The United Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; French: Royaume uni des Pays-Bas) is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; French: Royaume des Belgiques) as it existed between 1815 and 1830.

In the aftermath of the French Revolution, the War of the First Coalition broke out in 1792 and France was invaded by Prussia and the Holy Roman Empire.

[citation needed] In 1813, the Netherlands was liberated from French rule by Prussian and Russian troops during the Napoleonic Wars.

In June 1814, the Great Powers secretly agreed to the Eight Articles of London which allocated the region to the Dutch as William had advocated.

For all intents and purposes, William Frederik had completed his family's three-century dream of uniting the Low Countries under a single rule.

[citation needed] Discussions on the future of the region were still ongoing at the Congress of Vienna when Napoleon attempted to return to power in the "Hundred Days".

[citation needed] In exchange for the Southern Netherlands, William agreed to cede the Principality of Orange-Nassau and parts of the Liège to Prussia on 31 May 1815.

[citation needed] The United Netherlands was divided into 17 provinces and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg which was constitutionally distinct.

The General Netherlands Society for Advancing National Industry (Algemeene Nederlandsche Maatschappij ter Begunstiging van de Volksvlijt) was created in 1822 to encourage industrialisation in the south, while the Netherlands Trading Society (Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij) was created in 1825 to encourage trade with the colonies.

[citation needed] Willem I felt that one nation must have one language and began a policy of Dutchification in politics and education.

In the southern provinces of Antwerp, East-, West-Flanders, Limburg (1819), and the bilingual South Brabant (1823); Dutch was made the sole official language.

While in the Walloon provinces of Hainaut, Liège, Namur; French was maintained as official language but Dutch was gradually introduced into education.

The two were divided by the issue of religion because the south was strongly Roman Catholic and the north largely Dutch Reformed.