Editing History of Belgium (section)

=== Foreign relations and military policy ===
[[File:Medaille Commemorative 1870 71 Belgique AVERS.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[1870–71 Commemorative Medal|Commemorative Medal]] awarded to Belgian soldiers who had served during the [[Franco-Prussian War]].]]
{{See also|Belgium and the Franco-Prussian War}}
In the mid-1860s during the [[Second French intervention in Mexico|"Mexican Adventure"]], around 1,500 Belgian soldiers joined the "Belgian Expeditionary Corps", better known as the [[Belgian Legion#Mexico Expedition|"Belgian Legion"]] to fight for [[Maximilian I of Mexico|Emperor Maximilian I]], whose wife [[Carlota of Mexico|Charlotte]] was the daughter of [[Leopold I of Belgium]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chartrand |first=Rene |url=https://archive.org/details/mexicanadventure00char |title=The Mexican Adventure 1861–67 |date=1994-07-28 |publisher=Bloomsbury USA |isbn=1-8553-2430-X |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mexicanadventure00char/page/n36 36]–7 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

Belgium was not a belligerent in the [[Franco-Prussian War]] 1870–71, but the proximity of the war led to the mobilisation of the army.{{Sfn|Ascherson|1999|pages=78–79}} After the conflict, there was talk of modernising the military. The system of ''[[Remplacement]]'' (whereby wealthy Belgians conscripted into the military could pay for a "replacement") was abolished and an improved system of conscription implemented. These reforms, led by [[Jules d'Anethan|d'Anethan]] under pressure from [[Leopold II of Belgium|Leopold II]], divided Belgian politics. The Catholics united with the Liberals under [[Walthère Frère-Orban|Frère-Orban]] to oppose them, and the reforms were finally defeated when [[Jules d'Anethan|d'Anethan's]] government fell during an unrelated scandal.{{Sfn|Ascherson|1999|page=81}} Eventually, the military was reformed. The 1909 System instituted compulsory military service of eight years on active duty and five years in the reserves. This swelled the size of the Belgian army to over 100,000 well-trained men.<ref name="autogenerated70"/> Construction of a chain of forts along the border was intensified, and let to a series of very modern fortifications, including the so-called "[[National redoubt of Belgium|National redoubt]]" at [[Antwerp]], at the fortified positions of [[Fortified Position of Liège|Liège]] and [[Fortified Position of Namur|Namur]], many of them designed by the Belgian fortress architect, [[Henri Alexis Brialmont]].