Orangism was a political current in what is now
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
that supported its inclusion in the short-lived
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
The United Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; french: Royaume uni des Pays-Bas) is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed between 1815 and 1839. The United Netherlands was cr ...
(1815–1830). After the secession of Belgium in 1830, Orangist sentiment in
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
and
Wallonia
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
for a time sought a restoration of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was a movement directed by
William I of the Netherlands
William I (Willem Frederik, Prince of Orange-Nassau; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was a Prince of Orange, the King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
He was the son of the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, who we ...
as part of his ''"Volhardingspolitiek"'' and containing most of the Belgian elites (including members of the nobility and industrialists). Some of the most prominent Flemish Orangists were
Jan Frans Willems
Jan Frans Willems (11 March 1793 – 24 June 1846) was a Flemish writer and ''father'' of the Flemish movement.
Willems was born in the Belgian city of Boechout, while that was under French occupation. He started his career in the office of a not ...
and
Hippolyte Metdepenningen
Hippolyte Désiré Metdepenningen (1799–1881) was a Belgian lawyer, president of the Ghent Bar Association and a politician.
After Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830 he became a municipal councilor on the Orangist list. ...
. Although refusing to participate in parliamentary elections, as they deemed Belgian national institutions to be illegitimate, the Orangists did take part in local elections at the provincial and municipal levels, from which they militated against the new Belgian state through political actions and an activist press. At least three Orangist coups were foiled during the 1830s. Although losing Dutch financial and political support after the
Treaty of London (1839) and William I's abdication (1840), the weakening Belgian Orangism survived well into the 1850s, strongly opposing the
Belgian Revolution and rallying against independence.
It was one inspiration for the later
Greater Netherlands
Greater Netherlands () is an irredentist concept which unites the Netherlands, Flanders, and sometimes including Brussels. Additionally, a Greater Netherlands state may include the annexation of the French Westhoek, Suriname, formerly Dutch-spea ...
movement, although that movement was not all monarchist.
__NOTOC__
Known Belgian Orangists
Present day
*
Louis Tobback
Louis Marie Joseph Tobback (born 3 May 1938) is a Belgian politician. Tobback is a Flemish social democrat and member of the political party SP.A. He was the mayor of Leuven (1995–2018) He graduated in Romance philology at the Vrije Univers ...
(Socialist politician)
*
Siegfried Bracke (Flemish nationalist politician, former journalist)
* (Historian, professor, former governor of
East Flanders
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Province of Belgium
, image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg
, flag_size =
, image_shield = Wapen van O ...
)
*
Geert van Istendael (Writer, poet, essayist)
* (Socialist politician, former mayor of
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, )
See also
*
Orange-Nassau (disambiguation)
References
External links
Official House of Orange website
House of Nassau
Political theories
History of Flanders
Monarchism in Belgium
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