The Treaty of London of 1839, was signed on 19 April 1839 between the
Concert of Europe
The Concert of Europe was a general consensus among the Great Powers of 19th-century Europe to maintain the European balance of power, political boundaries, and spheres of influence. Never a perfect unity and subject to disputes and jockeying ...
, the
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 ...
and the
Kingdom of Belgium. It was a direct follow-up to the 1831
Treaty of the XVIII Articles, which the Netherlands had refused to sign, and the result of negotiations at the London Conference of 1838–1839.
Under the treaty, the European powers recognised and guaranteed the independence and neutrality of
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 ...
and established the full independence of the German-speaking part of
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. Article VII required Belgium to remain perpetually
neutral
Neutral or neutrality may refer to:
Mathematics and natural science Biology
* Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity
Chemistry and physics
* Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction in ...
; Belgium formally abandoned its policy of neutrality after its experiences in both world wars.
Background
Since 1815, Belgium had been a reluctant part of the
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 ...
. In 1830, Belgians broke away and established an independent
Kingdom of Belgium. The overwhelmingly Catholic population could not accept the Dutch king's favouritism toward
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
, while French-speakers were irritated by his disdain for the
French language
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...
, and the middle classes objected to the Dutch monopolisation of public offices. Liberals regarded
King William I's rule as despotic, while there were high levels of unemployment and industrial unrest among the working classes.
Small-scale fighting – the death of some 600 volunteers is commemorated in the
Place des Martyrs, Brussels
The ( nl, Martelaarsplein, italic=no) is a historic square in central Brussels, Belgium. Its current name, meaning "Martyrs' Square", refers to the martyrs of the ''September days'' of the Belgian Revolution of 1830.
Originally, the square wa ...
– was followed by an international settlement in 1831. However the settlement was not accepted by the Dutch, who invaded the country in the autumn of 1831; and it took a French army recapturing Antwerp in 1832 before Belgium and the Netherlands could even agree an armistice. Several years later, the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
recognised that they stood to gain more territory by accepting the 1831 settlement than from a mere continuance of the armistice. The Belgian government protested, with French support, against the late implementation of the settlement terms, but Britain accepted the Dutch claim; and in 1839, the Dutch accepted Belgian independence (and regained the disputed territories) by the Treaty of London. At the same time, the major powers all guaranteed Belgium's independence from the Netherlands.
Territorial consequences
With the treaty, the southern provinces of the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, independent ''de facto'' since 1830, became internationally recognised as the Kingdom of Belgium, while the
Province of Limburg was split into Belgian and Dutch parts.
The
Grand Duchy of Luxemburg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...
was in a personal union with the Netherlands and simultaneously a member of the
German Confederation
The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...
. The treaty
partitioned the grand duchy. It lost two-thirds of its territory to Belgium's new
Province of Luxembourg
Luxembourg (french: Luxembourg ; nl, Luxemburg ; german: Luxemburg ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; wa, Lussimbork), also called Belgian Luxembourg, is the southernmost province of Wallonia and of Belgium. It borders on the country of Luxembourg to the ea ...
. The partitioning left a rump grand duchy, covering one-third of the original territory and inhabited by one-half of the original population, in
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...
with the Netherlands, under
King-Grand Duke
The designation of King-Grand Duke was held by the three monarchs of the House of Orange-Nassau that ruled Luxembourg and the Netherlands in personal union, between 1815 and 1890. These monarchs thus held the titles of King of the Netherlands and G ...
William I
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...
(and subsequently
William II and
William III). This arrangement was confirmed by the
1867 Treaty of London, known as the 'Second Treaty of London' in reference to the 1839 treaty, and lasted until the death of King-Grand Duke William III 23 November 1890.
Neutrality of Belgium
Belgium's ''de facto'' independence had been established through nine years of intermittent fighting. The co-signatories of the Treaty of London now officially recognised the independent Kingdom of Belgium. The five
great power
A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power inf ...
s of Europe (
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
) also pledged to guarantee Belgium's neutrality.
The treaty was a fundamental "lawmaking" treaty that became a cornerstone of European international law; it was especially important in the events leading up to
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. On 31 July 1914 the mobilisation of the Belgian Army was ordered, and the Belgian king at the same time publicly called Europe's attention to the fact that Germany, Great Britain and France were solemnly bound to respect and to defend the neutrality of his country. When the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
invaded Belgium in August 1914 in violation of the treaty, the British declared war on 4 August. Informed by the British ambassador that Britain would go to war with Germany over the latter's violation of Belgian neutrality, German Chancellor
Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg
Theobald Theodor Friedrich Alfred von Bethmann Hollweg (29 November 1856 – 1 January 1921) was a German politician who was the chancellor of the German Empire from 1909 to 1917. He oversaw the German entry into World War I. According to bio ...
exclaimed that he could not believe that Britain and Germany would be going to war over a mere "scrap of paper".
Iron Rhine
The Treaty of London also guaranteed Belgium the right of transit by rail or canal over Dutch territory as an outlet to the German
Ruhr
The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
. This right was reaffirmed in a 24 May 2005 ruling of the
Permanent Court of Arbitration
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is a non-UN intergovernmental organization located in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides services of arbitral tribunal to resolve disputes that aris ...
in a dispute between Belgium and the Netherlands on the railway track.
In 2004 Belgium requested a reopening of the
Iron Rhine
The Iron Rhine or Steel Rhine ( nl, IJzeren Rijn; german: Eiserner Rhein) is a partially nonoperational freight railway connecting the port of Antwerp (Belgium) and Mönchengladbach (Germany) by way of Neerpelt and the Dutch towns of Weert and ...
railway. This was the result of the increasing transport of goods between the port of Antwerp and the German
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
. As part of the European policy of modal shift on the increasing traffic of goods, transport over railway lines and waterways was now preferred over road transport. The Belgian request was based on the treaty of 1839, and the
Iron Rhine Treaty of 1873. After a series of failed negotiations, the Belgian and Dutch governments agreed to take the issue to the
Permanent Court of Arbitration
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is a non-UN intergovernmental organization located in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides services of arbitral tribunal to resolve disputes that aris ...
and respect its ruling in the case.
In a ruling of 24 May 2005, the court acknowledged both the Belgian rights under the cessation treaty of 1839 and the Dutch concerns for part of the
Meinweg National Park
De Meinweg National Park (''Nationaal Park De Meinweg'') is a national park in Limburg, Netherlands. It is about 1800 hectares (7 sq. mi.) in size and was established in 1995.
In 2002 it became part of the Maas-Swalm-Nette park, a transboundary ...
nature reserve. The 1839 treaty still applied, the court found, giving Belgium the right to use and modernise the Iron Rhine. However, Belgium would be obliged to finance the modernisation of the line, while the Netherlands had to fund the repairs and maintenance of the route. Both countries were to share the costs of a tunnel beneath the nature reserve.
In media
* The Treaty is mentioned multiple times in ''
The Prisoner
''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...
'' episode "
The General".
*
A Scrap of Paper
''A Scrap of Paper'' is a 1918 American short comedy film directed by and starring Fatty Arbuckle.
Cast
* Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - Fatty
* Glen Cavender - The Kaiser
* Al St. John - The Crown Prince
* Monty Banks - Soldier
See also
* Fatty ...
, comedic short film by
Fatty Arbuckle
Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked w ...
See also
*
List of treaties
This list of treaties contains known agreements, pacts, peaces, and major contracts between states, armies, governments, and tribal groups.
Before 1200 CE
1200–1299
1300–1399
1400–1499
1500–1599
1600–1699
1700–1799
...
*
Treaty of Maastricht (1843)
The Treaty of Maastricht, signed in 1843 by Belgium and the Netherlands four years after the Treaty of London established Belgian independence, finally settled the border between the two countries.
Border enclaves
Inability to decide a clear lin ...
*
Treaties of London
*
Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen Plan (german: Schlieffen-Plan, ) is a name given after the First World War to German war plans, due to the influence of Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen and his thinking on an invasion of France and Belgium, which began on ...
Footnotes
Further reading
*
* Omond. G. W. T. "The Question of the Netherlands in 1829–1830," ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'' (1919) pp. 150–171
* Schroeder, Paul W. ''The Transformation of European Politics, 1763–1848'' (1994) pp. 716–18
*
Primary sources
*
External links
'Belgian Neutrality and its Reinterpretation ahead of the First World War'
{{Belgian Revolution of 1830, collapsed
London (1839)
History of Luxembourg (1815–1890)
Belgian Revolution
Causes of World War I
1839 in the Austrian Empire
1839 in France
1839 in the United Kingdom
1839 in Belgium
1839 in Luxembourg
London (1839)
Belgium–Netherlands border
Belgium–Luxembourg border
1839 treaties
London (1839)
London (1839)
London (1839)
Conferences in London
Treaties of the Russian Empire
Treaties of Belgium
1839 in the Netherlands
William I of the Netherlands
April 1839 events
1839 in London