Legislative elections were held in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

in June and July 1884, for partial Chamber and full Senate elections respectively.Sternberger, D, Vogel, B & Nohlen, D (1969) ''Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band I: Europa - Erster Halbband'', p105 Voter turnout was 79.1% in the Chamber of Representatives elections, although only 69,276 people were eligible to vote.

Background

The election occurred during the First School War. The incumbent Liberal government under

Walthère Frère-Orban Hubert Joseph Walthère Frère-Orban (24 April 1812 – 2 January 1896) was a Belgian liberal statesman. Early life He was born at Liège, received his education at home and in Paris, and began the practice of law in his native town. He identi ...

aimed to secularize education, which sparked heavy protests from Catholics. Regular partial elections for the Chamber of Representatives were held on Tuesday 10 June 1884, with a run-off on Tuesday 17 June. Under the alternating system, elections for the Chamber of Representatives were only held in five out of the nine provinces: Antwerp,

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Br ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Na ...

and

West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...

. Special elections were held in the arrondissements of Aalst and Sint-Niklaas, for one representative in each. The result was a large victory for the Catholic Party. The Frère-Orban government resigned and was succeeded by a Catholic government led by

Jules Malou Jules Edouard Xavier Malou (19 October 1810 – July 1886) was a Belgian statesman, a leader of the clerical party. Career Malou was born at Ypres. He was a civil servant in the department of justice when he was elected to the Chamber of Deput ...

, which immediately abolished the Ministry of Public Education. The Liberals however retained a majority in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

, which was not up for election. It was subsequently dissolved, triggering its complete re-election. Senate elections were held on Tuesday 8 July 1884, with a run-off on Tuesday 15 July. The Catholic Party won 43 of the 69 seats in the Senate. The election ended the First School War and marked the end of the last homogeneously liberal government. The Catholic Party under

gained an absolute majority, which they would retain until the First World War.

Campaign

Among the 69 Chamber seats up for election: * 17 seats had uncontested Catholic candidates: Mechelen (3), Turnhout (3), Kortrijk (4), Roeselare (2), Tielt (2), Veurne (1), Diksmuide (1) and Bastogne (1). * 11 seats were likely Catholic wins: Leuven (5), Ypres (3), Dinant (2) and Marche (1). * 1 seat was likely Liberal:

Arlon Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is th ...

(1). * 40 seats were competitive: ** Antwerp (8), Nivelles (4) and Bruges (3) were historically competitive. ** Namur (4), Philippeville (2), Neufchâteau (1), Virton (1) were competitive since the 1870s. **

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

(16) was only since two years competitive. **

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariake ...

(1), until now solidly liberal, was now competitive. The Catholics gained 27 Chamber seats from the Liberals: 16 in Brussels, four in Nivelles, two in Namur, one in Philippeville, one in Antwerp, one in Ostend, one in Neufchâteau and one in Bruges. The Liberals only retained the single seats in Arlon and Virton, both in Luxembourg.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

Senate

References

{{Belgian elections 1880s elections in Belgium

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...