page_title: Brabant Revolution
section_title: Growing divisions and factionalism
hierarchical_section_title: Brabant Revolution / Revolution / Growing divisions and factionalism
caption_attribution_description: English: Revolutionary flag of the Brabant Revolution of 1789
context_page_description: The Brabant Revolution or Brabantine Revolution, sometimes referred to as the Belgian Revolution of 1789–90 in older writing, was an armed insurrection that occurred in the Austrian Netherlands between October 1789 and December 1790. The revolution, which occurred at the same time as revolutions in France and Liège, led to the brief overthrow of Habsburg rule and the proclamation of a short-lived polity, the United Belgian States.
  The revolution was the product of opposition which emerged to the liberal reforms of Emperor Joseph II in the 1780s. These were perceived as an attack on the Catholic Church and the traditional institutions in the Austrian Netherlands. Resistance, focused in the autonomous and wealthy Estates of Brabant and Flanders, grew. In the aftermath of rioting and disruption in 1787, known as the Small Revolution, many dissidents took refuge in the neighboring Dutch Republic where they formed a rebel army. Soon after the outbreak of the French and Liège revolutions, this émigré army crossed into the Austrian Netherlands and decisively defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Turnhout in October 1789.
context_section_description: Soon after its establishment, the politics of the United Belgian States became polarised between two opposing factions. The first faction, known as the Vonckists after their leader Vonck, was a "more or less liberal reform party" which believed the revolution represented the triumph of popular sovereignty. They derived much of their support from the liberal middle classes and hoped that the revolution would allow their supporters to achieve political power traditionally monopolised by the clergy and aristocracy. Most had not disagreed with Joseph's reforms in principal, but believed that the way in which they had been implemented was arbitrary and showed disregard for his subjects. Traditionally, much of the Vonckists' support was based in Flanders which was considered more liberal than Brabant.
  Opposed to the Vonckists were the more conservative Statists (sometimes also known as "Aristocrats"), led by Van der Noot. The Statists had a broader base of support than the Vonckists and were particularly supported by the clergy, lower classes, nobility and the feudal corporations. The Statists viewed the revolution as a purely reactive measure to reforms which they considered unacceptable. Most Statists supported the maintenance of traditional aristocratic privilege and the position of the Church.
  The two factions soon clashed over the composition of the provincial assemblies which was "a conflict of which no peaceful solution existed" in the constitution. The Statists accused the Vonckists of sharing the same views as the radicals of the French Revolution. The Statists succeeded in gaining support in a number of Patriotic Associations (Patriottische Maatschappij), similar to the "clubs" of Revolutionary France, which were composed of members of the wealthy classes. By March 1790, the Vonckists had been forced out of Brussels by a mob. An armed "crusade" of peasants, carrying crucifixes and led by priests, marched on Brussels in June to confirm their support of the Statists and to display rejection of the Enlightenment. Influenced by the growing power of the radicals in France, the mob believed that the Vonckists were anti-clerical although this was probably untrue.
  With the support of the population, Van der Noot launched a persecution of Vonckists known as the Statist Terror (Statistisch Schrikbewind). Verlooy and Vandermersh were arrested and imprisoned. Vonck and his remaining supporters forced into exile in Lille where they tried to raise opposition to the Statists but in vain. Faced with an increasingly reactionary government in the United Belgian States, many of the exiled Vonckists felt that they had more to gain from negotiating with the Austrians than with the Statists. Amid rumours of Austrian military forces nearing Belgium, the Statists put their faith in a foreign military intervention and began lobbying the Prussians, who were believed to be sympathetic, for support.
caption: An original Statist military flag, depicting the Virgin Mary, preserved in the Royal Museum of the Army
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