Table Of ContentTHE LOW COUNTRIES HISTORY YEARBOOK
ACTA HISTORIAE NEERLANDICAE
EDITORIAL BOARD:
I. Schaffer (Leiden); Johanna A. Kossmann (Groningen); J.R. Bruijn (Leiden); J.H. van Stuijvenberg
(Amsterdam); R. Van Uytven (Antwerp); EJs Witte (Brussels).
EDITORIAL ADDRESS:
Nederlands Historisch Genootschap
Postbox 90406
2509 LK The Hague, The Netherlands.
THE LOW
COUNTRIES A~ta .
HISTORY Histonae
YEARBOOK Neerlandicae
1982 XV
MARTINUS NIJHOFF - 1982
ISBN-13: 978-94-009-6936-0 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-6934-6
DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-6934-6
© 1982 Uilgeverij Mar/inus Nijhoff, Lange Voorhout 9,
Den Haag
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1982
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface VII
1. DE BELDER, Changes in the socio-economic status of the Belgian nobility in
the nineteenth century
R.W.l.M. Bos, Industrialization and economic growth in the Netherlands
during the nineteenth century: an integration of recent studies 21
G. TEITLER, A 'New' and an 'Old Trend'. Military thinking in the Netherlands
and the Dutch East around the turn of the century 59
C.B. WELS, Van Karnebeek's break with tradition 78
C. F ASSEUR, A cheque drawn on a failing bank: the address delivered by Queen
Wilhelmina on 6thj7th December 1942 102
A. MEYNEN, The Great Strike of 1960-61: its economic and socio-political
background 117
C.R. EMERY AND 1.A. KOSSMANN, editors, Survey of recent historical works on
Belgium and the Netherlands published in Dutch 137
Authors and translators 205
Preface
The present volume, number 15 of the Acta Historiae Neerlandicae - which have
been appearing since 1978 under the title The Low Countries History Yearbook - is
the last of the series. Economic reasons force the publishers to discontinue it. This is
a matter for regret. Both the editors of the Yearbook and the board of the Nederlands
Historisch Genootschap, under the auspices of which it has been published, are con-
vinced that the books serve a useful purpose. We hope that in the future more favour-
able circumstances will enable Dutch and Flemish historians to start a second series.
We feel, however, that the Yearbook should not be allowed to disappear com-
pletely. In our opinion, one of its most attractive features has been the 'Survey of
recent historical works on Belgium and the Netherlands published in Dutch.' It is
the intention of the Nederlands Historisch Genootschal'. to seek means to continue
this in another form, probably in that of pamphlets appearing every two years and
written by the same, or a similar, group of experts. In that way we may be able to
provide a useful service to our colleagues abroad.
It is with regret and a certain sadness that we, the editors, stop our work. Before
taking leave, however, we wish to thank all contributors and translators - they make
an impressive list - for the helpfulness and kindness which have enabled us to build
up what we consider, with some satisfaction, to have been a distinguished and well-
known series of books.
J.R. Bruijn
Johanna A. Kossmann
I. SchOffer
J .H. van Stuijvenberg
R. Van Uytven
Els Witte
Changes in the socio-economic status of the Belgian nobility
in the nineteenth century *
J.DEBELDER
During the night which preceded 10th June 1884, when half of the members of the
Chamber faced re-election, the Liberal Party in Brussels and the surrounding areas
distributed posters with the following message:
Bourgeois de Bruxelles et des Faubourgs. La noblesse releve la tete. Les comtes et les barons
rentrent dans la politique. Les oims demandent:l representer les travaill~urs. Bourgeois, prenez
garde :l vous. J usqu':l present vous vous etes occupes vous-memes de la gestion de vos interets.
Les barons et les comtes veulent nous chasser de la Chambre et s'y installer. Bourgeois, debout!
La noblesse ne connait rien aux interets du commerce et de l'industrie. Elle n'aspire qu':l
defendre les interets des couvents et des fabriques d'eglise, que les clericaux veulent enrichir de
votre argent. Bourgeois au scrutin! Nous ne voulons pas de nobles, nous voulons des bourgeois
comme nous. A bas les comtes! A bas les barons!.'
Does this imply that the nobility was still so strong as to constitute real opposition
to the Liberal Party? Or was Its identification with the Catholic Party still regarded as
sufficiently important to serve as an electoral platform, even though it no longer
accorded with reality?2 Were the economic interests of the two parties similar to the
point where the actual contest revolved not around fundamental differences, but
others of a secondary nature? Did the liberals, in their electoral campaign in 1884,
continue to hammer away at the old, familiar issues because, following the passing of
their Education Act in 1879, an attack on the policies of the catholics held little
promise of being successful or effective?
In this article we shall attempt to answer these questions from a socio-economic
standpoint. In particular, we shall examine the changes in the role of large-scale land
ownership, the evolution of the share of the nobility in this, and fmally the gradual
and partial inmtration by the nobility of the sectors of economy to which the middle
classes owed their advance. The changes in the political power of the nobility in the
nineteenth century, and the dissemination and the subsequent corruption of the noble
* This article is a translation of 'Veranderingen in de sociaal-economische positie van de Belgische
adel in de 1ge eeuw', Tijdschri!t voor geschiedenis, XCIII (Groningen, 1980) 483-501.
1. H. Ryckmans, 1884 ou la nouvelle annee des merveilles (Brussels, 1909) 234-5.
2. This propaganda was matched to the political situation in Brussels, where a ne\\< party emerged
which became a focal point for all who were dissatisfied with the Liberal supremacy in the capital
and 'the surrounding parishes. They numbered noblemen among their ranks: L. Wils 'De politieke
ontwikkeling in Belgie 1870-1894', in: Algemene·Geschiedenis der Nederlanden, XIII (Bu8Sum,
1978) 183-5. This identification of the right wing was apparently the sole catalyst for the recon-
ciliation of the sharp contrast between doctrinaire radical elements in the Liberal Party.
J. DE BELDER
mentality will not be dealt with here: the former because the abundance of information
which is scattered throughout the very extensive, contemporary literature and the
numerous historical interpretations warrants a separate contribution; the latter be-
cause too little research has been carried out to justify an attempt at interpretation.
THE POSITION OF THE BELGIAN NOBILITY
The Belgian nobility comprised two groups: individuals or families who were
recognized as such, or who had received letters patent, perhaps conferring a title, from
William I in the period 1815-1830; and those who had been accorded recognition, or
ennobled, by one of the Belgian kings after 20th September 1830. In strictly legal
terms, the ancient and imperial noble classes no longer existed. There was no auto-
matic reconfirmation of these privileged ranks of society which dated from the ancien
regime; and, in contrast to France, no law existed to restore the letters patent, titles
and majorats of the imperial elite. The elevation of persons to the peerage was a royal
prerogative. William I used this fact to maintain control over the nobility, which had
again become a fundamental element of the representative organs in the political
sphere. In Belgium, this form of privilege was dispensed with after 1830, but the rules
of recognition, confirmation, promotion and elevation to the peerage remained in-
tact. 3
A list published as a supplement to the Government Gazette of 19th October 1892
contains the names of 1,812 persons or families who at the time of the reunification
were recognized as nobility. Further research will be necessary in order to establish
which of them had already been ennobled during the ancien regime or the French
occupation, which during the Dutch occupation, and what was the share of the Belgian
nobility in the tota1.4 A further supplement lists all persons or families who, prior to
31st December 1881, during the reigns of Leopold I and Leopold II, had been en-
nobled, with or without a title, accorded recognition, or promoted in rank. Of the 785
deeds, 345, or 44 per cent, related to promotion in rank. The following titles, in as-
cending order of rank, could be acquired: knight, baron, viscount, count, marquis,
duke and prince. In 309 cases, 39 per cent of the total, the deed was a mark of re-
cognition. This did not necessarily imply appreciation of a long period of noble living,
yet it was regarded as more important than the normal elevation to the peerage, and
was interpreted as an attempt by the government to speed up the inclusion of certain
people in the aristocratic elite. The remaining 131 cases, 17 per cent, were concerned
with elevation to the peerage. The procedure and, more specifically, the motives for
recognition and elevation, have not yet been fully investigated. Cursory inspection of
the second supplement, however, leads one to the assumption that the policy towards
3. Ch. Braas, La Legislation nobiliaire en Belgique (Brussels, 1960).
4. 'Etat nominatif et alphabtltique des familles qui font partie de 1a noblesse du Royaume au
31 decembre 1881', Moniteur beige, CCXCII (Brussels, 1882).
2
THE BELGIAN NOBILITY IN THE 19TH CENTURY
ennoblement in the early decades of the Kingdom of Belgium was primarily directed
towards the protection and expansion of 'past glories.' From the 1870s onwards,
industrialists, bankers and those who controlled and implemented the fmancial and
colonial policies of the king increasingly came to be among those chosen for a higher
position in society.
This limited, deliberate advancement of the upper middle class to the realm of the
titled elite served to maintain the level of the nineteenth-century aristocracy. With
the close control of their numbers in that century (the recognition of nobles was sub-
ject to stringent rules and regulations), it soon became clear that this section of the
5
population would rapidly disappear. Amid consternation, the compilers of the
Annuaire de la Noblesse in 1847 concluded that many famous aristocratic families
had died out. They were of the opinion that the Belgian nobility already possessed
the necessary means to ensure its continued existence, namely wealth, education and
refined morals. But in spite of this favourable situation, no less than 134 noble families
vanished in the 23 years between 1825 and 1847.
In 1840 the aristocracy consisted of 1,041 persons or families, of whom fifty per
cent were without title. By 1914 the number had risen to 1,885, of whom fifty-seven
per cent had no title. But no relative increase took place in this period: in 1840 and
in 1914 there were 2.5 noble families per 10,000 inhabitants. The pattern varied from
one province to another, however. One is struck by the steep rise in Brabant and the
manifest decline in Hainault and Luxembourg, both in absolute terms and as a proportion
of the total population (in Brabant from 3.7 families per 10,000 inhabitants to 4.6; in
Hainault from 2.1 to l.2; and in Luxembourg from 2.1 to 0.9). In all probability these
6
changes were related to the powerful attraction of the major cities.
LAND OWNERSHIP, A CHANGE OF ROLE
The development of large-scale land ownership has not so far been studied in depth.
In spite of the stimulating nature of E. Vandervelde's book, written in 1900,7 no
further research has been undertaken in this area. Historians were carried away by the
dynamic expansion of industry, the towns and the proletariat in the factories. Of the
losers, the rural areas, the small tenant farmers and those who worked in the country-
side, they make scarcely any mention, except in great moments of crisis. A thorough
study of the subject, from various angles, is a prerequisite for a sound understanding of
the winning sectors. This applies especially to the evolution oflarge-scale land ownership.
5. C. Vandenbroeke, 'Karakteristieken van het huwelijks- en voortplantingspatroon. Vlaanderen
en Brabant, 17e-1ge eeuw', Ti;dschrift voor sociale geschiedenis, V (Amsterdam, 1976) 128. In the
late eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth, family planning was already well-
established among the nobility: J. De Belder, 'Adel en burgerij 1840-1914', in: Algemene Geschie-
den is der Nederlanden, XII (Bussum, 1977) 78-80.
6. Ibidem, 82-3.
7. E. Vandervelde, La propriete fonciere en Belgique (Paris, 1900).
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