor Joseph II. (178o-9o) acted in an entirely different manner.

Joseph

II.—Joseph II. was sincerely anxious to promote the public welfare, but he was full of self-conceit, and firmly believed that progress must be imposed from above. He made up his mind to recast the institutions of Belgium according to the principles of rational and centralized absolutism. Before he succeeded his mother he had made a hurried tour through the country and had come back full of contempt for the antiquated state of affairs which he found there. His first object was to obtain the abolition of the stipulations imposed on Belgium by the Munster and the Barrier treaties, which he regarded as equally incompatible with the principles of equity and with his sovereign rights. Maria Theresa had already refused to pay the sums due for the upkeep of the Dutch garrisons. In 1781 Joseph informed the States General of the United Provinces that he had decided to dismantle the Belgian fortresses, and that they should therefore recall their troops. They accepted the situation so readily that he thought he would also be able to reopen the Scheldt. Much to his surprise, the Dutch fired on the vessels which he had ordered to sail up and down the river. The outbreak of war was prevented by French intervention, and the Treaty of Fontainebleau (Nov. 8, 1785) confirmed the status quo.

Joseph II. might have won popularity by the above actions, but the internal reforms which he introduced aroused both religious and political opposition. His first measures were aimed at the Church. The Edict of Tolerance (Oct. 1781), which recognized religious freedom in Belgium for the first time since the peace of Arras, deeply offended the clergy and the Catholic sentiments of the population. The suppression of the "unnecessary" convents (1783) , of the religious confraternities, and of pilgrimages, the closing of the episcopal seminaries and their replacement by two seminaries founded by the State at Louvain and Luxembourg (17 86) aroused intensely bitter feeling.

Still greater hostility was aroused by Joseph II.'s attempt to modify the traditional institutions of the country. He refused to listen to the counsels of prudence given him by his sister Marie Christine, the governor, and by the ministers plenipoten tiary ; and insisted on introducing innovations which, although in accordance with the spirit of the age, were most objectionable to Belgian conservatism : abolition of the gilds, abolition of torture, reorganization of the administration of the finances and of public works, and free trade in corn. Finally, in 1787, the whole admin istration was remodelled. The country was divided into nine districts (cercles) with "intendants" at their head, attached to a council of Government meeting at Brussels. Justice was to be administered by two supreme councils at Brussels and Luxem bourg, and by 63 courts of first instance.

Thus, by nothing less than a coup d'etat, the traditional auton omy of the Belgian provinces, which had been respected by all their rulers from Philip II. onwards, was destroyed and replaced by a centralized system working by the emperor's orders. Even men of advanced opinions, who realized that the constitution stood in need of improvement, were as angry as those of conserva tive views at seeing the emperor dispose of their country without consulting them. A formidable movement of opposition broke out in all the provinces. Marie Christine, the Governor, dared not enforce the edicts. The emperor however persisted. He sent a new minister plenipotentiary, the count of Trauttmannsdorff, to Brussels, and entrusted the command of the troops to Gen. d'Alton, who had orders to enforce the reforms and repress disturbances.

The Brabancon Revolt.

If the emperor was obstinate, the country was equally so. The States of Hainault and Brabant refused to pay taxes. The infraction of the privilege of the Joyeuse Entrée (q.v.) brought popular exasperation to a head. The events then taking place in France, and especially the news of the taking of the Bastille, encouraged the inhabitants of Belgium in their resistance. The conservatives, whose leader was the lawyer van der Noot, combined with the partisans of national reform, the chief of whom was another lawyer, Vonck. They fled to Holland, where they formed a corps of volunteers. On Oct. 24, 1789, under the leadership of Col. van der Mersch, they invaded Cam pine, and contrary to all expectation defeated the Austrian troops at Turnhout. This was the signal for a general rising. The garri son of Ghent capitulated on Nov. 16, and that of Mons on Nov. 21. Brussels rose in revolt on Dec. 1o. Two days later the Government and the troops hurriedly evacuated the city. All Belgium, with the exception of Luxembourg, where the army was concentrated, was in a state of revolt.

The various parties were, however, very far from unanimity in their political views. The various provinces constituted them selves into the Belgian United States on Jan. 11, 179o, and en trusted executive power to a sovereign congress. Two opposing parties at once appeared in the congress. The democrats or Vonckists wished to adopt a constitution based on the principles laid down by the French National Assembly; the aristocrats or van der Nootists simply desired to restore the position which had previously existed. The latter were supported by the clergy and by the majority of the public. Riots broke out; Vonck's par tisans were terrorized, and left the field clear for their opponents. Van der Noot, who hoped to obtain the support of the United Provinces and of Prussia, was quite unable to control events. The Belgian republic, torn by internal disputes, soon fell into a state of anarchy and was unable to prepare its resistance.

Joseph II. died on Feb. 20, 1790, and was succeeded by Leopold II. Leopold first attempted to win over the Belgians by con ciliatory means, but his proposals were rejected. After his recon ciliation with the king of Prussia at the Convention of Reichen bach (July 27, 179o) he had recourse to arms. The Belgian army was driven back without difficulty, and on Dec. 2 the Austrian troops under Gen. Bender entered Brussels. A few days later the subjection of the country was complete. The revolution in accurately known in history as the Brabancon Revolt was at an end.

Leopold, who did not wish to provoke further disturbances, made no attempt to reintroduce Joseph's reforms. Government was restored in the form in which it had existed under Maria Theresa. In spite of this, the restoration continued to be exceed ingly unpopular. The course which the French revolution was taking revived the hope of Belgian independence. Thus, when war broke out between France and Austria, and Dumouriez won the battle of Jemappes (Nov. 6, 1792) and occupied Belgium, his victory was at first welcomed by the population. Dumouriez would have liked to make Belgium into a republic and to make use of it to further his plans for a restoration of the monarchy in France. He relied on the Vonckists for support, and by doing so at once excited the hostility of the conservatives. The French convention, however, thwarted his plans, and was obviously pre paring the way for the annexation of the country. The enthusiasm with which he had at first been greeted soon gave place to uncon cealed dislike. When the Austrians resumed the offensive, and defeated Dumouriez at Neerwinden (March 18, 1783) and once more took possession of Belgium, the Belgians resigned them selves without difficulty.