William I of the Netherlands

:For other men at some time in history called "William I of Orange-Nassau", see William of Orange

Principal changes

The States-General was divided in two chambers. The Eerste Kamer (First Chamber or Senate or House of Lords) was appointed by the King. The Tweede Kamer (Second Chamber or House of Representatives or House of Commons) was elected by the Provincial States, which were in turn chosen by census suffrage. The 110 seats were divided equally (55:55) between the North and the South (Northern pop.: about 2 million, Southern pop.: about 3,5 million). The States-General's function basically came down to approving the King's laws and decrees. The constitution contained many present-day Dutch political institutions, however their function and way of election have changed greatly over the years.

Related Topics:
States-General - Census suffrage

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A problem with the constitution was the under-representation of the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). This under-representation was one of the causes of the Belgian Revolution. Understandably, the constitution was accepted in the North and rejected in the South. Especially in the South, the referendum turn-out was low. William abused this for a sort of "Dutch mathematics": he declared all abstainees "YES" voters. He planned a lavish inauguration for himself in Brussels, where he gave the people copper mints (his first nickname was Copper King).

Related Topics:
Belgium - Brussels

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The spearhead of King William's policies was economic progress. As he founded many trade institutions, his second nickname was King-Merchant. Especially in the South, industry flourished. The Northern provinces were the centre of trade. This, in combination with the colonies (Dutch East Indies, Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles) created great wealth for the Kingdom. However, the money flowed into the hands of Dutch directors. Only a few Belgians managed to take profit from the economic growth. Herein lies another cause for the Belgian uprising. William also built personal wealth out of the country's industrial wealth.

Related Topics:
Dutch East Indies - Surinam - Netherlands Antilles

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Officially Church and State were separated. However, William himself was strongly Reformed. This led to some resentment among the people in the South, who were Catholic. William had also devised controversial language and school policies. Dutch was imposed as the official language in (the Dutch-speaking region of) Flanders. For the Flemish, this wasn't too much of a problem, but it was unacceptable for French-speaking aristocrats and industrial workers. Schools throughout the Kingdom were forced to teach the Reformed religion and the Dutch language. Catholics feared that the King sought to exterminate Catholicism and the French language.

Related Topics:
Catholic - Dutch - Flanders

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