Editing Quiévrain (section)

==Revolutions of 1848==
Shortly after the [[French Revolution of 1848]], Belgian migrant workers living in Paris were encouraged to return to Belgium to overthrow the monarchy and establish a republic.<ref name=Chastain>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Chastain|first=James|title=Belgium in 1848|url=http://www.ohio.edu/chastain/ac/belgium.htm|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions|publisher=[[Ohio University]]|access-date=16 December 2013}}</ref> Around 6,000 émigrés, coming from Paris, formed the "[[Belgian Legion#French Revolution of 1848|Belgian Legion]]". The legion was armed by some of the administrative authorities of [[Lille]], and intended to penetrate into Belgium to "raise the people" and overthrow the [[Belgian monarchy]]. It is likely that the revolutionaries had the support of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the [[French Second Republic]], which had only recently been installed and was still very militant.

The first group, travelling by train, was stopped and quickly disarmed at Quiévrain on 26 March 1848.<ref name=Ascherson201>{{cite book|last=Ascherson|first=Neal|author-link=Neal Ascherson|title=The King Incorporated: Leopold the Second and the Congo|year=1999|publisher=Granta|location=London|isbn=1862072906|edition=New|pages=20–1}}</ref> The second group crossed into Belgium and was defeated in the [[Risquons-Tout incident]].