Kingdom of Belgium Proclaimed

Today in 1830 the Central Committee of the Provisional Government at Brussels City Hall proclaimed officially the independence of the provinces of Belgium becoming we know later the Kingdom of Belgium, totally apart from the former United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Princess Astrid Honors 10 Days Campaign

On April 21 (Birthday of the British Queen -happy birthday!) SAR Princesse Astrid attended a special memorial ceremony for the 10 Days Campaign of 1831 in Houthalen-Helchteren where a special cross stands to mark the graves of the Dutch and Belgian soldiers who died in that short outbreak of hostilities. Princesse Astrid attended the ceremony alongside civil and military officials, remembering the Ten Days Campaign. This happened in 1831, not long after the Belgian Revolution when the Dutch were making an effort to re-conquer Belgium from the pro-independence Belgian leaders. As I made mention last time the Dutch King Willem I was very reluctant to accept the independence of Belgium and had to be pressured by the other powers into giving up his claim to the country and hope of eventually retaking it. The 10 Days Campaign was an early effort led by the Prince of Orange (who was very well liked by most Belgians) and other royal princes which actually led to some defeats for the Belgian volunteers were not well organized or prepared at all. Most were not professional soldiers at all. However, and Belgium must be grateful for this, the Kingdom of the French intervened on behalf of Belgium and the arrival of the French troops convinced the Dutch to abandon the effort and return home. It is pleasing to see Princesse Astrid honoring this link with Belgian history and to honor the brave volunteers who gave their lives defending independence. Since we are now thankfully good and close friends with the Netherlands we also should appreciate the duty and sacrifice of the Dutch soldiers for their King and also should remember with gratitude the French royal soldiers who provided such vital assistance.

Kingdom of Belgium Born!

On April 19, 1839 the Kingdom of Belgium was officially recognized by the European powers in Treaty of London. I find it a little funny to see sources indicate this as the "birthday" of Belgium or the day when the Kingdom of Belgium was "born" since Belgian independence had been asserted a decade before and SM King Leopold 1er had been reigning as King of the Belgians for almost as long already. However, this was the day in history that the status of the Kingdom of Belgium was firmly settled and established in the international community, because it was only in 1839 that the European powers finally pressured King Willem I of the Netherlands to recognize the fact of Belgian independence that had already existed. He had still been hoping that he would be able to re-conquer Belgium and force it back into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. But Belgium resisted with ferocity and the other powers really did not want to see the Low Countries going into a long and ugly war so they finally stepped in and put the pressure on King Willem I to recognize that he would have to sleep in the bed he had made and recognize Belgian independence. So, hurrah for the Treaty of London then! At one time it seems that treaties gave national independence instead of taking it away .... or am I speaking impolitic? ;-)

Lt. Col. Lambert-Paul Coenegracht

Lambert-Paul Coenegracht was one of the many Belgian officers who lost their lives at the epic battle of Waterloo in the Dutch-Belgian Army contingent of the Allied forces under the overall command of the British Duke of Wellington and HRH Willem, Prince of Orange. Coenegracht began his military career in 1790 and like many of the Belgian soldiers who fought with the Allies at Waterloo he had previously served with the armies of Napoleon. He became a captain in 1804 and later reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Dutch army of King Louis Bonaparte of Holland (brother of Napoleon I). He commanded the 2nd Curassier Regiment (heavy cavalry) and, also like many others, he passed from the Kingdom of Holland into the service of the French Empire military and he commanded the troops that served as escort to French Marshal Auguste de Marmont during the campaign in Spain. Marmont is remembered for owing his rank of Marshal of France mostly to his friendship with Napoleon and for remaining loyal to the Bourbon monarchy throughout the return of Napoleon and the Waterloo campaign. In 1814 Coenegracht left the French army and took command of the Dutch 1st Carabiniers in Trip's brigade (Dutch-Belgian Army) which he led into the battle of Waterloo. During the battle he was badly wounded at the intense fighting around La Haye Sainte and died the next day. Today his sword and watch can still be seen at the Wellington Museum at Waterloo. Because so many Belgians (and Dutch) had, like Coenegracht, served previously with the French army some of the British doubted their loyalty but obviously there could be no question of the devotion of men like Coenegracht who gave their lives to the Allied cause and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in which Belgium was supposed to be an equal partner.

Belgian Golden Age Couple

If you had to name a “golden age” for Belgium, before the independence of the modern kingdom, a definite answer would be the period when Belgium, or as it was called then, the Spanish Netherlands, was under the guidance of Infanta Isabella of Spain and Archduke Albert of Austria. It started in 1598 when, before his death later that year, King Philip II of Spain put the Netherlands, or all the Low Countries as they were at the time, in the hands of his daughter Isabella and her husband Albert of Austria, who had previously been a Cardinal in the Church. They were very good rulers and the southern provinces of the Spanish Netherlands, which is Belgium today, went through a period of great peace, prosperity, a rebirth of great learning and a spiritual rejuvenation and also a great artistic renaissance. Spain was still contesting the rule of the northern provinces with the Dutch independence faction, most of whom were Protestants, and so the restoration of Belgium became part of what is called the Counter- or Catholic Reformation. Isabella and Albert were partly responsible for the beginnings of a distinct Belgian identity at this time as they emphasized the unique nature of the solidly Catholic southern provinces in contrast to the rebellious Protestant provinces in the north.

They championed some of the greatest Flemish artists and architects in history to help with this, creating magnificent buildings and beautiful artworks to inspire pride and patriotic devotion as well as a stronger faith in the Belgian people. Their court in Brussels became one of the greatest centers of art, learning, diplomacy and statecraft in all of Europe. They greatly increased the positive image of the House of Hapsburg in Belgium and ensured that the anti-Spanish hostility of the north never took root in the south, with Brussels becoming a very cosmopolitan city with experts from various fields of endeavor from all over the continent. The couple were a great success but unfortunately had much pain in their private life as all three of their children died when they were still very small. No one can say why this happened but Princess Isabella was 33-years-old when she married the Archduke which at that time was considered a little bit older than the ideal age for a woman to marry and have children. Everyone admired them and even the enemies of Spain in other countries respected them and that is partly why the Treaty of London and the Twelve Years Truce were achieved, because of the close involvement of Archduke Albert in negotiating them.

Archduke Albert was also adept as a military commander. When he first arrived in Belgium the Spanish forces were being pressed by all the Protestant powers of northern Europe, fighting French troops, English troops, Dutch troops and German troops. He turned this around though and secured Belgium for the Hapsburgs and put the Protestant armies on the defensive, even taking some of their most crucial strongholds. This security made the later embellishments of the country possible because what fighting did continue was periodic and kept at or beyond the borders of the country. He made peace after Maurice of Nassau began leading the Dutch to new victories, but because of what Albert had already gained he had some room to bargain and negotiate so that he was still able to secure Belgium for his side. He also did try to make peace with the United Provinces and the Queen of England first and only went to war when they refused his offers. He was not harsh and realized that the United Provinces would never be re-taken by Spain so he decided to concentrate on defending Belgium and ensuring the rebellion did not spread. Later he was able to make peace with almost everyone and make Belgium the cultural center of Europe. He secured the country for the Catholic Church and he did it by promoting a positive image of Catholicism instead of having Protestants executed. Albert and Isabella also enacted many positive changes, making the legal system more just, improving the economy and helped establish many new convents and monasteries. We really owe a great deal to this Hapsburg ‘power couple’. They were some of the best.

The Spirit of 14

In the difficult times of today, with everyone grumbling about austerity measures and having to cut back, some being tempted, as usual, to blame one side or the other based on prejudice, think about the generations before that have had to face much, much worse challenges and did that with great stoic courage and patriotism. Belgium should have a new national campaign to revive the "Spirit of 1914" to be inspired by the heroism and sacrifice of those people who faced the first great invasion of the country with determination, unity, patriotism and loyalty for the King and the country and each other. Everyone remember the "Spirit of 14"!

Nova Belgica

Just a few years after the Pilgrim Fathers of Massachusetts founded their colony on Plymouth Rock, the Dutch Republic was establishing the colony of New Netherland, the original territorial claims of which reached from what is now about Delaware up to southern Massachusetts (obviously there were competing colonial claims that would only be ended by the settlement, holding and development of an area). This was during the "Golden Age" of the Netherlands and we can only imagine how history would have been different if the Dutch colonial effort had not been taken over later by the English and re-named New York. But regardless of that, after studying in America I know that not many people are aware that New York and the surrounding area was once New Netherland and naturally no one knows (unless you read it here since I think I mentioned it early on from starting this blog) that many Belgians were involved in this and, in fact, because many still did not consider the status of the independent Netherlands and the Austrian Netherlands "settled" the names where interchangeable and New Netherland was called on some maps "Nova Belgica" or "New Belgium".

New Netherland was the product of the Dutch West India Company that wanted to find a western passage to Asia and later to establish a commercial trading colony on the North America continent. The Dutch West India Company included many people what would today be Belgians. Many of the founders or investors were Flemish Protestants who left Belgium (then belonging to the Catholic Roman Emperor) to go to the Dutch Republic and they helped in establishing the Dutch West India Company which organized the voyages of discovery and colonization to North America. Many people have heard the story about how the GWC agent Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan island from the natives for 60 guilders worth of trade goods. Some think he was Dutch, others think he was German, because he was born in Germany, but Peter Minuit was actually a Belgian and not Flemish but Walloon, his family being from Tournai. They were Protestants though and left Belgium to go to Germany because the Protestants were in power there. It is also not true, I have learned, that he cheated the natives out of Manhattan. He was actually the one cheated because the natives he first bought the island from were not really from there and had no right to sell it and later, when Peter Minuit found this out, he had to buy the island again from the correct owners -so he bought Manhattan twice!

This map has both names "Nova Belgica" and "New Netherland"

In 1664 the New Netherland colony was first taken by the English (the Dutch did not make an effort to protect the colony since it was supposed to be a place of total liberty) but later the powerful Dutch navy defeated the English and restored the colony to Dutch rule in 1673, however, only the next year the Netherlands was attacked by France, England and parts of Germany, exhausted her resources and had to give up the colony to England again who re-named it New York.

Remembering Volunteers to Mexico

Father to Son

On July 16, 1951 SM King Leopold III abdicated his throne in the face of leftist opposition lingering from World War II. The next day, yesterday in history, his son Baudouin became King of the Belgians. This time was controversial but I think it is offensive that it is so. The justification claimed by the enemies of the monarchie, whose face was King Leopold III, was his remaining with his army and staying in Belgium during the German occupation. Really, this was just a distraction. The King only did his duty and what happened in World War II was not the reason for the opposition to King Leopold. These people really hated the kingdom altogether. They were not really happy that Baudouin becoming king, they would rather have had no king at all and be a Marxist republic. It is also not much talked about that there was a vote on the future of King Leopold and the majority voted for him to remain king because he had done nothing wrong, he was the rightful monarch and that was only justice. Also interesting is that he had more support in Flanders than in Wallonie, but the radicals made such trouble that the King, and King Leopold was a compassionate man, did not want to risk any civil strife, perhaps even violence, by the radical minority in order to keep his throne and so he abdicated to give the throne for his son. I have shown before the video also of the leftist protest at the swearing-in of King Baudouin so it is obvious they were not having a reasonable position. They hated King Leopold no matter what he did and they hated King Baudouin before he even finished taking the oath to be king so he had not the chance to do anything to displease anyone. It was only unreasonable prejudice against the Belgian dynasty because of who they were.

I would be happy if this was only a sad page of history but we can see today it still continues as King Albert II  pleads with the politicians to put the good of the nation first and come to an agreement with each other but they do not listen, only their political power and personal prejudices mean anything to them.

Major General Jean-Baptiste Van Merlen

One of the remarkable Belgian soldiers of the Napoleonic period and who played a key role in the crucial Waterloo campaign was Major General Jean-Baptiste Van Merlen. He was born in Antwerp on 15 April 1773 and had a long record of service in the Dutch army before 1811. He excelled to the rank of colonel on 11 November 1810 as commander of the Hussards de la Garde du roi de Hollande. When Napoleon annexed Holland to the French Empire he transferred to the 5th Squadron of the new 2nd Regiment de Chevau Lanciers de la Garde, better known as the Dutch or “Red” Landers of the Guard. Most of this regiment had been previously members of the Dutch Royal Guard and they retained their red uniforms from this service. It was a very colorful unit with their red Dutch uniforms, lances and Polish drill sergeants (the Poles being considered the sort of experts on lancer cavalry troops). With this unit Colonel Van Merlen served in Russia where his troops fought in fierce battles and suffered heavy casualties in the French service from 1813-1814. On 12 January 1813 he was given the rank General de Brigade and on 13 September 1813 was awarded the medal of Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur.

When Napoleon abdicated (the first time) as emperor General Van Merlen returned home and joined the military forces of the newly planned United Kingdom of the Netherlands (which was to be a dual Dutch-Belgian state) thinking, like many, that Napoleon was gone forever. However, in 1815, Europe was surprised when Napoleon came back and quickly assumed power for himself again. Belgians like General Van Merlen who had fought in the French service were looked at with some suspicion, however, he was loyal to his new country and remained in the service of the Dutch-Belgian Army. This was particularly painful for General Van Merlen since his younger brother was, at the same time, on the other side, fighting in the service of the French II Corps of General Reille. At the battle at Quatre-Bras General Van Merlen led his forces into battle against the French. He commanded the 2nd Netherlands Light Cavalry Brigade which consisted of two regiments: the 6th Dutch Hussars and the 5th Belgian Light Dragoons.

At 3.00 PM General Van Merlen charged his horsemen into the battle against Foy and his advancing infantry. His men cut and slash in the French lines but were hopelessly outnumbered by the arriving cavalry of Piré. Everyone was hard pressed and the fighting was desperate, even the Duke of Wellington had to jump behind the line of the 92nd Highlanders to save himself from the French. General Van Merlen and his brigade lost 171 men at Quatre-Bras. When the main battle of Waterloo began, Van Merlen was kept back with Collaert in reserve in the fourth line near Mont St Jean farm. However, when the French cavalry charged the Allied lines, riding through the infantry who formed squares, Van Merlen had numerous occasions to make counter-attacks against the French horsemen all afternoon. There is a story that in one such frenzied fight he captured a French general who had been an old acquaintance of his when in the service of Napoleon. Rather than make him a prisoner, Van Merlen saluted the Frenchman and said, “General, this is my side of the battlefield, yours is over there. Take care of yourself; farewell!” and let him go back to his side. However, only a short time after this act of chivalry, he was badly wounded and taken to the Mont St Jean farm where he suffered for two hours before finally his death came. He had fought all over Europe in several services but his last words were that he died peacefully because he had never harmed anyone.

Belgian Cavalry Victory

The Belgian Cavalry Division was successful in winning the one total Belgian victory of the first stages of the Great War without any Allied help. General Leon de Witte commanded the Belgian horsemen against the larger German cavalry corps of General Georg von der Marwitz. The Belgians confronted the Germans at the battle of Haelen on 12 August 1914. His goal was to push back the German cavalry racing to cut off the line of retreat of the Belgian Field Army to Antwerp. The Germans wanted to cut off the Belgian army before they could reach the fortresses of Antwerp and could be easily destroyed in the open. General Leon de Witte had to prevent this with his outnumbered force of Belgian cavalry including regiments of guides, lancers, cyclists and the chasseurs a cheval. They defeated the German cavalry, inflicting heavier losses on the Germans and preventing them from stopping the Belgian army reaching Antwerp (and the Belgian army in Antwerp would be crucial to the Allied victory at the Marne though many ignore this contribution). The battle became known as the "Battle of the Silver Helmets" because of all the shining German cavalry helmets that littered the field of battle after it was over. You can read about this exciting battle of a victory by the Belgian cavalry at First World War and read the view of an American visiting the battlefield.

Belgians in American Civil War

I have been being told lately about how widespread in America is the pasttime of historical reenactments. This is done somewhat in Europe also but in America it is the Civil War that it seems is most popular for people to reenact. I would never, ever have thought Belgium could have anything to do with the civil War in America but, to my surprise, I was wrong about that. Looking around I have been surprised to see that there is also interest in this unique conflict in Belgium and other places in Europe. Honestly I cannot understand why people would do this but if they enjoy it that is okay. I have seen this done for Waterloo and some (can't think of the word) pageants (maybe?) on the revolution but I don't really understand doing this for the American Civil War that Belgium had nothing to do with, but, I found out there are some people who must really love doing this. I found the website Dixie Belgium which is a group, now joined with a pan-European group (how typical) that dress as Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War and camp in the Ardennes and hold Confederate-themed parties and things alike.

Also, in looking around for this subject, I found this website on the subject of Belgians in the American Civil War. A quick look left me surprised that there were a number of Belgians who fought in the American Civil War, both in the northern states and southern states armies, and at least one friend of mine will be glad to know one was in the Texas cavalry. This site also has general information about the Belgians who came to America. Having known of the connections in the World Wars and the Belgian involvement in Mexico I thought that was as close to get, never imagined Belgians would be involved in the North-South conflict that people in America seem to still be very 'fascinated' by. I have been told by others this is still a very big issue in America even today and that every presidential election they are invariably questioned about their view of the former Confederacy. Wow. 150 years ago -and still this is considered important. Who knew?

Eugène de Ligne

Prince Eugène de Ligne was a major figure in the early history of the modern Kingdom of Belgium. His was grandfather was the famous Prince Charles-Joseph de Ligne, an Imperial Field Marshal and close friend of Austrian Emperor Joseph II. The Prince's father was so involved in the agitation for Belgian independence (earlier on) that his famous father was asked to take charge of the movement, but he declined because he simply was not the revolutionary type. Eugene, the 8th Prince de Ligne, inherited the title from his grandfather (not his father Prince Louis-Eugene) in 1814. When he was born (in 1804) the area of his birth was legally part of the French Empire of Napoleon. His parents were Prince Louis-Eugène de Ligne and Louise van der Noot. When Prince Eugene inherited the title he became master of a magnificent 6000 hectares estate in Belgium.

The Prince was a leading liberal figure in Belgium, in the movement building towards independence from Netherlands. When the Belgian Revolution began in 1830, as someone widely respected, by some in both independence and Orange factions, he tried to convince the Prince of Orange not to enter Brussels at the head of his army but without success. He was afraid this would only intensify the situation and he would prefer that the problems be solved peacefully. He was so respected that in February of 1831 the Belgian National Congress offered him the throne as King of the Belgians but he refused the honor. However, he was easily able to serve in the Belgian parliament and was honored by the man who did become king, Leopold I. Because he was a noted liberal but also a Prince of the (late) Holy Roman Empire he was able to be accepted in a wide variety of social circles across Europe and this also made him appear valuable to the new kingdom as a diplomat.

In 1838 King Leopold I sent him to London to represent him at the coronation of Queen Victoria (with whom the King was very close of course). Later also the Prince de Ligne served as Belgian ambassador in Paris at the court of King Louis-Philippe I from 1842 until his overthrow in the Revolution of 1848. The Prince was the only man for this job because the position of ambassador required one to live a rather lavish lifestyle (going to elite parties, receptions and such things where the government officials and royals gathered) and the Kingdom of Belgium, still very young, simply could not afford such expenses and so the Prince de Ligne, with his large estates, was an ideal choice because he was wealthy enough to pay for this himself. The post was also extremely important because the King of the French had been instrumental in intervening on behalf of the Belgians, during the revolution, and helped ensure the winning of independence from the Netherlands.

After coming back to Belgium in 1848 the Prince became a senator and for 27 years from 1852 to 1879 was chairman of the Belgian Senate and became dean of the Presidents of the Upper House. In 1856 the Prince was sent to represent King Leopold I at the coronation of Czar Alexander II in Moscow. This was appropriate since his grandfather and predecessor had been friends with Czarina Catherine the Great in her time and visited the Crimea with her so there were family ties of friendship with the Romanovs of Russia for the Prince. For all of his service, in 1863 King Leopold I awarded him the honorary title of Minister of State. By his estates experience he also served as chairman of Belgian agriculture. He was also a Knight of the Order of Golden Fleece, probably the most elite order of knighthood in the Catholic world. He had always been a supporter of the Liberal Party and he supported the liberal constitution but when the liberals began supporting anti-clerical policies the Prince moved himself away from them. He died in 1880 at the age of 76.

Possible Belgian Kings

When Belgium was first becoming independent of the Netherlands there were several ideas of who should become the king of the new country. There had been some, less supportive of total independence, who had wanted to keep with the Dutch Royal House of Orange-Nassau and make the prince, William II, as King of the Southern Netherlands but the refusal of his father King William I to accept Belgian independence did not make this possible. A foreign prince would have to be elected King of the Belgians. Several candidates were considered before the choice ultimately fell on Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. These are the men considered:

Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours was the second son of King Louis-Philippe I of the French and Queen Marie Amalie. The French had been very supportive of the Belgian cause and the ‘popular monarchy’ of King Louis-Philippe I was something of a model for the new Kingdom of Belgium so it is only natural that Prince Louis was a potential candidate for King of the Belgians. Like King Leopold I also he had been suggested as a potential King of Greece as well. He had a place in the French army that intervened in the Belgian Revolution and he was at the siege of Antwerp. However, opposition from the British meant that King Louis-Philippe I would refuse the offer for his son. He later served in Algeria with the army and undertook diplomatic missions to various countries. After the fall of the monarchy he tried to reconcile the two branches of the Bourbon family and adopted legitimist principles but they would not support him in his efforts at restoration (though they did want the restoration of their own line). He later returned to France and was reinstated in the French army and was head of the Red Cross Society until 1881. He died in 1896.

Auguste de Beauharnais was another choice. He was the son of Napoleon Bonaparte’s stepson Eugene de Beauharnais by Princess Augusta of Bavaria. His royal family links were extensive. Aside from his connection to the Bonaparte dynasty, one of his sisters was a Queen of Sweden, another was Empress of Brazil and his brother Maximilian married the daughter of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. He was born in Milan and in 1817 his grandfather, King Maximilian I of Bavaria, made his father Eugene Duke of Leuchtenberg. In 1824 Auguste became second Duke of Leuchtenberg when his father died. His connections to the Bonaparte family were the primary reason for his consideration as a possible King of the Belgians. Many Belgians had fought for Napoleon but more important was that his being a Bonaparte would assuage the fears of those that saw the new Belgium as an extension of the Orleans of France in a new sort of Catholic, revolutionary movement. However, in the election by the Belgian National Congress he came in second to the Duke of Nemours as to who they would offer the Belgian throne. In 1834 he married Queen Maria II of Portugal but he died not long after that.

Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen, is one candidate not many people talk about but he was very famous in his time. He was the son of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, brother of Emperor Francis I of Austria and became a Field Marshal in the Austrian army. Interestingly, he had this military career even though he suffered from epileptic fits. However, historians military consider him one of the greatest enemies on the battlefield of Napoleon Bonaparte alongside the famous British commander the Duke of Wellington. He was born in Florence and spent his youth there and in Vienna. Unlike other candidates he had already a real connection with Belgium as he had been the last Governor-General of the Austrian Netherlands as Belgium was known during the era of Hapsburg rule. His military service in Belgium was also the occasion of his first battles with the French revolutionary forces. He was a great general and considered one of the most brilliant military commanders of his time. His connection to Belgium as being their last Austrian Governor-General and being married to a woman who was a distant relative of the House of Orange as well were likely reasons for his consideration. He was not chosen though and did not live much longer anyway since he died in 1847.

Some interesting possibilities here were considered but in the end I think the correct choice was made with King Leopold :-)

Emmanuel Van der Linden Baron d’Hooghvorst

Some people remember with respect the name of Emmanuel Van der Linden Baron d’Hooghvorst. Other people maybe recognize him only as the man in the uniform in a group picture of the founders of modern Belgium. He was a leader of the early days and a “founding father” of the Kingdom of Belgium known for his part in the Belgian Revolution. D’Hooghvorst was not like others though, he was not a natural revolutionary. He was very much associated with the moderate faction that did not want to have turmoil with the Dutch and was also the brother of the famous political leader Joseph van der Linden d‘Hooghvorst. He was born in 1781 and he was the mayor of Meise after 1807. He was known for being a zealous Catholic and a very generous man who paved the roads with his own money and also gave funds to build the village back again after a devastating fire in 1826. Because of this he was very popular with the people who admired and respected him.

He became the commissioner of land and forestry and representative for southern Brabant. When riots broke out in 1830 as the first stages of the revolution d’Hooghvorst took command of the Civil Guard when others refused the position but he was concerned for the safety of the people and property in Brussels. He also hoped he could manage a reconciliation of the dissidents and the Dutch government. He addressed the local Dutch officials with the idea of sending a delegation of moderate, middle class Belgians to peacefully and respectfully express their complaints and ideas to King William I of the United Netherlands Kingdom. However, they were refused permission to do this. But, he did manage to dissuade the local Dutch officials from bringing in Dutch army soldiers which he believed would only inflame the situation and lead to terrible violence. He promised that he would maintain order and security with his Civil Guard.

Along with other leading Belgians d’Hooghvorst came to a meeting with the Prince of Orange at Vilvorde where the Prince was with his army to meet with the Brussels authorities. However, the Prince was alarmed by the appearance of the Belgians and their separatist flag and he made them wait some time before seeing them. When he did finally meet them he commended the Civil Guard for their efforts at keeping order but also criticized the uprising and the use of the Belgian colors. Hooghvorst stated that he was doing his best but that the rebelliousness was because of sincere desire for redress of grievances and suppressing them would not be wise. The Prince of Orange said there would be no concessions as long as the Belgian colors were being displayed. He said if the colors were abandoned he would grant an amnesty and gave the delegation a day to consider the offer. They decided finally not to give up their colors but to bring the Prince to Brussels protected by the Civil Guard only.

Hooghvorst again tells the Prince that concessions must be made or his troops will not be able to control the public anger but nothing is done and later he warns the Prince that he must leave Brussels for his own safety and a delegation urges him to support the separation of the ‘southern’ and ‘northern’ Netherlands (the Prince of Orange and his father the King disagreed on the policy toward Belgium). He finally agrees to this on the condition that the Civil Guard maintains order and that loyalty to the Orange Royal House is assured. The King, as we know, did not go along with this settlement and in Belgium a regency was established with d’Hooghvorst put in charge of public safety which he accepted on the condition that independence would be pursued through legal channels. However, the uprising only became larger and part of the Civil Guard was disarmed with Hooghvorst commanding the remainder. The people began to arm and government officials wanted the Civil Guard to defend the city from the rebels but Hooghvorst refuses but remained committed to keeping order and protecting property.

Later efforts to make peace were ineffective and Hooghvorst is elected to the provisional administrative commission. He was involved in the earliest formative efforts of the new Kingdom of Belgium but remained always a reluctant revolutionary and supported offering the Belgian throne to the Prince of Orange to maintain in some way the original system. This, we know, did not happen but he was still elected to the National congress as a temporary member and was later appointed commanding general of the civil guard for life. Later he also became mayor of Wolvertem in the new Kingdom of Belgium. He became a baron and was known for his efforts at rebuilding the Church in Wolvertem in 1834 and building the Church in Nieuwenrode. He was made a commander of the Order of Leopold and was a very honored hero to his death in 1866.

Free Belgian Forces

In the great World War 2, as before the Great War, Belgium tried to remain neutral but was attacked by Germany anyway. For 18 days the Belgian armed forces struggled against the invaders until they were totally surrounded and facing certain death. On May 28, 1940 SM King Leopold III signed the document of surrender to the Germans to save what was left of his army. However, the fight did not end there.

Some soldiers were able to escape to England and they were joined by other Belgians from around the world to join the Free Belgian forces fighting alongside the Allies under the direction of the government-in-exile. They participated in the war in Europe, Africa, Asia, on the sea and in the air. One brigade of commandoes was dropped into France in 1944 and fought in the Allied invasion and eventually the liberation of Belgium. Belgian special forces fought in Madagascar, Italy, Germany, Norway and Yugoslavia. One group fought with the Americans in the "Ardennes Offensive". A casualty-clearing unit served with the British in taking Burma back from the Japanese. Two Belgian corvettes and a group of minesweepers fought with the Royal Navy in the battle of the Atlantic. A Belgian squadron was formed to fight with the RAF and flew with them throughout the war, shooting down 51 Nazi planes and it was the Belgians who led the air raid on the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen.
There was also, untouched by the war in Europe and the occupation of Belgium, the formidable colonial army of the Force Publique in the Belgian Congo. They had a fierce reputation amongst the militaries of Africa and they were quickly mobilized to join the Allied war effort to stop the Axis forces from taking over Africa and the near East.

The Force Publique played a crucial part in the campaign against the Italians in East Africa. Through 1940 and 1941 the Allies, including the Force Publique and Commonwealth troops of the British Empire, fought fierce Italian defenses by the Duke of Aosta. The Force Publique finally cut off the Italians and helped bring the war in East Africa to an end. After that time units of the Force Publique served in support duties in Egypt and Palestine.

In all, about 100,000 men served in the Free Belgian forces after the formal surrender of their army until the end of the war with the surrender of the Japanese.

Captain William Stairs

Captain William Grant Stairs is someone, I think, who should be given a moment of memory because after all of his adventures in his life many of his own people did not view him with admiration because of his service in the employ of the King of the Belgians. He was a Canadian, born in Halifax and went to school there, in Scotland and in Ontario province. He became an engineer and worked in New Zealand and in 1885 was commissioned as an officer in the British Royal Engineers (army) and trained in England. In 1891 he joined the famous Welch Regiment. In the time between these two positions he went on a great adventure to central Africa. He joined, in 1887, the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition led by the great explorer Henry Morton Stanley, still one of the most famous explorers in the world, especially African explorers. The purpose of the expedition was to relieve the besieged forces of Emin Pasha, governor of Equatoria for the British General Charles Gordon who was Governor-General of the Sudan and engaged in a war against Muslim fanatics.

Stairs left London on 20 January 1887 and met Stanley in Suez on 6 February. Starting at the mouth of the Congo on 19 March they reached Tanzania on 5 December after a very long and arduous journey through wild and unknown country. Stairs became deputy commander of the expedition when the previous man to hold that post, Captain Barttelot, was shot in a skirmish on 19 July 1888. These daring men crossed 500 kilometers of jungle rainforest, swamps and all of the most difficult terrain possible to imagine and all the time suffered from every possible tropical disease, usually malaria and dysentery. In those days, the days of the last great adventurers, men were more tough and determined than now. Stairs endured all of this, discovered one of the sources of the Nile, the Semliki River and became the first man to climb in the Ruwenzoris (Mountains of the Moon). Along the way he was attacked by natives, shot in the chest with a poisoned arrow. There were many bloody battles, some because of simple aggressiveness and some because many of the natives thought the party were slave traders and their extreme fear of such a fate was not unfounded because kidnapping slaves for trading was still a major problem in central Africa at that time.

The expedition was still a success, Emin Pasha was reached and with difficulty persuaded to abandon the district and leave with Stanley. Back in England Captain Stairs was highly praised for his courage and determination on this wilderness trek. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in 1890. The very next year, SM King Leopold II of the Belgians commissioned Stairs to command an expedition to Katanga in the Congo after Stanley had recommended him to the King. The goal was to come to terms with or defeat the native chief Msiri who ruled the region before the area was taken by the British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes which was expanding north very quickly. Even though Stairs and the doctor of the party, Joseph Moloney, were subjects of the British Empire, they agreed that, regardless of who they might come in conflict with, they would carry out their obligations to King Leopold II and the Congo Free State. With only a relatively small party, Stairs set out to claim this vital region and deal with the chief Msiri.

Stairs and his force reached Katanga and began trying to come to terms with Msiri but he was obstinate. Plagued with sickness and surrounded by hostiles, Stairs decided finally to make Msiri an offer he could not refuse. After three days of diplomacy Stairs sent word to Msiri that if he did not sign the treaty he proposed the next day, 20 December 1891, there would be severe consequences. When the chief did not appear, Stairs sent Belgian Captain Omer Bodson (his second in command and only brother officer) to arrest Msiri. When the chief resisted and drew his sword on the captain, Captain Bodson shot him and this provoked a short but intense battle between the subject natives and the native Free State soldiers of Stairs in which Bodson was killed by Msiri‘s favorite slave. Stairs then put a new chief in charge (an adopted son of Msiri) and he signed the treaty recognizing Leopold II as king-sovereign and that Katanga was part of the Congo Free State.

The mission accomplished, Stairs and his remaining men began the overland march to the coast to Zanzibar, by the time they arrived a year of skirmishes and tropical diseases had reduced their number from 400 to 189. Stairs was not among them though, he had suffered long with malaria and finally died on a steamer on the Zambezi River on 9 June 1892 and he was buried in Mozambique (then Portuguese East Africa). He had done his job and secured probably the most important and mineral rich region of central Africa for the Congo Free State. However, the British in Northern Rhodesia (who wanted the territory for themselves) declared Stairs a traitor for working for the Belgians rather than the British and they joined in the chorus condemning Stairs, his expedition and the death of Msiri (though of course it was not Stairs who killed him). Everyone knows that some self-interest and desire for profiteering was part of the whole colonial game at that time. However, Stairs cannot be a villain because Msiri was no hero. He had no better claim to rule that area that King Leopold II did. Msiri was not the son of a prior chief or anything of the sort, he was a slave trader who became wealthy and powerful, bought European weapons and conquered the people, imposing his rule by force and remained a major figure in the brutal slave trade business. He was certainly not a peaceful, innocent victim and when Captain Bodson died his last words were, “I don’t mind dying now that I’ve killed Msiri. Thank God my death will not be in vain. I’ve delivered Africa from one of her most detestable tyrants”.

I can well imagine that if the event had ended peacefully with the chief signing the treaty, Commander Stairs and King Leopold would have been criticized anyway for making friends with such a brutal local warlord. In so many words, they would have been condemned no matter what happened, mostly because they beat the other colonial powers to the prize. Also, we should not forget that Stairs was one of only two officers in an armed expedition made up entirely of African natives and they trusted and were totally loyal to him because of his solid leadership and fair treatment of them. If he had been a cruel or vicious man he could never have accomplished what he did, almost by himself. That is why I think Captain Stairs should be remembered and that it will not be that the only voices speaking of him are those who attack and criticize him. He had great courage, did things most today would regard as impossible, he had determination to always see the job through and his expedition had a great impact on the history of Belgium and central Africa.

Belgians on the Russian Front

In the First Great War my highest respect must goes to those monarchs who gave leadership to their soldiers on the battlefield. The best examples of this were our own King Albert I and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. They both were sovereigns devoted to doing their duty by their country but with very different results. Because it was small, neutral Belgium which was liberated and the vast powerful, politically involved Russian Empire that collapsed. I have posted before on the history shared by Belgium and Russia, how Tsar Peter the Great visited Belgium and how Belgian King Leopold I fought in the Russian army against Napoleon. It is known because of the Great War that Belgium and Russia fought on the same side against the Germans but not so many people know that they actually fought side by side. It is a triviality not included in most history books but the Russian Tsar did send some troops over to France to fight on the Western Front. Not many people know that, and even less know that King Albert I also sent Belgian troops to fight on the Russian front.

Of course, clearly, it is obvious, Belgium did not have the resources to send over a large force or even as much as the other allied powers sent later, but there was a Belgian contribution and it came in the form of armored cars. Belgium had been an innovator in this area and before the other powers developed armored cars that made the very heavy and cumbersome machine guns of the period mobile. These were made by the Minerva Motor Car Company in Antwerp and they saw service during the German invasion of Belgium and the siege of Antwerp, racing down the roads, shooting their machine guns at the pickle heads and having a more glamorous part of a war becoming uglier every day. Of course, after Antwerp was abandoned and there was the battle of the Yser and a stalemate on the western front, clearly the Belgian army did not have much use for armored cars in the flooded box trenches of Flanders. It was suggested that these could instead be put to good use on the Russian front which was much more fluid and mobile than the west.
A Russian officer suggested it and of course King Albert I was always willing to help but the Tsar had to ask first because, since Belgium was a neutral country, the small kingdom and the massive empire were fighting on the same side but not exactly were allies in the strictest sense. Also, because of this, on paper at least, the Belgian troops were volunteers in the Russian Imperial Army rather than officially soldiers of the Belgian army for this special mission. In all there were over 300 men who went with the armored cars, motorcycles and bicycles to the Russian front, over time around 400 men were served as troops rotated out. They saw their biggest battles on the Galician front and their speed and firepower were proven to be very good at eliminating Austrian machine-guns positions. These brave men far from home fought even after the Germans had clearly gained the upper hand and they also kept on fighting and doing their duty even after the 1917 Revolution. It was not until the new Russian government made their own peace with the Germans that the Belgians decided it was time to go home.
That was difficult to do because of the revolutionary forces that viewed the Belgian forces as enemies and they blocked the way to all the major ports. The Belgian forces then because of this had to travel across the whole of Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway to the Pacific where they took a ship to San Francisco, California and then went by train across the United States, being much celebrated along the way, reaching New York and from there sailed across the Atlantic to finally reach Paris two weeks later. In all, their losses were few, only 16 men during all of their fighting and travels were killed. The last Belgian veteran of service in Russia died in 1992.

The Belgian-Arab War

From 1892 until 1894 was fought the Belgian-Arab War in what was at the time it occurred the Congo Free State of SM King Leopold II. This was a conflict Belgium undertook to eradicate an ancient evil from central Africa. This was the heart of the human trafficking that had been enduring since hundreds of years in spite of being struggled against by the entire civilized world. In history the British had done away with the Arab slave trade on the African west coast (once known as the slave coast) and later by the French. This had been a major artery for slave trading by the Arab caravans across the Sahara. Over time the Portuguese abolished slave trading on the lower west coast but the Arab slave trade survived in central and eastern Africa. Africans from the Congo region were taken captive by the Arabs for shipment up the east coast or over land and rivers to Ethiopia, Sudan and on to the Middle East. Zanzibar had long been a major base for slave trading.

In 1892 the Arab slave trade based in Zanzibar was controlled by Sefu, son of Tippu Tip who had long worked for the sultans of Zanzibar providing slaves and ivory out of Central Africa. In 1886 there had been a confrontation between the agents of Tip and officials at a Belgian post on the Congo border when they claimed that a local woman was a slave who had been stolen from an Arab officer. They besieged the post and eventually captured it when the defenders ran out of ammunition and had to abandon their fort. His son Sefu then led attacks into Congo, fearing the growing presence in the area, mostly British and Belgian, who were opposed to their cartel. His force grew to some 10,000 Congolese warriors led by 500 Arab-Swahili captains of Zanzibar. It fell to the Force Publique, the military of the Congo Free State, to stop them but up to that time they were a newly formed force geared toward police and internal security duties.

Outnumbered and unprepared the Force Publique was made to retreat across the unhealthy and inhospitable terrain of the Congo which did more than they were able to in slowing the slaver army of Sefu. To save this situation came the new Belgian commander of the Force Publique, Commandant Francis Dhanis. He won the loyalty of his Congolese soldiers by not breaking up their families, allowing them many privileges and also won over the local populace by restraining his men from harming or harassing the peaceful people of the area. The slaver army, on the contrary, behaved with great savagery toward all they encountered. The turning point came at the epic six-week siege of Nyangwe on the river which was nearly destroyed as the slaver army tried to wipe out the Force Publique garrison. However, the Belgian-led Congolese heroically held off the attackers and prevailed in the end.

Forced to fall back, Dhanis pursued Sefu and his army and taking control of Kasongo which had long been a central hub of the Arab slave-trade network. Finally on 20 October 1893, west of Lake Tanganyika, the Force Publique fought the final battle in which Sefu was killed and his slave army was left without a leader and in small following engagements were totally defeated one at a time. The slave trade network was broken up and by January of 1894 the war was over with the Congo Free State Force Publique victorious and the slavers driven from the region. It was a great achievement for the Congolese soldiers and their Belgian officers (though many were not Belgians but professional hired soldiers from Scandinavian countries). Against a greater number of enemies in wild country with an unhealthy climate they had prevailed with courage to wipe out an ancient evil from central Africa.

Belgians in Early America

Il est très répandu que c’est l’Hollandais Peter Stuyvesant qui est à l’origine de la fondation de la ville de New-York, mais il n’en est rien...

Au préalable, un petit rappel historique s’impose. En 1555, l’empereur Charles-Quint abdique, laissant sa place à son fils Philippe II. Ce dernier nomme Ferdinand Alvare de Tolède, plus connu sous le nom du duc d’Albe, gouverneur des Pays-Bas. Il fait son entrée, en tant que vice-roi, à Bruxelles en 1567 avec le devoir de mener une politique sévère contre les velléités indépendantes et le protestantisme. Il mènera cette répression envers les protestants jusqu’en 1572, appelée aussi Contre-Réforme, celle-ci trouve son origine dans la réaction de l’Eglise catholique romaine face à la Réforme catholique et qui connaîtra des épisodes sanglants comme la décapitation des comtes d'Egmont et de Hornes (même si ils n'étaient pas protestants) sur la Grande-Place de Bruxelles en 1568 ou le célèbre massacre de la Saint-Barthélémy, en France, en 1572. [plus]

II
Mais c’est en mai 1624 que débarquent plusieurs familles wallonnes ainsi que quelques familles flamandes via le « Nieu Nederland », navire affrété par la CIO au Nouveau Monde, avant de remonter l’Hudson River. L’émigration se poursuit et le 4 mai 1626 le « Sea-Men » jette l’ancre à Manhattan. D’autres vagues d’émigrations auront lieu, comme en 1634, qui verront la venue de Rachel, Isaac et Henri, enfants de Jessé de Forest, venus poursuivre le désir de leur défunt père. [plus]

III
Le 7 janvier 1924, Alfred E. Smith (1873-1944), gouverneur de New-York émet le souhait de commémorer le tricentenaire de l’arrivée des colons wallons. Dans cette optique, le sénateur William L. Love obtient un budget de 50.000 $, le 5 mai de cette année, quant à la création d’une commission chargée d’organiser un « événement d’une grande signification pour le peuple entier des Etats-Unis ». Ecoles, églises et municipalités se joignent aux réjouissances, une monnaie en argent de 50 cents est mise en circulation et 3 timbres commémoratifs sont émis. [plus]