The revolt was the consequence of two elements among the people, which though at heart directly opposed to each other were temporarily united against the foreign tyranny. Each movement had its own leader, Van der Noot and Vonck, and both were lawyers of Brabant. Van der Noot proposed to deliver Belgium by the assistance of foreign powers, especially Prussia--the enemy of Austria--and Holland. Vonck, on the other hand, placed his confidence in the Belgians alone, and told the people that the great powers would betray them. Both were forced to flee the country in order to escape the anger of General D’Alton. Both established committees for revolutionary propaganda, Van der Noot in Holland, where he established connections in Prussia; Vonck in the territory of the principality of Liège. Later both committees succeeded in agreeing upon a common plan of action. Like William the Silent in the sixteenth century, Van der Noot issued a manifesto proclaiming the deposition of Joseph II as sovereign of the Austrian Netherlands. A national army, recruited on foreign soil, invaded Belgium. The Austrians were defeated and compelled to evacuate the country, except Luxemburg, where they made a stand. The victors then proclaimed a republic, known in history under the official title of the “République des États Belgiques unis” (Republic of the United States of Belgium). In each province the body of the states--delegates of the clergy, the nobility, and the people--were given the exercise of sovereignty, and the traditional institutions of the Burgundian times were restored. In 1790 the provinces held a general meeting at Brussels, where the federal pact between them and the central power was established by the so-called Act of Union. [Illustration: THE TOWN HALL OF BRUSSELS AND THE GREAT SQUARE]