Belgian general election, 1884

Last updated
Belgian general election, 1884
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
←  1882 10 June 1884 (Chamber first round)
17 June 1884 (Chamber run-off)
8 July 1884 (Senate first round)
15 July 1884 (Senate run-off)		 1886  →
69 of the 138 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
70 seats needed for a majority

  First party Second party
 
Party Catholic Liberal
Last election 59 seats 79 seats
Seats won 86 52
Seat changeIncrease2.svg27Decrease2.svg27
Government before election

Frère-Orban II
Liberal

Elected Government

Malou II
Catholic

Legislative elections were held in Belgium in June and July 1884, for partial Chamber and full Senate elections respectively. [1] [2] Voter turnout was 79.1% in the Chamber of Representatives elections, although only 69,276 people were eligible to vote.

Belgium Federal constitutional monarchy in Western Europe

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 square kilometres (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.

Contents

Background

Jules Malou, Catholic leader Jules Malou ars-moriendi.jpg
Jules Malou, Catholic leader

The election occurred during the First School War. The incumbent Liberal government under Walthère Frère-Orban aimed to secularize education, which sparked heavy protests from Catholics.

First School War political crisis in Belgium over the issue of the religion in education

The First School War was a political crisis in Belgium over the issue of religion in education. The School War marks the high water mark of the conflict between the conservative Catholic Party, and the secular Liberal Party. The war lasted from 1879 to 1884 and resulted in a period of nearly fifty years of Catholic political dominance. It was followed by a Second School War between 1950 and 1959.

Walthère Frère-Orban Belgian politician

Hubert Joseph Walthère Frère-Orban was a Belgian liberal statesman.

Regular partial elections for the Chamber of Representatives were held on Tuesday 10 June 1884, with a run-off on Tuesday 17 June. Under the alternating system, elections for the Chamber of Representatives were only held in five out of the nine provinces: Antwerp, Brabant, Luxembourg, Namur and West Flanders. Special elections were held in the arrondissements of Aalst and Sint-Niklaas, for one representative in each.

Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Lower house of the federal parliament of Belgium

The Chamber of Representatives is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered to be the "lower house" of the Federal Parliament.

Luxembourg (Belgium) Province of Belgium

Luxembourg, also called Belgian Luxembourg, is the southernmost province of Wallonia and of Belgium. It borders on the country of Luxembourg, France, and the Belgian provinces of Namur and Liège. Its capital is Arlon, in the south-east of the province.

The result was a large victory for the Catholic Party. The Frère-Orban government resigned and was succeeded by a Catholic government led by Jules Malou, which immediately abolished the Ministry of Public Education.

The Catholic Party was established in 1869 as the Confessional Catholic Party.

Jules Malou Belgian politician

Jules Édouard Xavier Malou was a Belgian statesman, a leader of the clerical party.

The Liberals however retained a majority in the Senate, which was not up for election. It was subsequently dissolved, triggering its complete re-election. Senate elections were held on Tuesday 8 July 1884, with a run-off on Tuesday 15 July. The Catholic Party won 43 of the 69 seats in the Senate. [2]

Senate (Belgium) upper house of the Belgian federal parliament

The Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parliament. Created in 1831 as a chamber fully equal to the Chamber of Representatives, it has undergone several reforms in the past, most notably in 1993 and the reform of 2014 following the sixth Belgian state reform. The 2014 elections were the first ones without a direct election of senators. Instead, the new Senate is completely composed of members of community and regional parliaments and co-opted members. It is a chamber of the communities and regions and serves as a platform for discussion and reflection about matters between the different language communities. The Senate now only plays a very minor role in the federal legislative process. Since the reform, it only holds about ten plenary sessions a year.

The election ended the First School War and marked the end of the last homogeneously liberal government. The Catholic Party under Jules Malou gained an absolute majority, which they would retain until the First World War.

Campaign

Among the 69 Chamber seats up for election: [3]

The Catholics gained 27 Chamber seats from the Liberals: 16 in Brussels, four in Nivelles, two in Namur, one in Philippeville, one in Antwerp, one in Ostend, one in Neufchâteau and one in Bruges. The Liberals only retained the single seats in Arlon and Virton, both in Luxembourg.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

PartyVotes%Seats
WonTotal+/–
Catholic Party 33,42861.06786+27
Liberal Party 21,29438.9252–27
Others680.1000
Invalid/blank votes3,366––––
Total58,156100691380
Registered voters/turnout69,27679.1–––
Source: Mackie & Rose, [4] Sternberger et al

Senate

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Catholic Party 43+11
Liberal Party 26–11
Total690
Source: Sternberger et al.

Related Research Articles

Transport in Belgium

Transport in Belgium is facilitated with well-developed road, air, rail and water networks. The rail network has 2,950 km (1,830 mi) of electrified tracks. There are 118,414 km (73,579 mi) of roads, among which there are 1,747 km (1,086 mi) of motorways, 13,892 km (8,632 mi) of main roads and 102,775 km (63,861 mi) of other paved roads. There is also a well-developed urban rail network in Brussels, Antwerp and Charleroi. The ports of Antwerp and Bruges-Zeebrugge are two of the biggest seaports in Europe. Brussels Airport is Belgium's biggest airport.

Brussels-South railway station railway station in Belgium

Brussels-South is one of the three major railway stations in Brussels and the busiest station in Belgium. It is located on the territory of the municipality of Saint-Gilles/Sint-Gillis.

Jules Bara Belgian politician

Jules Bara was a Belgian statesman and liberal politician.

Brussels-North railway station railway station in Belgium

Brussels-North is one of the three major railway stations in Brussels; the other two are Brussels Central and Brussels South. The station's bilingual French-Dutch name is generally translated to "Brussels North".

1896 Belgian general election

Partial legislative elections were held in Belgium on 5 and 12 July 1896. Under the alternating system, elections were held in only five out of the nine provinces: Antwerp, Brabant, Luxembourg, Namur and West Flanders. Thus, only 77 seats out of the 152 seats in the Chamber of Representatives were up for election. The Catholic Party retained their absolute majority.

1900 Belgian general election

Full general elections were held in Belgium on 27 May 1900.

1910 Belgian general election

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 22 May 1910. The result was a victory for the Catholic Party, which won 49 of the 85 seats up for election in the Chamber of Representatives.

1912 Belgian general election

Full general elections were held in Belgium on 2 June 1912.

1914 Belgian general election

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 24 May 1914. The result was a victory for the Catholic Party, which won 41 of the 88 seats up for election in the Chamber of Representatives.

1892 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on Tuesday 14 June 1892, the first full general elections since 1870 and the last before the introduction of universal male suffrage prior to the 1894 elections. The result was a victory for the Catholic Party, which won 92 of the 152 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 46 of the 76 seats in the Senate. Only 2.2% of the country's population were eligible to vote.

1872 Belgian general election Belgian general election, 1872

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on Tuesday 11 June 1872. In the elections for the Chamber of Representatives the result was a victory for the Catholic Party, which won 71 of the 124 seats. Voter turnout was 55.5%, although only 54,933 people were eligible to vote.

1876 Belgian general election

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 13 June 1876. In the elections for the Chamber of Representatives the result was a victory for the Catholic Party, which won 67 of the 124 seats. Voter turnout was 67.5%, although only 63,278 people were eligible to vote.

1859 Belgian general election

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 14 June 1859. The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 69 of the 116 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 31 of the 58 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 55.9%, although only 49,672 people were eligible to vote.

1863 Belgian general election

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 9 June 1863. The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 59 of the 116 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 33 of the 58 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 74.5%, although only 52,519 people were eligible to vote.

1882 Belgian general election

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 13 June 1882. The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 79 of the 138 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 37 of the 69 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 75.1%, although only 55,517 people were eligible to vote.

Partial legislative elections were held in Belgium on Tuesday 13 June 1837 in which 51 of the 102 seats in the Chamber of Representatives were elected. Voter turnout was 56.0%, although only 24,526 people were eligible to vote. Under the alternating system, Chamber elections were only held in five out of the nine provinces: Antwerp, Brabant, Luxembourg, Namur and West Flanders. The Senate was not up for election.

Partial legislative elections were held in Belgium on Tuesday 8 June 1841 in which 48 of the 95 seats in the Chamber of Representatives were elected. Voter turnout was 77.0%, although only 24,887 people were eligible to vote. Under the alternating system, elections were only held in five out of the nine provinces: Antwerp, Brabant, Luxembourg, Namur and West Flanders.

Bel RTL Belgian radio station

Bel RTL is a commercial radio network broadcasting in Brussels and Wallonia. The station is owned by the Radio H holding company, which is part of the Luxembourg-based RTL Group.

References

  1. ↑ Codebook Constituency-level Elections Archive, 2003
  2. 1 2 Sternberger, D, Vogel, B & Nohlen, D (1969) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band I: Europa - Erster Halbband, p105
  3. ↑ 1884: un tournant politique en Belgique. 1986. p. 18.
  4. ↑ Thomas T Mackie & Richard Rose (1991) The International Almanac of Electoral History, Macmillan, pp48–49
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.