United Belgian States

The United Belgian States, also known as the United States of Belgium, was a short-lived confederal republic in the Southern Netherlands, in modern Belgium, created during the Brabant Revolution. It existed from January to December 1790 as part of an unsuccessful revolt against the reforms of the Habsburg Emperor Joseph II. Joseph's centralizing measures, including the abolition of traditional privileges, the reform of the church and the imposition of German as an administrative language, provoked widespread resistance among the clergy, nobles and urban guilds. In October 1789 the patriots defeated the Austrian garrison at Turnhout and took Brussels, and on 11 January 1790 the representatives of the provinces proclaimed the United Belgian States. The new state was a loose confederation in which each province retained extensive autonomy, and the rivalry between the conservative Statists and the more radical Vonckists paralysed its government. Austrian forces reoccupied the country in late 1790, and the republic collapsed after the Battle of Falmagne in December.