The mirror., 1919-08-21
FAMOUS PEACE TREATIES
Treaty of London l83lPact Wherein the Neutrality
Of Belgium was Clearly Defined
Ivmg King Copyright by the Mcclure Ne~spapsr Symdoat

HI1NTT1NIHE treaty by which the
'@qEA present kingdom of Bel
IS01@gI gium was created and its
l&gD neutrality guaranteed
was signed at London on Novem-
ber Is, 1881. by the representa-
tives of Austria, Prussia, France.
England and Russia. 1t was. in
fact, not merely one "scrap Of pa
per" which the Germans tore up
when they invaded Belgium in
1914, but two-for this neutrality
guaranteed by the treaty of 1881
was refirmed by Germany at the
beginning OF the Franco-P Prussian
war of 1870 at the demand of Eng
land. The congress of Vienna,
after the Napoleonic wars, had
constituted Belgium and Holland
one country under the House of
Orange. But the Belgians we're
never content to be under the
crown of Holland and when the
French revolution of 1880, which
placed Louis PHILIPPE on the
throne. took place the Belgians
we're inspired to a successful re-
volt which was directly impelled
by the events of July in Paris.
The laws of Holland were gener-
ally unfavorable to the Belgians;
the Belgians were not proportion
ately represented in the legisla-
ture and there was, besides, the
difference in language and religion
of the two sections. Although the
Belgians spoke French, Dutch was
made for them the official language
of the courts and only Dutch was
taught in the schools. Long be.
fore the revolution in Paris an
agitation had been gong on for
separate administration for the
Belgians.
On August 5, 1880, while the
people of Holland we're supposed
to be celebrating the kings birth
day. a revolutionary piece was
performed in the opera house at
Brussels. Stirred by the dramatic
representation the audience began
to shout for France and against
Holland. The cries were heard in
tne streets and repeated and a riot
ensued. Then some one hoisted
over the city hall the old standard
of Brabant and the riot turned in
to a. revolution. In few hours
Brussels was in the hands of the
revolutionaries. The revolution
spread to the country like wildfire.
The revolotiOnists made proposal
to the king that he should submit
to the states. general a proposition
for separate governments for Bel
gium and Holland under the House
of Orange. The king promised
and fulfilled his promise. A pro-
visional government was estab-
lished in Brussels which declared
Belgian independence and called
upon all Belgians serving in the
Dutch army to return home.
The provinces were now all in
revolt. The czar. alarmed at what
he considered the spread of a
revolutionary spirit, called upon
the other powers to interfere and
promised a contingent of 10000
troops. Prussia massed her troops
on her western frontier and France
announced that any movement of
Prussian troops into Belgium
would be met by a similar move
ment on the part of the French. A
conference of the five great powers
was then sitting in London to set
tie the question of Greece. France
proposed that the Belgian question
be submitted to the conference.
The Polish insurrection, which
now broke out, gave the czar all
he could attend to at home, Aus
tria was harassed by the Italian
question and Prussia was fully oc-
cupied in guarding her eastern
frontiers. So England and France
were allowed to have their way,