Europe · Reformation to revolution
Netherlands
1815–present
The Congress of Vienna created, as a buffer against France, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, fusing the former Dutch Republic, the Austrian (Southern) Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. William I assumed the royal title on 16 March 1815 (constitution adopted 24 August 1815), also holding the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in personal union.
- Existed
- 1815–present
- Shown on the map
- 1783–1799, 1815–1939, 1945–2024 (3 periods)
- Peak area
- 71k km²
- Region
- Europe
Overview
The Congress of Vienna created, as a buffer against France, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, fusing the former Dutch Republic, the Austrian (Southern) Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. William I assumed the royal title on 16 March 1815 (constitution adopted 24 August 1815), also holding the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in personal union. The union of Dutch and Belgians proved unworkable (religious, linguistic and economic divisions); the Belgian Revolution erupted in Brussels on 25 August 1830 and declared independence on 4 October 1830. William I's Ten Days' Campaign (1831) failed after French intervention, and the Dutch recognized Belgian independence in the Treaty of London (19 April 1839). William I abdicated (1840); under William II the liberal Constitution of 1848, drafted by Johan Rudolph Thorbecke, established a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with ministerial responsibility. The crown passed through William III (d. 1890), then — female succession now permitted in the Netherlands (unlike Luxembourg) — to Queens Wilhelmina (1890–1948), Juliana (1948–1980) and Beatrix (1980–2013), and to King Willem-Alexander (since 30 April 2013), the first Dutch king since 1890.
Common questions
- What were the Netherlands?
- The Congress of Vienna created, as a buffer against France, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, fusing the former Dutch Republic, the Austrian (Southern) Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. William I assumed the royal title on 16 March 1815 (constitution adopted 24 August 1815), also holding the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in personal union.
- When did the Netherlands exist?
- The Netherlands existed 1815–present. On this map they are drawn 1783–1799, 1815–1939, 1945–2024.
- How large were the Netherlands?
- At their greatest extent drawn on this map, the Netherlands covered about 71,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives them across the years they are drawn, not necessarily their greatest extent in history.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each territory as the primary basis, cross-checked against Encyclopædia Britannica and specialist snippets, and flags entries built on unreliable foundations — the 911 treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte known only from Dudo of Saint-Quentin, and Arnaud Amalric's alleged order at Béziers attested only decades after the fact. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Netherlands en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
See the Netherlands in their world
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