Montesquieu's Shadow: Debating reform in the Austrian Netherlands

Under the pressure of governmental reform, beginning in 1740 and intensifying from the 1770s, opponents of reform in the Austrian Netherlands employed arguments derived from The Spirit of the Laws to contest the need for reform. However, reform had also been advocated by local powers using truisms publicised by The Spirit of the Laws, and during the political upheaval of 1789–1790, democrats and traditionalists clashed bitterly over the form of the new Belgian state, both citing Montesquieu to suit their purposes. This article seeks to trace and account for the influence and use of Montesquieu's thought in the Belgian context.