Barrier Treaty

Veurne

Fort Knokke

Ypres

Menen

Tournai

Mons

Charleroi

Namur

Locations of the Barrier Treaty fortresses

The "Barrier Treaties" were the names of three agreements signed and ratified during or immediately after the War of Spanish Succession. The so-called "barrier" referred to several fortresses within the territory of Spanish (later Austrian) Netherlands, that were in effect garrisons manned with Dutch troops acting as forward bases buffering the Dutch Republic from the Kingdom of France.

First

The first Barrier Treaty (also known as the Treaty of Den Haag or the Treaty of The Hague) was signed on 29 October 1709 between Great Britain and the states-general of the United Provinces. By the terms of the treaty, the United Provinces engaged to guarantee the Protestant succession in England in favour of the House of Hanover, while Great Britain undertook to procure for the Dutch an adequate barrier on the side of the Netherlands, consisting Dutch garrison stationed in the towns of Veurne, Nieuwpoort, Ypres, Menen, Lille, Tournai, Condé, Valenciennes, Maubeuge, Charleroi, Namur, Halle, Damme, Dendermonde and Ghent. The treaty was based on the same principle of securing Holland against French aggression that had inspired that of Treaty of Ryswick in 1698, by the terms of which the chief frontier fortresses of the Netherlands were to be garrisoned by Dutch troops.

Second

The second Barrier Treaty was signed between Great Britain and the United Provinces on 29 January 1713, by which the strong places designed for the barrier were reduced to Veurne, Fort Knokke (also called fort de la Kenoque, or Le Henoque), Ypres, Menen, Tournai, Mons, Charleroi, Namur, Ghent (the Citadel and certain other fortresses) and Bruges. Great Britain undertook to obtain the right for the Dutch to garrison them from the future sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands. Its terms were included in the Treaty of Rastatt, between the emperor and France, signed on 7 March 1714.

Third

The third Barrier Treaty (also known as the Treaty of Antwerp) was signed on 15 November 1715. Based on the terms of the accord the Dutch would have garrisons in Veurne, Ypres, Warneton, Menen, Tournai and Namur. Also, Frederick William I of Prussia ceded to the United Provinces several cities in the upper regions of Guelders.

End of the arrangement

The result of the Barrier Treaty was that the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI did not have a lot to say about "his" Austrian Netherlands. This caused quite a lot of frustration with the Austrians, especially because the Dutch troops they had to allow were paid with money raised by the Austrian Netherlands themselves. This would last until empress Maria Theresa refused to pay for those troops any longer.

The war of 1740-1748 showed that the fortifications manned with Dutch troops were not highly maintained, so that the French troops were able to overrun a number of them easily. In 1781 Emperor Joseph II of Austria unilaterally abolished the treaty.

See also

• List of treaties