Duchy of Limburg (1839-1866)

Infobox Former Country
native_name = "Hertogdom Limburg" (nl)
"Herzogtum Limburg" (de)
conventional_long_name = Duchy of Limburg
common_name = Limburg
continent = Europe
region = Low Countries
country = Netherlands
era = German Confederation
status = Vassal
status_text = State of the German Confederation

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government_type = Principality
event_start = 1st Treaty of London
year_start = 1839
date_start = April 19
event_end = 2nd Treaty of London
year_end = 1867
date_end = May 11
p1 = Province of Limburg
flag_p1 = Flag of the Netherlands.svg
s1 = Limburg (Netherlands)
flag_s1 = Flag of the Netherlands.svg




image_map_caption = Exchange in 1839 of Western Luxembourg (4) to Belgium (3) against the Duchy of Limburg (2) of the Netherlands (1) to the German Confederation.
capital = Maastricht
latd=50 |latm=37 |latNS=N |longd=5 |longm=56 |longEW=E
common_languages = Dutch, German
religion = Roman Catholicism
leader1 = King William I
year_leader1 = 1839 – 1840
leader2 = King William II
year_leader2 = 1840 – 1849
leader3 = King William III
year_leader3 = 1849 – 1866
title_leader = Duke of LimburgThe Duchy of Limburg was created and formed from the eastern part of the Province of Limburg as a result of the Treaty of London in 1839. De jure it was a separate polity in personal union with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and until 1866 it was also a part of the German Confederation. This new "Duchy of Limburg" should not be confused with the old Duchy of Limburg, which had ceased to exist in 1794.

Formation

After the occupation by the French army in 1794, the old Habsburg Duchy of Limburg was disbanded and became part of the département of Meuse-Inférieure. Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, the former départements Meuse-Inférieure and Ourte were merged to form the Province of Limburg within the newly founded United Kingdom of the Netherlands, corresponding to the present states of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. That province covered an area much larger than and somewhat different from the former duchy, and Limburg's namesake town of Limbourg was located in the province of Liège.

In the Belgian Revolution of 1830 the Catholic, French and Dutch-speaking Belgians split away from the mainly Calvinist, Dutch Netherlands. Except for the provincial city of Maastricht and the town of Venlo, the province was almost entirely under Belgian rule. However, by the Treaty of London of 1839, the province was divided in two, with the eastern part going to the Netherlands and the western part to Belgium, a division that remains today.

With the Treaty of London, what is now the Belgian Province of Luxembourg was handed over to Belgium and removed from the German Confederation. To appease Prussia, which had also lost access to the Meuse after the Congress of Vienna, the Dutch province of Limburg, was joined to the German Confederation between September 5, 1839 and August 23, 1866 as the Duchy of Limburg, and during this period the duchy existed as a separate polity in personal union with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

However, the cities of Maastricht and Venlo were excluded and remained outside the German Confederation, based on that the population figures should not exceede those of the Belgian province of Luxembourg, at 150,000. [de icon [http://www.hgisg-ekompendium.ieg-mainz.de/Dokumentation_Datensaetze/Multimedia/Sonstige_Gebiete/Limburg.pdf Limburg (1839-1865)] ]

Dissolution

The Seven Week's War between Austria and Prussia in 1866 led to the collapse of the German Confederation. To clarify the position of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Duchy of Limburg that were possessions of the Dutch king, but which had also been member states of the confederation, the Second Treaty of London in 1867 affirmed that both Luxembourg and Limburg were henceforth to be considered "integral parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands". Limburg was incorporated into the Netherlands as a province, and Luxembourg joined the German customs union, the Zollverein, in which it would remain a member until January 1, 1919.

The style "Duchy of Limburg" continued to be used in some official capacities until February 1907. Another idiosyncrasy that survives to this day is where the head of the province, referred to as the "Queen's Commissioner" in other provinces, is addressed as "Governor" in Limburg.

References

External links

* [http://www.blikopdewereld.nl/Geschiedenis/Historische%20Onderwerpen/deel_11_een_geschiedenis_van_ned.htm History of Limburg during the German Confederation] Website of the History of the Netherlands by historian Dr. J.W.Swaen