United States of Belgium (PDF)

New and comprehensive insights into the seminal eventsthat shaped Belgian identityIn 1790, between the birth of America (1776) and the creation of the FrenchNational Assembly (1789), nine provinces nestled between the French and Dutchborders declared themselves a new free and independent country: the UnitedStates of Belgium. Before then, the provinces had been part of the vastAustrian Habsburg Empire ruled by Joseph II. In 1789 revolutionaries fromBrussels to Ghent to Namur recruited a grass-roots army that, to the surpriseof many, successfully chased imperial forces from the majority of the territories. The exhilaration of military triumph and political independence quickly fadedas revolutionary factions fought each other and the European monarchies becamemore nervous in the face of French radicalization. Yet, the course of eventshad fostered the solidification of a new identity among the provinces'inhabitants: Belgianness. This is the story of the emergence of Belgianness inthe crucible of revolution.The United States of Belgium tells the story of the First Belgian Revolution before the creation of a language barrierbetween French and Dutch. It incorporates over 50 contemporary images of therevolutionary era.This publication isGPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).