Battles & Campaigns · 1839
Treaty of London (1839)
London, United Kingdom
What happened
Britain, France, Austria, Prussia, Russia, the Netherlands and Belgium signed the treaty. Belgium had broken away from the Netherlands in a revolution in 1830. In London the great powers and the Netherlands finally recognised Belgium as an independent country. Belgium had to stay neutral forever, and the powers promised to guarantee that.
Why it matters
Why it matters: The treaty made Belgium's independence official. In 1914 Britain used Germany's invasion of neutral Belgium as a reason to go to war, and a German leader reportedly called the treaty a 'scrap of paper'.
What came next
Luxembourg and Limburg were divided. In 2005 an international court said parts of the treaty still applied to a Belgian railway across the Netherlands.
Timeline
- 25 August 1830An opera performance in Brussels sparks the Belgian Revolution.
- 21 July 1831Leopold I takes his oath as king of the Belgians.
- 19 April 1839The Treaty of London is signed.
- 4 August 1914Britain declares war after Germany invades Belgium.