Eight Articles of London - Aftermath

Aftermath

William appointed a lieutenant-governor-general of the Belgian provinces on August 1, 1814. He subsequently tried to get the assent of the (carefully selected) representatives of the Belgian people to the Dutch constitution, but encountered opposition from those who were suspicious of designs to undermine the position of the Catholic Church in those provinces. While this process of negotiation dragged on, Napoleon escaped from his exile on the island of Elba, which started the "Hundred Days"). This period of turmoil prompted William to proclaim himself King of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on March 16, 1815. While the danger of a Napoleonic restoration still existed, days before the Battle of Waterloo, which took place on the territory of the new state, the formation of that state was homologated, that is, certified, by the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna on June 9, 1815. After Napoleon's defeat on June 18, the process of approving the constitution by the Belgians was finally forced by the expedient of counting abstentions, and the no-votes that were cast because of religious concerns, in a plebiscite on August 18, as "tacit approval." This allowed William to be inaugurated formally as King of the new kingdom on September 21, 1815.