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| Kingdom of Belgium Koninkrijk België (Dutch) Royaume de Belgique (French) Königreich Belgien (German) | ||||||
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| Motto "Eendracht maakt macht" (Dutch) "L'union fait la force" (French) "Einigkeit macht stark" (German) "Unity makes strength" | ||||||
| Anthem "La Brabançonne" (English: "The Brabantian") | ||||||
Map of Belgium on the eve of World War I
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| Capital | Brussels | |||||
| Languages | Dutch, French, German | |||||
| Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
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| Monarch | ||||||
| - | 1831–1865 | Leopold I | ||||
| - | 1865–1909 | Leopold II | ||||
| - | 1909–1919 | Albert | ||||
| Prime Minister | ||||||
| - | 1831 | Étienne Constantin de Gerlache (first) | ||||
| - | 1911–1919 | Charles de Broqueville (last) | ||||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||||
| History | ||||||
| - | Declaration of independence from the Netherlands | 4 October 1830 | ||||
| - | Recognised | 19 April 1839 | ||||
| - | German invasion and subsequent occupation | 4 August 1914 | ||||
| - | Partitioned into Flanders and Wallonia | 1 April 1919 | ||||
| Currency | Belgian franc | |||||
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The Kingdom of Belgium was a sovereign country that existed from the declaration of independence from the Netherlands in 1830 until its partitioning into Flanders and Wallonia in 1919.
The southern areas of the Netherlands rebelled during the 1830 Belgian Revolution, establishing the Belgian state, officially recognized at the London Conference of 1830. The first King of Belgium, Leopold I, assumed the throne in 1831. Leopold became known domestically for bringing a swift end to the Belgian theater in the Revolutions of 1848, and internationally as pacifying force in European politics, mediating disputes between great powers and maintaining Belgian neutrality.
Belgium's second king, Leopold II, became a controversial figure when he established a colony in south-central Africa, the Congo Free State, as his own personal fief. When the atrocities of his rule became public, he was stripped of control of the colony by the Belgian government, establishing the Belgian Congo. Domestically, Leopold presided over a state known for growing liberal sentiments, with the growth of the labour movement and the establishment of universal male suffrage.
The twentieth century was the end for the Belgian state. Its neutrality was violated during World War I as Germany used the relatively open terrain of Belgium to bypass French defenses. Belgian resistance to the German invaders resulted in the Rape of Belgium. After four years of German occupation, it was agreed to divide the country up into the modern states of Wallonia and Flanders.