The Congress of Vienna insisted on the creation of a strong buffer state against post Napoleonic France. Therefore the Southern Netherlands, roughly today’s Belgium, were merged into the new Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815. The Kingdom became known as the ‘United Netherlands’. The Kingdom’s Constitution was amended accordingly by referendum, albeit with limited suffrage and with abstentions counting as votes in favour. Upon the insistence of the Belgian members of the committee that drafted the 1815 amendment, an upper house was added to the previously unicameral States-General.
The upper house, called Eerste Kamer or First Chamber, would be appointed by the King and was to be a nobility chamber modelled after the British House of Lords. The Tweede Kamer, or Second Chamber, would continue to be elected by the provincial assemblies. The Kingdom of the Netherlands split again when its southern half eventually seceded to form independent Belgium in 1830. The Kingdom’s Constitution was updated in 1839 to reflect the secession; the bicameral system was preserved, however. Keeping its official name, the northern rump of the Kingdom of the Netherlands continued to operate under its original Constitution as amended.
Download the full pdf: constitutions prepared
Author(s): Aalt W. Heringa & Philipp Kiiver
