Brialmont was also an active pamphleteer and political campaigner and lobbied through his career for reform and expansion of the Belgian military and was also involved in the foundation of the Congo Free State.

His father, Mathieu Brialmont, had served in the French Grande Armée during the Napoleonic Wars and had reached the rank of captain.

Belgium was forced to relinquish its claims at the Treaty of London in 1839 and today Limburg is divided in a Dutch and a Belgian part.

[2] In 1859, during his military career, he married the daughter of the journalist and leading figure of the Belgian Revolution, Louis de Potter.

[5] Brialmont felt that colonial expansion was essential to make Belgium a world power, and was an energetic supporter of Leopold II's Congo Free State, which he even helped to found, from the 1880s.

[4] In the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War, Brialmont became an advocate for the abolition of the Remplacement system of conscription and the adoption of a form of universal military service.

In 1851, he published his first major work, entitled Considérations politiques et militaires sur la Belgique, which was well received.

In order to guarantee effective protection, a number of forts distributed around the city's perimeter were required.

Using new materials, many of these newer fortifications were built of concrete and incorporated retractable gun cupolas, often based along triangular or trapezoid plans.

[13] While the Bucharest fortifications never served their intended defensive purpose, they were a major influence on the subsequent development and urban planning of the city.

Captain-Commandant Émile Wangermée, one of Brialmont's pupils, was instrumental in the design of the Fort de Shinkakasa (built 1891–94) at Boma in the Congo Free State.