The blockade took place from late January to early May 1814 during the War of the Sixth Coalition between France and the other European powers, ending on 5 May of that year with the capitulation of Maastricht and the departure of the French.

As the capital of the sparsely populated department Nedermaas, Maastricht was a quiet provincial town that attracted little attention from Paris.

The abolition of the medieval system of crafts made free entrepreneurship possible and the many vacant monastery buildings provided cheap accommodation for new businesses.

The united armies of the Sixth Coalition pursued the French and set their sights on the capture of Paris and the return of all occupied territories.

One month after the Battle of the Nations, the proclamation of the Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands took place on 20 November 1813 by the Provisional Government.

On 30 November, the Prince of Orange, Willem Frederik of Orange-Nassau, who has been living alternately in London and Berlin since 1795, set foot again after 18 years.

On 31 March 1814, Coalition troops occupied Paris and on 6 April, Napoleon Bonaparte forcibly abdicated the throne.

Kléber had appointed Bernadotte as military governor of Maastricht [nl], a position he only held for a short time.

[4] On 1 August 1814, Maastricht, together with several other places on the left bank of the Maas, was transferred to the sovereign prince of Orange.

The garrison was put on high alert and work immediately began on the construction of the Fort Willem I on the Caberg, a plan that had already been discussed several times.

When the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was founded by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, a new province of Limburg was formed, consisting of the current Belgian -Limburg and Dutch-Limburg, with Maastricht as its capital.