The Provisional Government of Belgium or the General Government of Belgium governed the

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the ...

from February 1814 to September 1815, when the Southern Netherlands was definitively incorporated into the

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed from 1815 to 1839. The United Netherlands was created in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars through the fusion of territories t ...

. The official documents at that time were in French, in which it was labeled as 'Gouvernement Général de la Belgique' or in German as 'Generalgouvernement von Belgien'. In Dutch, it was described as 'Algemeen Bestuur der Nederlanden'. In January 1814, by order of the

Sixth coalition Sixth is the ordinal form of the number six. * The Sixth Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution * A keg of beer, equal to 5 U.S. gallons or barrel * The fraction A fraction (from , "broken") represents a part of a whole or, more generally, ...

, represented by the ''Central Commission for the Administration of the Lands Recaptured from France'', under the leadership of Baron vom Stein, several General Governments (Gouvernement Général) were established in the recaptured or liberated territories. In the Treaty of Paris (1814) and the following Congress of Vienna, the Great Powers decided to transfer responsibility of the Southern Netherlands to the occupying powers of England and the Netherlands. Baron von Stein's commission was dissolved on June 15. Governor-General De Vincent was replaced by Prince William of Orange on August 1, 1814. From March 16, 1815, until the full union with the Northern Netherlands on September 21, 1815, the government was in

Personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...

with the

Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands The Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands () was a short-lived sovereign principality and the precursor of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, in which it was reunited with the Southern Netherlands in 1815. The principality was procl ...

under the House of Orange-Nassau.

Sovereign Prince William

The London Protocol of June 21, 1814 invited Prince William to accept the position of Governor-General of Belgium and to prepare for the unification of the Netherlands. Willem accepted this on July 21 and announced on August 1 that he was taking over the government of Belgium. On March 16, 1815, he himself assumed sovereignty. This created a personal union of the Northern and Southern Netherlands under the leadership of a Sovereign Prince. After taking office, Willem appointed the new government on August 12, 1814, which was installed on August 15. He replaced the Administrative Council with a Secret Council (Geheime Raad). The heads of the departments were the Commissioners-General. This government was dissolved on September 16, 1815.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Provisional Government of Belgium (1814-1815) Government of Belgium 1815 in the Netherlands 19th century in the Southern Netherlands Provisional governments States and territories disestablished in 1815