National Congress of Belgium
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The Belgian National Congress was a temporary legislative assembly in 1830, established shortly after the Provisional Government of Belgium had proclaimed Belgian independence on October 4 of that year. Its primary task was to create a constitution for the newly formed state.
The National Congress was elected by approximately 30,000 voters on November 3, 1830 and consisted of 200 members. Its president was Baron Erasme Louis Surlet de Chokier.
The assembly chose a constitutional popular monarchy as the form of government for Belgium and chose the son of the French king Louis-Philippe, Louis, Duke of Nemours, as the new head of state. Other candidates included Auguste de Beauharnais and Archduke Charles of Austria, the last Governor-General of the Austrian Netherlands. The choice of Louis, Duke of Nemours, was unacceptable to the government of the United Kingdom and another candidate had to be found. Baron Surlet de Chokier was appointed Regent while awaiting a new decision and was replaced as president of the National Congress by Etienne Constantin, Baron de Gerlache. Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was definitively chosen to become the first King of the Belgians. The National Congress appointed him king on June 4 and six weeks later he was sworn in by swearing allegiance to the Belgian constitution in front of the Sint Jacobs Church at Coudenbergh Place in Brussels. This day (July 21) has since been the National holiday for Belgium.
The Constitution of Belgium, which was very progressive for its time, was accepted on February 7, 1831. The Provisional Government was subsequently dismantled. The National Congress itself remained in place until the official elections of a first Parliament on September 8, 1831. A monument in Brussels, the Congress Column, was erected in its honour. On the base of the Congress-column, there are four bronze statues that represent the four basic freedoms enshrined in the Belgian Constitution of 1831: freedom of religion, association, education and the press.
These four basic freedoms are also reflected in the streets of Brussels. There are four streets that lead to the Place de la Liberté/Vrijheidsplein (Freedom Square): the Rue des Cultes/Eredienststraat (Religion Street), the Rue de l'Association/Verenigingsstraat (Association Street), the Rue de l'Enseignement/Onderrichtstraat (Education Street) and the Rue de la Presse/Drukpersstraat (Press Street).
