Brabant Revolution

"The happy revolution which we have just brought to a glorious conclusion under the visible auspices of God has placed the supreme power in our hands. By virtue of this power we have declared ourselves to be free and independent and have deprived and dismissed the former duke, Joseph II, from all sovereignty..."

"Much in these revolutionary activities [in Brabant] brings to mind the Patriot troubles in the Dutch Republic. As in the North, this nationalism was...based on a profound feeling of nostalgia...and closely related to a profound feeling of humiliation."