United Kingdom of the Netherlands

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United Kingdom of the Netherlands (or Kingdom of the United Netherlands) (1815 - 1830) (1839) (Dutch: Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, French: Royaume-Uni des Pays-Bas and German: Vereinigtes Königreich der Niederlande) was the unofficial name used to refer to a new unified European state created from part of the First French Empire during the Congress of Vienna in 1815. This state, officially called the "Kingdom of the Netherlands", was made up of the former Dutch republic (Republic of the Seven United Netherlands) to the north, the former Austrian Netherlands to the south, and the former Prince-Bishopric of Liège. The House of Orange-Nassau came to be the monarchs of this new state.

The intention was to provide a viable state to the north of France to counterbalance potential new French ambitions in this direction. It lasted until the southern provinces seceded to form Belgium in 1830, though Belgian independence was not formally recognised by the north until 1839, after which the name "Kingdom of the Netherlands" remained to refer to just the northern provinces. The Grand Duchy of Luxemburg was to be ruled by the House of Orange-Nassau up to 1890, the year William III died. Since females were not allowed to succeed in Luxemburg because of the Salic law, the Grand Duchy passed to the House of Nassau-Weilburg, a collateral line; this was in accordance with the Nassau Family Treaty of 1783.

The United Kingdom of the Netherlands collapsed after the 1830 Belgian Revolution, but government officials recognized this only nine years later, in 1839.

[edit] See also

• Low Countries

History of the Netherlands 

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