Editing Scheldt (section)

==History==
[[File:Antwerp across the Scheldt, photochrom.png|thumb|The Scheldt at Antwerp, photochrom, ca.&nbsp;1890-1900]]
[[File:1593 Valckenborch Ansicht von Antwerpen mit zugefrorener Schelde anagoria.JPG|thumb|"View of Antwerp with the frozen Scheldt" (1590) by [[Lucas van Valckenborch]]]]
[[File:Truman Byrnes greeting HMS Hambledon 1945.jpg|thumb|U.S. President [[Harry S. Truman]] and Secretary of State [[James F. Byrnes]] wave at [[HMS Hambledon (L37)|HMS ''Hambledon'']] while on board the [[USS Augusta (CA-31)|USS ''Augusta'']] on the river Scheldt as they head to the [[Potsdam Conference]] on 15 July 1945]] 
[[File:Scheldt aerial NW of Antwerp.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the Scheldt estuary, looking toward Antwerp from the northwest]]

The Scheldt estuary has always had considerable commercial and strategic importance. Called ''Scaldis'' in [[Roman Empire|Roman]] times, it was important for the shipping lanes to [[Roman Britain]]. [[Nehalennia]] was venerated at its mouth. The [[Franks]] took control over the region about the year 260 and at first interfered with the Roman supply routes as pirates. Later they became allies of the Romans. With the various divisions of the [[Frankish Empire]] in the 9th&nbsp;century, the Scheldt eventually became the border between the Western and Eastern parts of the Empire, which later became France and the [[Holy Roman Empire]].{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

This status quo remained intact, at least on paper, until 1528, but by then, both the [[County of Flanders]] on the western bank and Zeeland and the [[Duchy of Brabant]] on the east were part of the [[Habsburg]] possessions of the [[Seventeen Provinces]]. Antwerp was the most prominent harbour in Western Europe. After this city [[Fall of Antwerp (1584-1585)|fell back under Spanish control]] in 1585, the [[Dutch Republic]] took control of [[Zeelandic Flanders]], a strip of land on the left bank, and closed the Scheldt for shipping. That shifted the trade to the ports of [[Amsterdam]] and [[Middelburg, Zeeland|Middelburg]] and seriously crippled Antwerp, an important and traumatic element in the history of relations between the Netherlands and what was to become Belgium.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

Access to the river was the subject of the brief [[Kettle War]] of 1784, and during the [[French Revolution]] shortly afterwards, the river was reopened in 1792. Once Belgium had claimed its [[Belgian revolution|independence]] from the Netherlands in 1830, the treaty of the Scheldt determined that the river should remain accessible to ships heading for Belgian [[port]]s. Nevertheless, the Dutch government would demand a [[fee|toll]] from passing vessels until 16 July 1863.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Avalon Project - Belgian-American Diplomacy - Convention for the Extinguishment of the Scheldt Dues: July 20, 1863 |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/bel004.asp |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=avalon.law.yale.edu}}</ref>

''The Question of the Scheldt'', a study providing "a history of the international legal arrangements governing the Western Scheldt", was prepared for the use of British negotiators at the [[Treaty of Versailles]] in 1919.<ref>{{Cite book
| publisher = H.M. Stationery Office
| last = Prothero
| first = G W
| title = Question of the Scheldt
| location = London
| series = Peace handbooks
| access-date = 2014-06-03
| date = 1920
| url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/9195/
}}</ref>

In the [[World War II|Second World War]], the Scheldt estuary once again became a contested area. Despite Allied control of [[Antwerp]], German forces still occupied fortified positions in September 1944 throughout the Scheldt estuary west and north, preventing any Allied shipping from reaching the port. In the [[Battle of the Scheldt]], the [[Canadian First Army]] successfully cleared the area, allowing supply convoys direct access to the port of Antwerp by November 1944.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Terrible Victory: First Canadian Army and the Scheldt Estuary Campaign: September 13 - November 6, 1944|last=Zuehlke|first=Mark|publisher=Douglas & McIntyre|year=2009|isbn=978-1771620307|pages=460}}</ref>