‘Laten wij vereenigd blijven onder den scepter van Nassau'

Een vergelijkend onderzoek naar de visies van Noord-Brabantse kranten en kranten uit andere Noord-Nederlandse provincies op de Belgische Opstand, 1830-1832

Samenvatting

In 1830, the southern provinces of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands separated themselves and established an independent Belgium. The northern provinces fought this development but, in the end, did not mourn the loss of Belgium. The northern province Noord-Brabant however, had much in common with the southern provinces, especially the Catholic religion. This article examines to what extent Noord-Brabant had different views on the developments in Belgium than other northern provinces in the Netherlands. It does so by comparing the views of two Brabantine newspapers with those of two newspapers from other northern provinces on three important occurrences in the struggle for Belgium, namely: the Belgian Revolution in 1830, the Ten Days’ Campaign in 1831, and the Siege of Antwerp in 1832. By following the newspapers for a few years, this article shows that the view of the Brabantine newspapers changed from being afraid of losing the southern provinces to siding with the northern provinces on the matter. Additionally, this article adds to the historiography on Dutch nation building in the beginning of the nineteenth century by showing how a formerly generality land struggled with the integration process. It does so by examining how Noord-Brabant tries to acquire a position in the new Netherlands after the loss of Belgium