How did French occupation policies disappoint some supporters of revolution in Belgium and the Rhineland?

During the French Revolutionary Wars, initial enthusiasm for French intervention in Belgium and the Rhineland often waned as the reality of occupation became clear.

In Belgium, supporters of the revolution—particularly those who had initially looked to France for support against Austrian imperial authority—found their hopes dashed when it became evident that French military victory was merely a prelude to annexation. Once under French administration, the region lost its traditional political autonomy, and the new regime implemented centralized control, abolished aristocratic privileges, and persecuted the Roman Catholic Church. Furthermore, the imposition of military conscription sparked a violent peasants' revolt in 1798–1799, which was met with harsh repression.12

In the Rhineland, while many German intellectuals initially sympathized with the French Revolution’s ideals of ending royal absolutism, the subsequent occupation brought a different experience. Although some inhabitants accepted French rule with equanimity, the occupation was characterized by a clash of incompatible principles of authority. The French government ultimately prioritized its own interests, governing the left bank of the Rhine from Paris for two decades.3