Editing Nord-Pas-de-Calais (section)

==== Franco-Austrian War and the First Empire ====
[[File:Siège_de_Lille_1792.JPG|thumb|[[Siege of Lille (1792)|Siege of Lille]] in 1792]]
The [[French Revolutionary Wars|Franco-Austrian War]] saw Northern France as a significant battleground following the [[Brabant Revolution|Brabant]] and [[Liège Revolution|Liège]] revolutions. France declared war on [[Austria]] in April 1792, leading to the destruction of cities like [[Lille]], [[Dunkirk]], and [[Valenciennes]]. Austrian armies occupied French [[Hainaut Province|Hainaut]] from 1793 to 1794 until the [[French Revolutionary Army|French revolutionary army]] conquered the region and annexed Belgium. The Terror further devastated the area, dismantling structures like the [[Saint-Amand Abbey]] and depriving [[Cambrai]] of its [[Cambrai Cathedral|cathedral]] and [[Gothic architecture|Gothic churches]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pierrard|1978|pp=268–274}}</ref> Under [[Napoleon]], the [[Nord (French department)|Nord department]] made substantial efforts to rebuild and unify administratively and socially. However, after Napoleon's defeat at the [[Battle of Waterloo]] in 1815, the region was occupied by British troops until November 1818.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Pierrard|1978|pp=258–260}}</ref>