Chapter I. Para Bellum
Jan Frans Vonck and his faction within the Austrian Netherlands, the Vonckists are arrested by austrian authorities, in the years leading up the 1789 Brabantine Revolution. Meanwhile, Henri Van Der Noot, is in exile in the Dutch City of Breda, and is amassing an army of Flemish and Brabantine exiles to march and retake their home from the Austrians. He’s successfully convinced William V, the Dutch Statdhouder, to lend the Belgian rebels aid, when their time for rebellion comes, in return for declaring one of his sons, Prince Frederik of Orange, Stadthouder of the Belgian Provinces. With Vonck and his radical liberals out of the way, the traditionalist Van Der Noot, is seen as the face of the Belgian movement, which strikes a cord with the new King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II, who is staunchly opposed to the Enlightenment Ideals of his father, the late Friedrich II, otherwise known as the Great. Friedrich Wilhelm, would promise to publicly pledge support for Rebels, when the time came, in the hopes of greatly weakening the Austrians. Now, with a professionally trained army at his disposal, Henri Van Der Noot sets off to liberate his homeland
Chapter II. Ink and Gunpowder
On the 24th of , 1789, Van Der Noot, and his army of a few thousand cross into the Austrian Netherlands, liberating the village of Hoogstraten, which is where the Manifesto of the People of Brabant would be read, and the Southern Netherlands declared independent from Austria. The Belgians unexpectedly destroy the Austrian Army at Turnhout, which sends shockwaves across the provinces, leading to a unilateral collapse of the Austrian System. By 1790, the last Austrian forces are driven from the Citadel of Luxembourg, and the Belgian Provinces fully liberated, with full support from Prussia and the Dutch Republic. Fearing another costly war with the Prussians, Austrian Emperor Leopold II would recognise the independence of the newly established United Belgian States in the treaty of Antwerpen. Following independence, representatives of the five Belgian provinces Brabant, Vlaanderen, Henegouwen, Namen, and Luxembourg meet in Brussels to draft a constitution, known as the “Treaty of Union.” The treaty established a form of governance which drew heavily from the Dutch Republic. Prince Frederik of Orange would be unanimously elected the first Stadthouder of Belgium, a year later in 1791, and Henri Van Der Noot serving as Grand Pensionary. Meanwhile, in neighbouring France, massacres led by the Radical Liberal Maximilian Robespierre, would lead to purges of remaining Vonckists within the provinces, ironically coming to the known as “Statist Terror.”
Chapter III. Coalition
Less than two years after its independence was established, Belgium would once again find itself at war with a great European Power, joining the rest of Europe in a Coalition against the newly established French Republic. By 1794, Belgium would be annexed into France Proper, with the government fleeing into exile, first to the Dutch Republic, and then again relocating to London. The rest of the napoleonic wars would go as in our own time line, until the Congress of Vienna, where the map of Europe is reverted back to 1791, with Belgium barely making the cutoff. As compensation, and to bulk it up into a substantial buffer state, Belgium would be awarded the Grand Bishopric of Luik, and The Duchy of Limburg, connecting the Province of Luxembourg with the rest of the country. As 1815 comes to pass, Belgium stands at a crossroads. To the north, the Brother of the Belgian Stadthouder, who wouldnt mind seeing Belgium fall under his dominion, to the south, a large yet relatively unstable France, where the slightest breeze might bring down the work done by the Coalition, and to the West, and increasingly Militarist and expansionist Prussia. The only question is, in which direction will she turn?
Jan Frans Vonck and his faction within the Austrian Netherlands, the Vonckists are arrested by austrian authorities, in the years leading up the 1789 Brabantine Revolution. Meanwhile, Henri Van Der Noot, is in exile in the Dutch City of Breda, and is amassing an army of Flemish and Brabantine exiles to march and retake their home from the Austrians. He’s successfully convinced William V, the Dutch Statdhouder, to lend the Belgian rebels aid, when their time for rebellion comes, in return for declaring one of his sons, Prince Frederik of Orange, Stadthouder of the Belgian Provinces. With Vonck and his radical liberals out of the way, the traditionalist Van Der Noot, is seen as the face of the Belgian movement, which strikes a cord with the new King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II, who is staunchly opposed to the Enlightenment Ideals of his father, the late Friedrich II, otherwise known as the Great. Friedrich Wilhelm, would promise to publicly pledge support for Rebels, when the time came, in the hopes of greatly weakening the Austrians. Now, with a professionally trained army at his disposal, Henri Van Der Noot sets off to liberate his homeland
Chapter II. Ink and Gunpowder
On the 24th of , 1789, Van Der Noot, and his army of a few thousand cross into the Austrian Netherlands, liberating the village of Hoogstraten, which is where the Manifesto of the People of Brabant would be read, and the Southern Netherlands declared independent from Austria. The Belgians unexpectedly destroy the Austrian Army at Turnhout, which sends shockwaves across the provinces, leading to a unilateral collapse of the Austrian System. By 1790, the last Austrian forces are driven from the Citadel of Luxembourg, and the Belgian Provinces fully liberated, with full support from Prussia and the Dutch Republic. Fearing another costly war with the Prussians, Austrian Emperor Leopold II would recognise the independence of the newly established United Belgian States in the treaty of Antwerpen. Following independence, representatives of the five Belgian provinces Brabant, Vlaanderen, Henegouwen, Namen, and Luxembourg meet in Brussels to draft a constitution, known as the “Treaty of Union.” The treaty established a form of governance which drew heavily from the Dutch Republic. Prince Frederik of Orange would be unanimously elected the first Stadthouder of Belgium, a year later in 1791, and Henri Van Der Noot serving as Grand Pensionary. Meanwhile, in neighbouring France, massacres led by the Radical Liberal Maximilian Robespierre, would lead to purges of remaining Vonckists within the provinces, ironically coming to the known as “Statist Terror.”
Chapter III. Coalition
Less than two years after its independence was established, Belgium would once again find itself at war with a great European Power, joining the rest of Europe in a Coalition against the newly established French Republic. By 1794, Belgium would be annexed into France Proper, with the government fleeing into exile, first to the Dutch Republic, and then again relocating to London. The rest of the napoleonic wars would go as in our own time line, until the Congress of Vienna, where the map of Europe is reverted back to 1791, with Belgium barely making the cutoff. As compensation, and to bulk it up into a substantial buffer state, Belgium would be awarded the Grand Bishopric of Luik, and The Duchy of Limburg, connecting the Province of Luxembourg with the rest of the country. As 1815 comes to pass, Belgium stands at a crossroads. To the north, the Brother of the Belgian Stadthouder, who wouldnt mind seeing Belgium fall under his dominion, to the south, a large yet relatively unstable France, where the slightest breeze might bring down the work done by the Coalition, and to the West, and increasingly Militarist and expansionist Prussia. The only question is, in which direction will she turn?
