Netherlands vs Belgium Timeline

Netherlands 38

12 BC Romans reach the Rhine Frontier of the Empire Roman armies under Drusus campaign along the Rhine, which becomes the northern frontier (limes) of the Empire. Settlements such as Nijmegen and Utrecht grow from Roman roots.
695 Willibrord, Apostle of the Frisians Christianisation begins The missionary Willibrord is consecrated bishop and establishes Utrecht as a centre of Christianity, beginning the conversion of the Frisian and Frankish lands.
1287 St. Lucia's Flood The Zuiderzee is born A catastrophic storm surge kills tens of thousands and tears open the Zuiderzee, reshaping the coastline — an early chapter in the Dutch struggle against the sea.
1421 St. Elizabeth's Flood Villages lost to the water The St. Elizabeth's Flood drowns the Grote Waard in Holland, submerging dozens of villages and creating the Biesbosch wetlands.
1566 The Beeldenstorm Iconoclastic fury Calvinist crowds storm Catholic churches across the Low Countries, smashing images and altars — the spark that hardens Spanish repression and ignites open revolt.
1572 Capture of Den Briel The Sea Beggars The Watergeuzen (Sea Beggars) seize the town of Den Briel, the first lasting rebel foothold and a turning point in the war against Spain.
1579 Union of Utrecht Northern provinces unite The northern provinces of the Low Countries sign the Union of Utrecht, forming a political and military alliance against Habsburg Spain — a foundational step toward the Dutch Republic.
1581 Act of Abjuration Independence from Spain declared With the Plakkaat van Verlatinghe, the rebelling provinces formally renounce allegiance to King Philip II of Spain — in effect a declaration of independence.
1584 Assassination of William of Orange The father of the fatherland William the Silent, leader of the revolt, is shot dead in Delft by Balthasar Gérard — the first head of state assassinated with a handgun. He is remembered as the Vader des Vaderlands.
1602 – 1799 Rise and fall of the VOC Two centuries of empire Across nearly two centuries the VOC builds a trading empire from the Cape to Japan before collapsing under debt and corruption, dissolved in 1799.
1602 Dutch East India Company (VOC) founded World's first multinational The VOC is chartered, becoming the world's first multinational corporation and the engine of Dutch global trade, with its own fleets, colonies and currency.
1609 Twelve Years' Truce & Bank of Amsterdam Commercial powerhouse A truce with Spain brings respite, while the Amsterdamsche Wisselbank (founded 1609) makes Amsterdam the financial centre of Europe.
1621 Dutch West India Company (WIC) Atlantic trade & colonies The WIC is chartered to wage trade and war in the Atlantic, founding New Amsterdam (later New York) and driving Dutch involvement in the Americas and the slave trade.
1648 Peace of Westphalia Independence recognised The Peace of Westphalia ends the Eighty Years' War and formally recognises the independence of the Dutch Republic, sealing its emergence as a sovereign power.
1648 The Golden Age at its height Rembrandt, Vermeer & science The mid-17th century sees an extraordinary flourishing of painting (Rembrandt, Vermeer), science (Huygens) and philosophy (Spinoza), funded by global trade.
1667 Raid on the Medway Dutch navy humbles England In the Anglo-Dutch Wars, Admiral Michiel de Ruyter's fleet raids the Medway and tows away the English flagship — the high-water mark of Dutch naval power.
1672 Rampjaar (Disaster Year) Invaded on all sides In the "Disaster Year" the Republic is attacked by France, England and two German bishoprics at once. The Dutch say the people were "redeloos, radeloos en reddeloos" — irrational, desperate and beyond saving.
1688 The Glorious Revolution A Dutchman on the English throne Stadtholder William III sails to England and, with his wife Mary, takes the English throne — binding Dutch and British fortunes for a generation.
1795 Batavian Republic French revolutionary era French revolutionary forces and Dutch Patriots establish the Batavian Republic, ending the old Republic and beginning two decades of French-aligned and then Napoleonic rule.
1815 Kingdom of the Netherlands United Kingdom under William I After Napoleon's defeat, the Congress of Vienna creates the United Kingdom of the Netherlands under William I, uniting the northern and southern Low Countries and Luxembourg.
1830 Belgium secedes Southern provinces break away The Belgian Revolution splits the southern provinces from the Kingdom, reducing the Netherlands roughly to its present northern borders.
1839 First railway: Amsterdam–Haarlem The industrial age arrives The Netherlands' first railway opens between Amsterdam and Haarlem, beginning the slow industrialisation of a nation long built on trade and agriculture.
1848 Birth of the constitutional monarchy Power shifts to parliament Amid Europe's revolutions, King William II accepts Thorbecke's reforms, transforming the Netherlands into a modern constitutional monarchy.
1848 Constitution of Thorbecke Parliamentary democracy Johan Rudolph Thorbecke's liberal constitution makes the monarch's ministers accountable to parliament, laying the foundation of Dutch parliamentary democracy.
1863 Abolition of slavery Emancipation in the colonies The Netherlands abolishes slavery in Suriname and the Caribbean colonies, freeing tens of thousands — though with a ten-year forced "apprenticeship".
1914 – 1918 Neutral in the Great War An island of peace The Netherlands stays neutral throughout the First World War, sheltering nearly a million Belgian refugees while struggling with shortages.
1917 Universal suffrage & the Pacification Mass democracy The Pacification of 1917 settles the school funding struggle and ushers in proportional representation; universal male (1917) and female (1919) suffrage follow.
1932 The Afsluitdijk Taming the Zuiderzee The 32-km Afsluitdijk is completed, closing off the Zuiderzee to create the freshwater IJsselmeer and vast new polders — a landmark of Dutch hydraulic engineering.
1940 – 1945 German occupation in WWII Hongerwinter & liberation Nazi Germany occupies the neutral Netherlands from 1940; the country endures the deportation of its Jewish population and the 1944–45 "Hunger Winter" before liberation in May 1945.
1944 Operation Market Garden A bridge too far The Allied airborne assault to seize the Rhine bridges fails at Arnhem, leaving the north under occupation through the deadly Hunger Winter of 1944–45.
1949 Indonesian independence End of empire in the East After four years of war, the Netherlands recognises the independence of Indonesia, ending three and a half centuries of colonial presence in the East Indies.
1953 North Sea Flood The Watersnoodramp A catastrophic North Sea storm surge floods Zeeland and South Holland, killing more than 1,800 people and prompting the Delta Works — among the largest flood-defence projects in history.
1957 Founding member of the EEC Treaty of Rome The Netherlands is a founding member of the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the European Union, cementing its post-war turn toward European integration.
1980 Accession of Queen Beatrix Modern monarchy Queen Beatrix accedes to the throne, reigning until her abdication in 2013 in favour of her son Willem-Alexander, the first Dutch king in over a century.
1997 Treaty of Amsterdam Deepening the EU The Treaty of Amsterdam, signed in the Dutch capital, reforms the European Union — one of several EU milestones hosted by the Netherlands.
2001 First country to legalise same-sex marriage A social first The Netherlands becomes the first country in the world to open civil marriage to same-sex couples, reflecting its long liberal-progressive tradition.
2008 Completion of the Delta Works Defending the lowland The Maeslantkering and the wider Delta Works — begun after the 1953 flood — are completed, among the largest storm-surge defences ever built.
2013 King Willem-Alexander A king after three queens Queen Beatrix abdicates in favour of her son Willem-Alexander, who becomes the first Dutch king since 1890 after more than a century of queens.

Belgium 36

57 BC Caesar and the Belgae The bravest of the Gauls Julius Caesar conquers the Belgic tribes, writing that "of all the Gauls, the Belgae are the bravest." The Roman province of Gallia Belgica gives the country its name.
843 Treaty of Verdun Divided down the Scheldt The partition of Charlemagne's empire splits the Low Countries along the Scheldt — a fault line between French and German spheres that shapes Belgian history for a millennium.
1134 Rise of the Flemish cloth towns Bruges, Ghent, Ypres Flanders' cloth industry makes Bruges, Ghent and Ypres among the richest cities north of the Alps, with powerful guilds and far-reaching trade.
1302 Battle of the Golden Spurs Flemish militia defeat France At Kortrijk, a Flemish militia of townsmen defeats the French royal army — a celebrated moment of Flemish civic pride, still commemorated on 11 July, the holiday of the Flemish Community.
1384 Burgundian inheritance Philip the Bold Flanders passes to the Dukes of Burgundy, beginning the unification of the Low Countries under a single brilliant court.
1430 Burgundian Low Countries Wealth of Flanders & Brabant Under the Dukes of Burgundy the Low Countries flourish, with Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp becoming among the richest and most cultured cities in Europe.
1432 The Ghent Altarpiece Flemish Primitives Jan van Eyck completes the Ghent Altarpiece, a masterpiece of the Flemish Primitives whose oil technique revolutionises European painting.
1500 Birth of Charles V in Ghent A Habsburg emperor The future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V is born in Ghent; under him the seventeen provinces of the Low Countries are united in a single realm.
1568 – 1648 Eighty Years' War in the south Staying Catholic & Spanish While the north rebels successfully, the southern provinces are reconquered for Catholic Spain — the lasting division between the future Belgium and the Netherlands.
1585 Fall of Antwerp The Low Countries divide The Spanish recapture of Antwerp splits the Low Countries: the Protestant north becomes the Dutch Republic, while the Catholic south — the future Belgium — remains under Spanish Habsburg rule.
1695 Bombardment of Brussels The Grand Place destroyed French artillery devastates Brussels, destroying the Grand Place — soon rebuilt in the ornate Baroque guildhalls that still define the city.
1714 Austrian Netherlands From Spanish to Austrian rule After the War of the Spanish Succession, the southern Netherlands pass from Spanish to Austrian Habsburg control under the Treaty of Rastatt.
1789 – 1790 Brabant Revolution A short-lived republic A revolt against Austrian rule briefly creates the United Belgian States — an early, fleeting assertion of Belgian self-rule before Austria restores control.
1795 Annexed by France Revolutionary France Revolutionary France annexes the southern Netherlands, ending Austrian rule and bringing two decades of French administration and reform.
1815 Battle of Waterloo Napoleon's final defeat On Belgian soil south of Brussels, Wellington and Blücher defeat Napoleon for the last time — one of history's most consequential battles.
1830 La Muette de Portici An opera sparks revolt A performance of the opera La Muette de Portici in Brussels stirs the crowd into the uprising that becomes the Belgian Revolution.
1830 Belgian Revolution Independence proclaimed Sparked by unrest in Brussels, the Belgian Revolution forces out Dutch troops, and a provisional government proclaims independence on 4 October 1830.
1831 Leopold I crowned A constitutional monarchy Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha is installed as the first King of the Belgians on 21 July 1831, and a liberal constitution establishes a popular constitutional monarchy.
1835 First railway on the Continent Brussels–Mechelen Belgium opens continental Europe's first passenger railway between Brussels and Mechelen, becoming an early industrial powerhouse in coal and steel.
1839 Treaty of London Independence & neutrality recognised The Treaty of London formally recognises Belgian independence and guarantees its neutrality — the "scrap of paper" Germany would violate in 1914.
1865 Leopold II takes the throne The Congo to come Leopold II becomes king and soon pursues a personal colonial empire in central Africa — a reign of industrial growth at home and brutal exploitation abroad.
1885 Congo Free State A king's private colony Leopold II establishes the Congo Free State as personal property; its rubber regime causes millions of deaths before international outcry forces its transfer to the Belgian state in 1908.
1914 The Rape of Belgium Invasion and atrocity Germany's invasion and the destruction of Leuven's library and other atrocities shock the world and become a rallying cry for the Allied cause.
1914 – 1918 German invasion & WWI Neutrality violated Germany invades neutral Belgium in August 1914, triggering British entry into the First World War. Much of the war on the Western Front is fought on Belgian soil, including Ypres.
1917 Passchendaele The mud of Flanders Fields The Third Battle of Ypres becomes a byword for the futility of trench warfare; the poppies of Flanders Fields become the enduring symbol of remembrance.
1940 – 1944 Occupation in WWII Invaded again Germany overruns Belgium once more in 1940; the country endures four years of occupation, resistance and the deportation of its Jews before liberation in 1944.
1944 The Benelux Union Small nations together Exiled governments sign the customs union that becomes Benelux — a model and forerunner for wider European integration.
1958 Founding member of the EEC & Expo 58 Heart of Europe Belgium is a founding member of the European Economic Community, and Brussels hosts Expo 58 under the new Atomium — symbolising its post-war role at the centre of European integration.
1958 Expo 58 & the Atomium Brussels looks to the future The first major post-war World's Fair opens in Brussels beneath the gleaming Atomium, symbolising a confident, modern, Europe-facing Belgium.
1960 Congo independence End of empire The Belgian Congo becomes independent amid turmoil, abruptly ending Belgium's African empire.
1962 The Language Border fixed Dutch, French & German Belgium fixes the official linguistic boundary between Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia — institutionalising the divide that drives later federalisation.
1967 NATO moves to Brussels Capital of the alliance NATO relocates its headquarters to Brussels, reinforcing the city's emerging role as a hub of Western institutions.
1993 A federal kingdom Regions and communities Constitutional reform makes Belgium a federal state; the same year King Baudouin dies and is succeeded by his brother Albert II.
1993 Federal Belgium Flanders, Wallonia & Brussels A constitutional reform turns Belgium into a federal state of language-based regions and communities, formalising the balance between Dutch-speaking Flanders, French-speaking Wallonia and bilingual Brussels.
2010 – 2011 589 days without a government A world record Deadlock between Flemish and Walloon parties leaves Belgium without an elected federal government for a record 589 days — a striking symbol of its linguistic tensions.
2013 King Philippe A new reign Albert II abdicates in favour of his son Philippe, the seventh King of the Belgians, who reigns over the modern federal kingdom.