Ten Days' Campaign

The Ten Days' Campaign (Dutch: Tiendaagse Veldtocht) (August 2^[1] – August 12, 1831) was a failed attempt to suppress the Belgian revolution by the Dutch king William I.

Prelude

When the Belgian Revolution began in August 1830, Dutch armies stationed in what is now Belgium suffered from extensive desertion by Southern Dutch troops, who were reluctant to fight the people among whom they lived. In total, about two-thirds of the troops stationed in the Southern Netherlands deserted, and the morale of the remaining troops was severely damaged. This, together with the fact that the bulk (and often the best trained part), of the Dutch military was stationed in its colonies, allowed the Belgian revolutionaries to quickly gain control over what is now Belgium.

However, the leaders of the Belgian revolution had grown overconfident because of their early success and had not taken steps to build up a military force of their own.

King William I viewed the failure to suppress the Belgian revolt as an enormous shame and wanted to get revenge on the rebels. Moreover, if a reunification was not possible anymore, he wanted to negotiate peace from a position of strength. When William learned that the rebels had asked Leopold of Saxe-Coburg to be their king, he invaded Belgium.

The campaign

On the morning of August 2 1831, the Dutch crossed the border near Poppel. Belgian scouts had noticed the troops and a number of roads were blocked by cutting the trees down around them. The first skirmishes took place around Nieuwenkerk, the Dutch supreme commander, the Prince of Orange, arrived in the afternoon to support his troops and, at the same time, Zondereigen was taken by the Dutch and some 400 Belgians were repulsed. Around Ravels, the Belgian army was rapidly driven into the surrounding forests by the Dutch and subsequently into a swamp. The Belgians later retreated to Turnhout, allowing the Dutch to set up camp, but the sound of Dutch artillery scared the population of Turnhout and people started to flee towards Antwerp en masse. The next day some 11,000 Dutch soldiers prepared themselves to take Turnhout, while another Dutch army made it seem they were heading for Antwerp (in reality they would attack Turnhout from another direction). In the following battle the Dutch smashed the Belgian forces by breaking their morale early, and after a number of events (the Belgian banner was torn apart by Dutch artillery and a soldier lost a leg to a cannonball), caused the Belgians to flee.

On August 4 Dutch troops took Antwerp, the Brabantic flag was taken down and the Dutch flag was hoisted. The Prince of Orange nevertheless, demanded that the flag be taken down again, because it would symbolise occupation rather than a restoration of Dutch power. At the same time various Dutch armies split up and moved further into Belgium, defeating numerous militias and two regular Belgian armies with ease. The division led by Prince Bernhard then moved upon Geel and Diest, the Third division moved into Limburg. On August 8, the Dutch defeated the Belgian Army of the Meuse near Hasselt. On August 11, the advance guard of the Belgian Army of the Scheldt was defeated near Boutersem. The next day the Dutch army attacked and defeated the Belgians near Leuven.

For the Belgians all seemed lost. However, on August 8, they had decided to ask for French support, despite the request not being formally authorised by the government. A French army under Marshal Gérard crossed the border the very next day. The Dutch had taken a risk by invading Belgium without supporting allies (Russia wanted to assist but experienced trouble with suppressing the Polish revolution and Prussia would not risk sending troops without Russia being able to secure its western borders) and now they faced a possible war with the French and after an intervention by the British, the Dutch halted their advance and a ceasefire was signed on August 12. The last Dutch troops returned to the Netherlands around August 20 and Antwerp would remain occupied until 1832, when it was taken by siege.

Aftermath

Although the Dutch population was largely satisfied with the campaign, King William was now convinced his dream of a United Netherlands was lost. However, due to the campaign, the European powers came to see how fragile Belgium was; and at the final peace negotiations, this resulted in a final division which was more favourable to the Dutch.

References

• "1830, De Geboorte van België – Van Willem I tot Leopold I [1830, The Birth of Belgium – From William I until Leopold I]" (in Dutch). Knack special (Roeselare: Roularta Media Group). 6 September 2005. 
• Prof. dr. E.H. Kossmann (1984) (in Dutch). De Lage Landen 1780–1940. Anderhalve eeuw Nederland en België [The Low Lands 1780–1940. One-and-a-half Century: The Netherlands and Belgium]. Amsterdam/Brussel: Elsevier. ISBN 9010015130. 
• Prof. dr. Els Witte (2006) (in Dutch). De Constructie van België, 1828–1847 [The Construction of Belgium, 1828–1847]. Lannoo. ISBN 90-209-6678-2. 
• Helmut Gaus (2007) (in Dutch). Alexandre Gendebien en de organisatie van de Belgische revolutie van 1830 [Alexandre Gendebien and the Organisation of the Belgian Revolution of 1830]. Gent: Academia Press. ISBN 9038211732.  80 pages.