Beginning of the Peasants' War

Date: October 12, 1798 • Location: Berlare, Belgium

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1798–1799.

The Peasants' War began in Overmere, Southern Netherlands, with peasants taking up arms against the French occupiers.

The Peasants' War was a peasant revolt in 1798 against the French Republican occupiers of the Southern Netherlands, a region which now includes Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Germany. The French had annexed the region in 1795 and control of the region was officially ceded to the French after the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797. The revolt is considered part of the French Revolutionary Wars.