We want peace 1831

WE WANT PEACE! A call that many Maastricht people must have supported in 1831, because since October 1830 Maastricht had been subject to a military blockade by the Meuse army of the Belgian Provisional Government.
This blockade was the result of the Belgian revolution. Of course, this had an enormous negative economic impact on the city and its inhabitants.
The blockade was relaxed in the course of 1832 and largely lifted by the Treaty of Zonhoven in November 1833. In 1838 the Belgian troops retreated from Dutch Limburg, effectively ending the blockade of Maastricht.

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At the outbreak of the Belgian uprising, Bernardus Dibbets (1782 - 1839) was Maastricht's fortress commander.
With his strict actions he did not make himself very popular among the people of Maastricht, but he stuck to his mission to defend Maastricht against the Belgian insurgents and succeeded in preserving the city for the kingdom of the Netherlands.

Battle between Dutch troops and Belgian rebels on the St. Pietersberg near Caester castle.

It was not the first time in Maastricht that such a calll for peace appeared on a gable stone.
With the French Revolution of 1789 people saw the threat of war increase here in 1790.
At Stokstraat 11 the text NOUS DESIRON LA PAYX 1790 was applied to the facade. However, judging by the spelling mistakes, their linguistic skills were limited. The s is missing in DESIRONS and PAIX was written with a y, while the forgotten X was hastily added. But the intention was clear. There was not a word of French in it. They saw the storm coming.

In 1793 a French army under the command of lieutenant-general De Miranda besieged the city, but he had to call the siege off due to the arrival of relief troops.
In 1794 a siege by General Kleber followed, which ended after a two months with the surrender of Maastricht.

The use of the French language was not meant to accommodate the French besiegers and the Belgian insurgents during an occupation, but for a large group of Maastricht citizens and especially the affluent bourgeoisie French was the language.