Editing History of Belgium (section)

=== Unrest in the southern provinces ===
Protestants controlled the new country, although they formed only a quarter of the population.{{Efn|For a religion map see http://www.quirksmode.org/politics/kuyper.html}} In theory, Roman Catholics had full legal equality; in practice few held high state or military offices. The king insisted that schools in the South end their traditional teaching of Roman Catholic doctrine, even though almost everyone there was of that faith.{{Sfn|Schama|1972|page=86}} Socially, the French-speaking Walloons strongly resented the king's policy to make Dutch the language of government. There was also growing outrage at the king's insensitivity to social differences. According to [[Simon Schama|Schama]], there was growing hostility to the Dutch government.{{Sfn|Schama|1972|page=87}}

Political liberals in the south had their own grievances, especially regarding the king's authoritarian style; he seemed uncaring about the issue of regionalism, flatly vetoing a proposal for a French-language teacher-training college in francophone [[Liège]]. Finally, all factions in the South complained of unfair representation in the national legislature. The south was industrializing faster and was more prosperous than the north, leading to resentment of northern arrogance and political domination.

The outbreak of [[July Revolution|revolution in France]] in 1830 was used as a signal for revolt. The demand at first was Home Rule for "Belgium", as the southern provinces were now being called, rather than separation. Eventually, revolutionaries began demanding total independence.<ref>{{Cite book |first=J. C. H. |last=Blom |first2=E. |last2=Lamberts |display-authors=et al |title=History of the Low Countries |date=1999 |pp=307–312}}</ref>