the French government put its own stability above everything else, and this meant going along with whatever the British wanted to do. Besides, an independent Belgium would be a weaker anti-French buffer state than a powerful united Netherlands. Metternich, realizing that the Belgians could not be stopped in the long run, sent an ambassador to the inevitable conference in London with instructions to mobilize the Concert of Europe in favour of a moderate, monarchical and independent Belgium. Skilfully led by the newly appointed British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston (1784–1865), the
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