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EARLY BELGIAN COLONIAL EFFORTS - The University of Texas at ...

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ecst<strong>at</strong>ic; his kingdom would double in size and increase its popul<strong>at</strong>ion by almost 150%.<br />

Wh<strong>at</strong> advantage did this union have to Belgium? None!<br />

In 1815 a referendum was held. It passed handily in Holland. It passed in<br />

Belgium, where there was widespread opposition and a boycott <strong>of</strong> the referendum, <strong>at</strong><br />

least according to William II. As a duly constituted despotic monarch, William merely<br />

counted the non-votes as affirm<strong>at</strong>ive votes in favor <strong>of</strong> the union and voila, it was<br />

approved. With th<strong>at</strong> inevitable sense <strong>of</strong> distrust and confusion, it should not come as a<br />

surprise th<strong>at</strong> the union was ill-f<strong>at</strong>ed from its inception.<br />

<strong>The</strong> government <strong>of</strong> the Dutch n<strong>at</strong>ion was a monarchy with an advisory<br />

Parliament with all power basically vested in the hands <strong>of</strong> the king. Despite the de facto<br />

rejection <strong>of</strong> the union by Belgium in 1815, the two n<strong>at</strong>ions were combined, and William<br />

began an ill-advised p<strong>at</strong>h to introduce Protestantism on a basis equal to C<strong>at</strong>holicism.<br />

This was <strong>at</strong> least, the way it was perceived by the Belgians. This would have been a<br />

formidable task under the best <strong>of</strong> circumstances. <strong>The</strong> Belgian popul<strong>at</strong>ion represented 70<br />

percent <strong>of</strong> the popul<strong>at</strong>ion <strong>of</strong> the new union, and it was thoroughly C<strong>at</strong>holic. <strong>The</strong><br />

<strong>at</strong>tempts to give equality to religion, secularize the schools, and introduce Dutch as the<br />

language <strong>of</strong> the government managed to forge a union between previously dispar<strong>at</strong>e<br />

Belgian groups. Beginning in the l<strong>at</strong>e 1820s, the secular pr<strong>of</strong>essional class, which had<br />

arisen during the French occup<strong>at</strong>ion and desired freedom <strong>of</strong> press and an independent<br />

38

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