At the moment of the Belgian insurrection on 16 November 1830, he joined the revolutionary forces, and was given the rank of colonel by the provisional government. He went into politics in the newly independent Belgium, where he became Minister for Foreign Affairs ("de facto" prime minister) between 1832 and 1834. Though no formal party structures existed at the time, he was considered politically Liberal. He was appointed as inspector-general of the Belgian Army in 1834.