Austrian Netherlands

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Austrian Netherlands Österreichische Niederlande (German) Pays-Bas Autrichiens (French) Oostenrijkse Nederlanden (Dutch) Belgium Austriacum (Latin)
1714–1797
Flag Coat of arms
The Austrian Netherlands in 1789   Austrian Netherlands   Habsburg monarchy
Status	Personal union of Imperial fiefs within Empire
Capital	Brussels
Common languages	German French (including Walloon, Picard and Champenois) Luxembourgish Dutch Latin
Religion	Roman Catholic
Government	Governorate
Governor
• 1716–1724 (first)	Eugene Francis
• 1793–1794 (last)	Charles Louis
Plenipotentiary
• 1714–1716 (first)	Lothar Dominik
• 1793–1794 (last)	Franz Karl
• Upper house	Habsburg
• Lower house	Bourbon
Historical era	Early modern
• Treaty of Rastatt	7 March 1714
• Treaty of Fontainebleau	8 November 1785
• Brabant Revolution	1789–1790
• Battle of Sprimont	18 September 1794
• Treaty of Campo Formio	17 October 1797
Currency	Kronenthaler
Preceded by Succeeded by Spanish Netherlands French First Republic United Belgian States
Today part of	Netherlands Belgium Germany Luxembourg

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The Austrian Netherlands^[a] was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Rastatt in 1714. It lasted until Revolutionary France annexed the territory after the Battle of Sprimont in 1794 and the Peace of Basel in 1795. Austria relinquished its claim on the province in 1797 through the Treaty of Campo Formio.

The Netherlands, previously the Burgundian Netherlands, inherited by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs, having revolted against the absolutism and centralism of Philip II of Spain, their common sovereign, launched a war which led in fact, in 1568, to the formation in the north of the Republic of the United Provinces, a new state whose independence would finally be recognized by the King of Spain in 1648 during the Treaty of Münster, and in the south of a group of around ten provinces which Philip II and then his successors managed to preserve under the name of Spanish Netherlands.

In 1700, King Charles II of Spain designated the French Prince Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV, as his successor. He preferred him to a member of the cousin branch of the Austrian Habsburgs. Louis XIV accepted this choice on behalf of his wife, whose dowry had never been paid. A coalition was formed between the Austrian Habsburgs, England, and the United Provinces against Louis XIV's France and Philip V's Spain.

This marked the beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), during which the Spanish Netherlands were occupied by France on behalf of Louis XIV's grandson.

At the end of this war (Treaties of Utrecht in 1713 and Rastatt in 1714), the Kingdom of Spain remained in the hands of Philip V. However, he had to relinquish the Spanish Netherlands, which were transferred to the House of Austria, constituting a sort of buffer state between the United Provinces and France. The Treaty of the Barrier (1715) granted the United Provinces the right to garrison certain strongholds in the Austrian Netherlands. These were again occupied by France during the War of the Austrian Succession (1744–1748). The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle returned them to Maria Theresa in 1748.
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