Peasants' War (1798)

The Peasants' War (French: Guerre des Paysans, Dutch: Boerenkrijg, German: Klöppelkrieg, Luxembourgish: Klëppelkrich) was a peasant revolt in 1798 against the French occupiers of the Southern Netherlands, a region which now includes Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Germany. The French had annexed the region in 1795 and control of the region was officially ceded to the French after the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797.[2][3] The revolt is considered part of the French Revolutionary Wars.

Peasants' War
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars[lower-alpha 1]

Peasants gathering, Constantin Meunier (1875)
Date12 October 1798 – 5 December 1798
(1 month and 23 days)
Location
Southern Netherlands annexed by the French Republic
[lower-alpha 2]
Result French republican victory
Belligerents
French Republic Counter-revolutionary peasants
Commanders and leaders
Claude-Sylvestre Colaud

Pieter Corbeels 
Emmanuel Rollier

Charles de Loupoigne †
Casualties and losses
In Flanders, c.15,000 dead
In Luxembourg, 200–300[1]

Motivations for war

After the Southern Netherlands was annexed by France, the French revolutionaries began to implement their policies regarding the Catholic Church. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy required that priests take an oath of allegiance to the state. Priests who refused such an oath (non-juring priests) were considered to be enemies of the state and could be removed from their positions and homes.[2] Additionally, in early 1798, the French Council of Five Hundred passed a law requiring compulsory military service. This law ordered the conscription of men between the ages of 20 and 25 in all French territories. General conscription like this was a relatively new product of the French Revolution, and was met with anger by the men who were forced into service.[4]

By region

Flanders

The majority of the conflict during the Peasants' War occurred in Flanders (Lys and Scheldt départements) and Brabant (Deux-Nèthes and Dyle départements). Referred to as the Boerenkrijg, it is referenced by some historians as a Belgian national revolt, and an indication of a desire for independence by Belgium.[2][3]

Episode from the Peasants' War by Théophile Lybaert

In Flanders the revolt was somewhat organized, with the people seeking aid from foreign nations such as England and Prussia. The revolution began on 12 October 1798, with peasants taking up arms against the French in Overmere. Initially the rebellion was somewhat successful, however, lacking proper arms and training it was crushed less than two months later, on 5 December, in Hasselt. An estimated 5,000–10,000 people were killed during the uprising. Additionally, there were 170 executions of the leaders of the rebellion.[5]

Luxembourg

In Luxembourg (Forêts département), the revolt was called Klëppelkrich. This revolt quickly spread, consuming most of West Eifel.[6] The primary combatants in Luxembourg were the peasantry. The middle and upper classes were not driven to revolt as the anti-clericalism and the modernisation brought by the French Revolution were somewhat beneficial to them.[6]

Lacking both financial support from the middle classes, and proper military training, the peasants were quickly put down by the French occupation force. Ninety-four insurgents were tried and of those, 42 were executed.[7]

In later culture
  • De Boerenkrijg: an 1853 novel by Hendrik Conscience
  • Episodes of the war were depicted by the 19th century Belgian artist and sculptor Constantin Meunier. The war has been romanticized in some cases as a proper Belgian revolution, as it was a major uprising fighting for independence from external rule.

See also

Notes
  1. In between the War of the First Coalition and the War of the Second Coalition
  2. Modern-day Belgium, Luxembourg and German border lands

References
  1. "De Verlaf vum Klëppelkrich" (in Luxembourgish). Histoprim. Archived from the original on 13 January 2007. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
  2. Andre de Vries (16 May 2007). Flanders: A Cultural History. Oxford University Press. pp. 10–. ISBN 978-0-19-983733-5.
  3. Ganse, Alexander. "The Flemish Peasants War of 1798". World History at KMLA. Korean Minjok Leadership Academy. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  4. Trausch (2002), p. 205
  5. Orts 1863, p. 211
  6. Kreins (2003), p. 66
  7. Brown, Howard (June 2005). "Revolt and Repression in the Midi Toulousain". French History. 19 (2): 252. doi:10.1093/fh/cri013.

Further reading
  • Kreins, Jean-Marie (2003). Histoire du Luxembourg (in French) (3rd ed.). Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. ISBN 978-2-13-053852-3.
  • Trausch, Gilbert (2002). Histoire du Luxembourg (in French). Paris: Privat. ISBN 978-2-7089-4773-3.
  • Orts, Auguste (1863). La Guerre des Paysans, 1798–1799..
  • Schrever, Rudi (11 August 2010). "The Peasants' War (1798)". historiek.net. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
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