Amsterdam's Austrian Past: Was It Ever Austrian Territory?

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, a country in Northwestern Europe. The Netherlands is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a unitary structure. The country has a tradition of pillarisation and a long record of social tolerance, having legalised prostitution and euthanasia, along with maintaining a liberal drug policy. The Netherlands is also one of the founding members of the European Union, eurozone, G10, NATO, OECD, and WTO.

On the other hand, Austria is a country in Central Europe, which was dominated by the House of Habsburg and House of Habsburg-Lorraine from 1273 to 1918. The country has a rich history, with its territory being referred to as the Hallstatt Celtic culture in the late Iron Age. The name Ostarrîchi (Austria) has been in use since 996 AD when it was a margravate of the Duchy of Bavaria and from 1156 an independent duchy of the Holy Roman Empire.

Therefore, Amsterdam was never a part of Austria.

The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797

The Austrian Netherlands was a geopolitical entity covering the whole of the Low Countries (the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and most of the modern French départements of Nord and Pas-de-Calais). The territory was divided into four traditional duchies, three counties, and various lordships. The dominant languages were German (including Luxembourgish), Dutch (Flemish), and French, alongside Picard and Walloon.

The Austrian Netherlands was the major portion of the Spanish Netherlands

The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Rastatt in 1714. It lasted until Revolutionary France annexed the territory after the Battle of Sprimont in 1794 and the Peace of Basel in 1795.

The Austrian Netherlands was ruled by the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg, which was the ruling family of the Holy Roman Empire. The Austrian Habsburgs ruled the Austrian Netherlands from 1714 to 1795, when it was lost to the French Republic.

The Austrian Netherlands was divided into four traditional duchies, three counties, and various lordships. The Austrian Netherlands was also known as the "Austrian Netherlands and Burgundy", as the Austrian Habsburgs also ruled the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, which included parts of modern-day France and Germany.

The Austrian Netherlands had a complex political and administrative structure, with the official organ of the region being in Vienna. The Austrian Netherlands had its own Imperial Council of State, which acted as the government and was formed by imperial consent. The Austrian Netherlands also had its own currency, the Vienna Penny.

The Austrian Netherlands experienced economic growth and intellectual growth in the early 17th century. The linen industry quickly recovered from the Spanish reconquest and soon surpassed its former production levels. Flemish painting flourished under artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and others. The major cities of Ghent and Brugge grew rapidly. Agriculture advanced through the digging of canals and the introduction of new crops and harvesting methods.

The Austrian Netherlands also had a significant degree of freedom in internal affairs. They controlled their own judiciary system and set up councils to aid the governor-general. They also enjoyed the privileges established with the Joyeuse Entrée. However, foreign affairs were strictly the domain of the Austrian Habsburg throne.

The Austrian Netherlands was the scene of constant warfare, as it was in the unfortunate position of being a buffer between Protestant and Roman Catholic states. Consequently, it was mercilessly carved up. Northern Brabant, Zeeland, and the region east of the Meuse River were ceded to the United Provinces (Dutch Republic) in 1648. The county of Artois was taken by France in 1659, followed by large southern portions of Hainaut, Luxembourg, and Flanders.

The Austrian Netherlands was ruled by the Austrian Habsburgs until the War of the Spanish Succession (1700-1714), which ended with the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt in 1713/14. The Austrian Netherlands was then ruled by the Austrian Habsburgs until it was annexed by Revolutionary France in 1795.

The Austrian Netherlands was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI

On the death of his elder brother, Emperor Joseph I, in 1711, Charles inherited all the Austrian territories and was elected Holy Roman Emperor. However, his allies, unwilling to tolerate a reestablishment of the empire of Charles V, abandoned him and recognised Philip V of Bourbon as king of Spain by the Treaty of Utrecht (1713). Charles was forced to leave Spain but continued the war against France until 1714, when, by the Treaty of Rastatt, he gained territories in Italy in partial compensation for the loss of Spain.

Charles' chief concern was the regulation of the Habsburg succession. As early as 1713, he had promulgated the Pragmatic Sanction, whereby Austria's lands were to pass undivided to his female heirs in the absence of male progeny. As his only son died early, he bequeathed his inheritance to his eldest daughter, Maria Theresa. Fighting strenuously to wrest agreement from the European powers, he seemed at the time of his death to have accomplished his purpose. However, his expectation proved illusory: Maria Theresa was forced to fight several wars before she could establish herself securely as her father's heiress.

The Austrian Netherlands was annexed to France on October 1, 1795

The Austrian Netherlands, a territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, was annexed to France on October 1, 1795. The Austrian Netherlands, which was previously known as the Spanish Netherlands, was acquired by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy under the Treaty of Rastatt in 1714. The territory was then annexed by Revolutionary France after the Battle of Sprimont in 1794 and the Peace of Basel in 1795.

The Austrian Netherlands was a part of the Low Countries, which was divided between the Dutch Republic in the north and the Southern Netherlands in the south. The Southern Netherlands later became Belgium and Luxembourg. The Austrian Netherlands was ruled by the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg, which began in 1482 and ended for the Northern Netherlands in 1581 and for the Southern Netherlands in 1797.

The Eighty Years' War (1568-1648) led to the division of the Low Countries. The area was held by the Habsburgs but was briefly under Bourbon control during the War of the Spanish Succession. The Austrian Netherlands was ceded to Austria under the Treaty of Rastatt, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession. Administratively, the country was divided into four traditional duchies, three counties, and various lordships.

In the 1780s, opposition emerged to the liberal reforms of Emperor Joseph II, which were perceived as an attack on the Catholic Church and the traditional institutions of the Austrian Netherlands. Resistance grew, focused in the autonomous and wealthy Duchy of Brabant and County of Flanders. In 1787, many opponents took refuge in the neighboring Dutch Republic, where they formed a rebel army. Soon after the outbreak of the French and Liège revolutions, the émigré army crossed into the Austrian Netherlands and defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Turnhout on October 27, 1789. The rebels, supported by uprisings across the territory, soon took control of much of the territory and proclaimed independence. Despite the tacit support of Prussia, the independent United Belgian States, established in January 1790, received no foreign recognition and soon became divided along ideological lines.

By mid-1790, Habsburg Austria ended its war with the Ottoman Empire and prepared to suppress the rebels. The new Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold II, was also a liberal and proposed an amnesty for the rebels. After defeating a Statist army at the Battle of Falmagne on September 22, 1790, the territory was soon overrun and the revolution was defeated by December. The Austrian reestablishment was short-lived, and the territory was overrun by the French in 1794 during the War of the First Coalition after the Battle of Fleurus.

On October 1, 1795, the departments were activated, and the definitive annexation started, liquidating the Belgian Governing Council, which ceased on November 22, 1795. France annexed the Austrian Netherlands from the Holy Roman Empire and integrated them into the French Republic. The commissioner of the Directory, Louis Ghislain de Bouteville du Metz, finished his work on January 20, 1797, after which no common Belgian authority remained. Austria relinquished its claim on the province in 1797 through the Treaty of Campo Formio.

The Austrian Netherlands was merged with the Dutch provinces to become the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815

The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Rastatt in 1714. It lasted until Revolutionary France annexed the territory after the Battle of Sprimont in 1794 and the Peace of Basel in 1795. Austria relinquished its claim on the province in 1797 through the Treaty of Campo Formio.

The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) later led to a division of the Low Countries between the Dutch Republic in the north and the Southern Netherlands, which later became Belgium and Luxembourg. The area had been held by the Habsburgs, but was briefly under Bourbon control in the War of the Spanish Succession. Under the Treaty of Rastatt (1714) which ended that war, the remainder of the Spanish Netherlands was ceded to Austria. Administratively, the country was divided into four traditional duchies, three counties and various lordships.

In 1813, the Netherlands was liberated from French rule by Prussian and Russian troops during the Napoleonic Wars. It was taken for granted that any new regime would have to be headed by the son of the last Dutch stadhouder, William Frederik of Orange-Nassau. A provisional government was formed, most of whose members had helped drive out the House of Orange 18 years earlier. However, they realised that it would be better in the long term to offer leadership of the new government to William Frederik themselves rather than have him imposed by the allies. Accordingly, William Frederick was installed as the "sovereign prince" of a new Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands. The future of the Southern Netherlands, however, was less clear. In June 1814, the Great Powers secretly agreed to the Eight Articles of London which allocated the region to the Dutch as William had advocated. That August, William Frederik was made Governor-General of the Southern Netherlands and the Prince-Bishop of Liège, which combined are almost all of what is now Belgium. For all intents and purposes, William Frederik had completed his family's three-century dream of uniting the Low Countries under a single rule.

Discussions on the future of the region were still ongoing at the Congress of Vienna when Napoleon attempted to return to power in the "Hundred Days". William used the occasion to declare himself king on 16 March 1815 as William I. After the Battle of Waterloo, discussions continued.

In exchange for the Southern Netherlands, William agreed to cede the Principality of Orange-Nassau and parts of the Liège to Prussia on 31 May 1815. In exchange, William also gained control over the Duchy of Luxembourg, which was elevated to a grand duchy and placed in personal union with the Netherlands, though it remained part of the German Confederation.

The United Kingdom of the Netherlands was created in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars through the fusion of territories that had belonged to the former Dutch Republic, Austrian Netherlands, and Prince-Bishopric of Liège in order to form a buffer state between the major European powers. The polity was a constitutional monarchy, ruled by William I of the House of Orange-Nassau.

The polity collapsed in 1830 with the outbreak of the Belgian Revolution. With the de facto secession of Belgium, the Netherlands was left as a rump state and refused to recognise Belgian independence until 1839 when the Treaty of London was signed, fixing the border between the two states and guaranteeing Belgian independence and neutrality as the Kingdom of Belgium. Today, the Netherlands and Belgium are still kingdoms.

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