= Belgian Democratization = A history of '''Belgian democratization'''. <> ----- == Belgian Revolution == Following the [[WorldHistory/NapoleonicWars|Napoleonic Wars]], the [[Netherlands/Monarchs#Orange|house of Orange]] was revived under William I as the first [[Netherlands/Monarchs#Kingdom_of_the_Netherlands|king of the Netherlands]]. There were immediately several challenges to this novel union of the southern and northern provinces. * William openly patronized the Reformed Church, while the Walloons and Flemings were deeply Catholic peoples. * The Constitution of 1815 equally apportioned representation in the Second Chamber to the north and south, despite the latter having a much larger population. * Schools in Flanders began to teach in the Dutch language. * William's foreign policy focused on colonization, which suited the mercantile north better than the industrializing south. A revolt began in Brussels in August 1830. William dispatched his sons the next year to suppress it, but [[France/Monarchs#July_Revolution|French]] threats to intervene forced them to withdraw. The revolt now spiralled out of control and the Revolutionary Committee declared itself a provisional government. This war culminated in the partition of Belgium and Netherlands through the '''Treaty of London''' in 1839. ---- == Kingdom of Belgium == The provisional government organized elections for a National Congress in late 1830. They produced the '''Constitution of Belgium''' by February and crowned [[Belgium/Monarchs|Leopold I]] as king of Belgium in July. Belgium was devised as a federal system of Regions and Communities, with many important powers devolved. The [[Belgium/FederalParliament|Federal Parliament]] was created with representation allocated with respect to these Regions and Communities. ---- CategoryRicottone