The Treaty of London of 1839, also called the Convention of 1839, was signed on April 19, 1839. In this treaty, the European powers recognised the independence and neutrality of Belgium. Its main historical significance was Article VII, which required Belgium to remain perpetually neutral, and by implication committed the signatory powers to guard that neutrality in the event of invasion. April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ... 1839 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... A neutral country takes no side in a war between other parties, and in return hopes to avoid being attacked by either of them. ...

Territorial consequences of the treaty

Since 1815, Belgium had been a part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. With the treaty, the southern provinces of the Netherlands became the Kingdom of Belgium, while the province of Limburg was split into Belgian and Dutch parts. The same happened to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg which in turn was split into a Belgian part and the current Grand Duchy which was under a personal union with the Netherlands under King William III until 1867. Zeeuws-Vlaanderen was detached from Belgium as well and became part of the Dutch province of Zeeland because the Dutch didn't want Belgium to have co-control of the Scheldt estuarium. In return they had to guarantee the free navigation on the Scheldt into the Port of Antwerp. Map of the kingdom United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815 - 1830) (1839) (Dutch: Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, French: Royaume-Uni des Pays-Bas and German: Vereinigte Königreich der Niederlande) were the unofficial names used to refer to a new unified European state created during the Congress of Vienna in... Limburg is the name of two different adjoining provinces: Limburg (Netherlands) in the south of the Netherlands, its capital is Maastricht. ... // Pre-1800s The recorded history of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg begins with the construction of Luxembourg Castle in the middle ages. ... Motto: Luxembourgish: Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn (English: We wish to remain what we are) Anthem: Ons Heemecht (Our Homeland) Capital Luxembourg Largest city Luxembourg Official language(s) French, German, Luxembourgish (de jure since 1984) Government Grand Duke Prime minister Grand duchy Grand Duke Henri (List) Jean-Claude... King William III (Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk of Orange-Nassau) (February 17, 1817 – November 23, 1890) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1849–1890). ... Satellite image of the Scheldt delta Zeeuws-Vlaanderen is the part of the Netherlands on the left shore of the Scheldt river (here called Westerschelde), nr. ... Capital Middelburg Queens Commissioner drs. ... The Scheldt (Dutch: Schelde, French Escaut) is a 350 km[1] long river that finds its origin in the north of France, enters Belgium and near Antwerp flows west into the Netherlands towards the North Sea. ...

The Treaty of London also guaranteed Belgium the right of transit by rail or canal over Dutch territory as an outway to the German Ruhr. This became actual again in 2005 when on May 24, 2005 the Permanent Court of Arbitration reaffirmed this right in a dispute between Belgium and the Netherlands on the Ijzeren Rijn ('Iron Rhine') railway track. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), also known as the Hague Tribunal is an international organization based in The Hague in the Netherlands. ...

Significance of the Treaty

Belgium's de facto independence had been established through nine years of intermittent fighting, the Belgian Revolution. The signatories of the treaty (the United Kingdom, Austria, France, Prussia, Russia, and the Netherlands) now officially recognized the independent Kingdom of Belgium, and (at the United Kingdom's insistence) agreed to its neutrality. Episode of the Belgian Revolution of 1830, Egide Charles Gustave Wappers (1834), in the Musée dArt Ancien, Brussels The Belgian Revolution was a conflict in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands that began with a riot in Brussels in August 1830 and eventually led to the establishment of... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (Old Prussian: Prūsa, German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: Prūsai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad...

The treaty was an important document, especially in its role in bringing about World War I. When the Germans invaded Belgium in August 1914 in violation of the Treaty, the British declared war on August 4. Informed by the British ambassador that Britain would go to war with Germany over the latter's violation of Belgium neutrality, German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg infamously exclaimed in frustration that he could not believe that Britain and Germany would be going to war over a mere "scrap of paper." Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead:5 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:8 million Military dead:4 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:7 million The First World... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ... Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg (November 29, 1856–January 1, 1921) was a German politician and statesman who served as Chancellor of the German Empire from 1909 to 1917. ...

Some people feel, however, that the United Kingdom did not go to war to simply honour their treaties. Such opinions insist that the British declaration of war was a logical consequence of the German-British tensions and of the Franco-British Entente cordiale and that Belgium was merely an alibi to British entrance in the war. The Entente Cordiale (French for friendly understanding) is a series of agreements signed on April 8, 1904, between the United Kingdom and France. ...

See also

Treaty of London, a list of other treaties of London. Treaty of London may refer to: Treaty of London, 1359 ceding western France to England, repudiated by the Estates-General in Paris, 19 May 1359 Treaty of London, 1604 between England and Spain Treaty of London, 1700, also known as the Second Partition Treaty. ...