What is "orangism"

Orangism, with supporters known as Orangists, may refer to one of several political movements:

• Orangism (Dutch Republic), a loosely defined current in support of a mixed constitution (until 1795)
• Orangism (Kingdom of the Netherlands), a liberal-monarchist trend (starting 1860s)
• Orangism (Belgium), supported the re-unification of Belgium and the Netherlands in a United Kingdom
• Orangism (Luxembourg), supported the personal union of the Netherlands and the grand-duchy of Luxembourg
• Orangism (Northern Ireland), whose followers are more usually known as Orangemen

In the history of the Dutch Republic, Orangism or prinsgezindheid ("pro-prince stance") was a political force opposing the Staatsgezinde (pro-Republic) party. Orangists supported the princes of Oranges as Stadtholders (a position held by members of the House of Orange) and military commanders of the Republic, as a check on the regents' power. The Orangist party drew its members largely from the common people, soldiers, the nobility and orthodox preachers, though its support fluctuated heavily over the course of the Republic's history.

Orangism was a political current in what is now Belgium that supported its inclusion in the short-lived United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830). After the secession of Belgium in 1830, Orangist sentiment in Flanders and Wallonia for a time sought a restoration of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was a movement directed by William I of the Netherlands as part of his "Volhardingspolitiek" and containing most of the Belgian elites (nobility, industrials). Some of the most prominent Flemish Orangists were Jan Frans Willems and Hippolyte Metdepenningen. Although refusing the partake in parliamentary elections as they deemed the Belgian institutions as illegitimate, the Orangists did take part in local elections (province and municipal) from which they activated against the new Belgian state through political actions and an activist press. At least three Orangist coups were foiled during the 1830s. Although losing Dutch financial and political support after the Treaty of London (1839) and William I's abdication (1840), the weakening Belgian Orangism survived well into the 1850s, strongly opposing the Belgian Revolution and rallying against independence.

It was one inspiration for the later Greater Netherlands movement, although that movement was not all monarchist.

Orangism was a movement in the 19th century Grand Duchy of Luxembourg favouring the personal union of the Netherlands and Luxembourg under the House of Orange-Nassau. Made up of many notable figures, mainly nobles and Roman Catholic clergy, they were moderate liberals or conservative-liberals and slightly anti-clerical. At first they favoured maintaining the Grand Duchy's autonomous status and, especially during the Belgian Revolution, opposed it being merged into Belgium. In the end the western part of the Grand Duchy (the present province of Luxembourg) passed to Belgium, whilst the eastern part and the Orange grand duchy continued as an independent state. In 1890 the heads of the House of Orange were grand dukes of Luxembourg, but on the death of king and grand duke William III in 1890 he was succeeded by his relation Adolphe as grand duke since Luxembourg's constitution did not allow a woman ( Princess Wilhelmina) to hold the throne. The movement's newsletter was the Journal de la Ville et du Pays Luxembourg.

In the context of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Orangism is royalism that favors the House of Orange's rules as kings and queens. Orangism became a political force in the 1860s, when it was embraced by the dominant liberal tendency. Though presented as a national, a-political stance, to gather the support of monarchist Protestants and Catholics, liberal Orangism was in fact an attempt at achieving national unity at the expense of socialist and denominational politics.