Risquons-Tout
Village in Wallonia, Belgium
Risquons-Tout
|
|
---|---|
Village
|
|
The Church of Saint Paul in Risquons-Tout.
|
|
Coordinates: 50°45′10″N 3°11′16″E / 50.75278°N 3.18778°E / 50.75278; 3.18778 | |
Country | Belgium |
Region | Wallonia |
Province | Hainaut |
Municipality | Mouscron |
Risquons-Tout is a hamlet of Wallonia in the municipality and district of Mouscron , located in the province of Hainaut , Belgium on the border with France .
It is primarily known for the Risquons-Tout incident , in which a group of Belgian émigrés entered the country carrying arms in an attempt to overthrow the Belgian government during the Revolutions of 1848 .
Name
In French , Risquons-Tout literally means "Let's risk it all" or "Let's risk everything". The name derives from a sign for a bar ( cabaret ) that once occupied the site but which is no longer in existence. [1]
Location
The hamlet lies on a national border, immediately adjacent to Neuville-en-Ferrain and Tourcoing in France , and on a regional border, adjacent to Rekkem in Flanders . Risquons-Tout was once part of the municipality of Rekkem . In 1963, when the Belgian-language border was fixed, it was transferred to the city of Mouscron. [ citation needed ]
Risquons-Tout incident
Shortly after the French Revolution of 1848 , Belgian migrant workers living in Paris were encouraged to return to Belgium to overthrow the monarchy and establish a republic. [2] Around 6,000 émigrés, coming from Paris, formed a so-called Belgian Legion . The Legion, equipped with weaponry by some of the administrative authorities of Lille , intended to penetrate into Belgium to "raise the people" and overthrow the Belgian monarchy . It is likely that the revolutionaries had the support of Alphonse de Lamartine , Minister of Foreign Affairs of the French Second Republic , which had only recently been installed and was still very militant. [3] The first group of revolutionaries attempted to travel into Belgium by train; they were stopped and quickly disarmed at Quiévrain on 26 March 1848. [4]
The 2,000-strong second group entered Belgium at dawn on 29 March at Risquons-Tout. The revolutionaries were met by around 250 infantrymen of the Belgian Army under the command of General Joseph Fleury-Duray [ fr ] . A heavy cannonade routed the revolutionaries in only two hours, killing seven and wounding 26. 60 revolutionaries were captured and some were imprisoned in the Citadel of Huy , of whom 17 of them were condemned to death and executed at Antwerp . [5]
Several smaller revolutionary groups managed to infiltrate Belgium, but the reinforced Belgian border troops were successful in keeping order, and the defeat at Risquons-Tout effectively ended the revolutionary threat to Belgium. Later two streets were named after the incident, and a monument was erected in the local cemetery. [ citation needed ]
References
- ↑ Jespers, Jean-Jacques (2005). Dictionnaire des noms de lieux en Wallonie et à Bruxelles [ Dictionary of Place Names in Wallonia and Brussels ] (in French). Lannoo. p. 510.
- ↑ Chastain, James. "Belgium in 1848" . Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions . Ohio University . Retrieved 16 December 2013 .
- ↑ Gooch, Brison D. (2012) [1963]. Belgium and the February Revolution . Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. p. 81. ISBN 978-94-015-0013-5 .
- ↑ Ascherson, Neal (1999). The King Incorporated: Leopold the Second and the Congo (New ed.). London: Granta. pp. 20–1. ISBN 1862072906 .
- ↑ Garnier-Pagès, Louis-Antoine (1866). Histoire de la Révolution de 1848 . Vol. II (2nd ed.). Paris: Pagnerre. pp. 263–273.