Continuity and discontinuity of the constitutional monarchy from a transnational perspective : the Netherlands-Belgium (1815-1830)

The constitutional monarchy as an essential 'modern' state form of the restoration period was intended to restore order and stability in Europe. In this respect, there is more of a break than continuity between the constitutional model that William I introduced in 1814-1815 and the constitutional monarchy to which Leopold I, the first king of the Belgians, had to subject himself in 1831. The specific authoritarian interpretation that William I gave to his function was one of the factors that helps to explain the Belgian revolution. It is therefore logical that the revolution, as such, produced a constitution that firstly, in general was far more democratic and, secondly, specifically restricted the power of the king. The new Belgian constitutional monarchy of 1830-1831 did not keep William l's 'heritage' intact: on the contrary, the constitutional definition of kingship in Belgium, for that time, was an ultra-liberal, modern answer to the 'William I system'