A new monarch for the Southern Netherlands provinces - Who do they choose?

:confused:If the occasion cropped up, between 1700 and 1800, that the people of main provinces of the Austrian Netherlands (or Belgium or Southern Netherlands, whichever you prefer) would be given a say as to which country they wanted to join, what would they choose?

Assuming that full independence was not acceptable nor was staying under the Habsburgs, they had to join someone.

What would be the will of the people?

Flanders - Dutch speaking Catholics - Would they prefer their co-linguists in the Netherlands or co-religionists in France?
Walloonia - French dialect - Catholics - I don't see anything but France in this one.
Luxembourg - Lexembourgish speaking Catholics - The Wittelsbach Palatinate territories of Berg and Julich?
 
I believe the aristocracy in Flanders was French-speaking at this time, and Dutch/Flemish was simply the language of the common people. So I think you'd see support for a francophone monarch (in the 1700s, there isn't too much real democracy in Europe).
 
While this would be basically ASB, the Southern Netherlands would no doubt join France. After all they have much economic and linguistic links, not to mention the fact that the only country that WANTED the Southern Netherlands was France. The Dutch weren't in any position to hold onto the south in the 18th century.
 
THanks all.

Mainly, I'm just trying to get an idea of what the preference of the Southern Netherlands would be.

This can apply differently to different regions.

Walloonia

or:

Flanders
 
While this would be basically ASB, the Southern Netherlands would no doubt join France. After all they have much economic and linguistic links, not to mention the fact that the only country that WANTED the Southern Netherlands was France. The Dutch weren't in any position to hold onto the south in the 18th century.

Not to mention that the Protestant elite of the Republic didn't want a territory with that many Catholics.

Anyway people usually didn't have much say in these things. IIRC France and Austria made a deal that in exchange for French support for regaining Silesia from Prussia, Austria would trade the Southern Netherlands for Parma(,Piacenza & Guastella).
In other words the house of Bourbon-Parma would have gained the Southern Netherlands. Basically the closest thing of being French (in the French orbit) without being French.
 
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