Belgian 19th century neutrality in historical and comparative perspective

Neutrality is a traditional and essential part of the European state system, allowing states to remain aloof of an armed conflict. The Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) elevated Switzerland and the Low Countries, two contentious buffer regions on the continent, to the status of “permanent” and externally guaranteed neutral zones. Neutrality would thus lose its status as a temporary national policy choice and become intertwined with the essential preconditions of statehood and independence (Edouard Descamps, La neutralité de la Belgique, Larcier, 1902). Obligations limiting the guaranteed states’... Mehr ...