Les Belges à Waterloo : motivations, identités, changements d'allégeance et conflits de loyauté (1814-1815)

Details

Supervisors

Mostaccio, Silvia ; Colson, Bruno

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en histoire, à finalité approfondie

Abstract

enAt the Napoleonic Empire’s collapse, the fate of the Belgian territories is uncertain. It is talked about independence, return to the rule of the Austrian monarchy, incorporation to Holland or France. Belgian soldiers and officers, who serve in different armies, have to choose for their future. What are their motivations? Which identity(ies) do they adopt in those times of shifting allegiances? They have a similar choice to make in March 1815 as Napoléon escapes from Elba. New and old loyalties hang over their choices. Allied authorities fear that their supposed affection to the emperor might make them change side in the middle of the fight. The Belgian units’ behavior during the Waterloo campaign is an indication of their convictions, motivations and identities. Adopting Hervé Drévillon’s method, varying analysis scale from the individual to the nation, we are mobilizing ego-documents as well as military archives. Nation wasn’t the most determinant motivation unlike a certain historiography suggested it. Family, career, esprit de corps, the oath to the dynasty were important as well.