Flanders In 1848, poverty and misery created or were the
result of a general economic crisis which posed a serious threat
to the stability of the European politi
cal system; both in
liberal western states and in the autocratic eastern empires each
of three domains, agriculture, industry, and finance were
troubled. The serious situation produced hardships which could
create a volatile political and social situation. In 1848 crises
in all three of these areas occurred simultaneously in the
western half of Belgium, historically referred to as Flanders.
But sensitive and responsible leaders sought solutions in
responsible compromises rather in than abstract do
ctrines, thus
safeguarding Flemish workers and peasants from revolution.
Unquestionably the agricultural depression underlay the predicament but in Flanders it was concurrent with the industrial crisis. Since 1845 a potato blight had struck the staple of the Flemish diet, producing near starvation conditions. Groups of peasant roamed the countryside by night, digging up with their hands and eating the raw seed-potatoes. The situation was worsened by the poor grain harvests due to a droug ht during the years 1846-47; but in Flanders the failure of harvests were only part of the story. For centuries Flemish peasants augmented their income in a cottage industry, the production of linen cloth. Between one-third and one-half of the population of the area was directly engaged in spinning and weaving. The industrial revolution should have closed down the Flemish cottage industry many years earlier, but both the French and Dutch regimes had protected the superannuated technique. By the 1840s, English competition made this protection unfeasible; British goods sold in Ghent and Brussels were cheaper than those produced in Flanders. The annual exportation of linen goods during the period 1842-1848 diminished by eleven million kilograms as compared with the period 1831-1841. Much mythotholgy grew up surrounding the linen industry, particularly among the uneducated classes. For example: it was popularly maintained that the saliva of the maidens of Flanders produced a superior threa d to that of a hot-water spout in an English factory. But such fables did not sell the product, even in the home market, while the highly protective tariffs had severely hindered Belgian markets abroad.
In 1830 the Belgian worker had reacted to economic hardships and mechanization by smashing machines and burning their production. In 1848, he did not follow this Luddite course despite misery and poverty far graver than in previous years. In 1847 seven hundred thousand people or one-thir d the population were on the public relief rolls in addition to the number on private charity. Those workers who still worked received about 18 centimes a day, a wage supporting slow starvation.
Faced with this situation the government created jobs for the
unemployed by expanding public works: extending the railway
system in Flanders, constructing a canal at Turnhout, and
building hundreds of miles of new roads. Steps were also taken
to modernize the textiles by introducing machinery that
allowed
revitalization of the linen industry. The passage of the
Electoral Bill in February 1848 following the Paris revolution
creating an impression that the government was interested in
political reform. In addition, they increased funds for public
relief and augment the number of apprenticeships in Flanders.
There was considerable migration of persons towards Brussels and
the less severely hit areas in the coal fields of southeastern
Belgium. But perhaps two factors did more than anythin
g else to
calm the peasants: harvests of both potatoes and grain were good
in 1848, and secondly, the peasants were conservative Catholics.
In 1830 the clergy of Flanders had opposed the regime; in 1848
they did not.
see Belgium
JGC revised this file
(http://www.ohiou.edu/~chastain/dh/flander.htm.htm) on
February 21, 1999.
Please E-mail comments or suggestions to chastain@www.ohiou.edu
© 1997, 2004 James Chastain.
John W. Rooney, Jr.
Bibliography