Antwerp Diamonds History

History of Antwerp, Belgium
Antwerp is situated in Belgium, the heart of Europe. It can count the Netherlands, Germany, France and Great Britain as neighbors. It is situated at the crossroads of international traffic, a 30 minute drive from Brussels, the Belgian capital and headquarters of the European Community. Antwerp has always been a centre of commerce and culture. Antwerp is linked to the North Sea by its harbor on the banks of the river Scheldt

The Scheldt (Dutch: Schelde, French Escaut) is a 350 km long river that originates in the north of France, enters Belgium and near Antwerp flows west into the Netherlands towards the North Sea. It is the main river through the Belgian cities of Ghent and Antwerp. The Scheldt estuary has always had considerable commercial and strategic importance. In Roman days it was important for the shipping lanes to Britannia. The Franks took control over the region around 260 and at first interfered with the Roman supply routes as pirates. Later they became allies of the Romans. With the various divisions of the Frankish Empire in the 9th century, the Scheldt eventually became the border between the west and the east Empire.

Antwerp was a small trading center by the early 8th cent. It was destroyed by the Normans in 836, but by the 11th cent. it was a fairly important port. The city was officially chartered in 1291. Antwerp was held by Brabant from the 13th to mid-14th centuries and then became an early seat of the counts of Flanders. In the 15th cent. it rose to prominence as Bruges and Ghent declined. In 1446 the English Merchant Adventurers and other traders motivated port trade by moving their operations from Bruges to Antwerp.

The diamond industry, established in the 15th cent., had expanded considerably after the arrival (early 16th cent.) of Jewish artisans expelled from Portugal. By the middle of the 16th cent. Antwerp was Europe's chief commercial and financial center. The city's prosperity suffered in 1576, when it was sacked and about 6,000 of its inhabitants killed by Spanish troops (the “Spanish fury” ), and again in 1584-85, when the city was captured by the Spanish under Alessandro of Farnese after a 14-month siege. With the struggle for independence against Spain, the tide turned. Antwerp fell to the Spanish in 1585, causing a great number of inhabitants – among which many skilled workmen – to flee to Amsterdam. Thus, diamond trade and industry moved away from Antwerp in the 17th century. Under the Peace of Westphalia (1648), the Scheldt was closed to navigation (as a means of favoring Amsterdam ), and Antwerp declined rapidly.

The city revived with the opening of the Scheldt by the French in 1795 and with the expansion of its port facilities by Napoleon I. After the Napoleonic era the river was reopened and once Belgium had claimed its independence the treaty of the Scheldt determined that the river should remain accessible to ships headed for Belgian ports.

The incorporation of Belgium into the Netherlands in 1815 again hindered Antwerp's economic development, a situation that was continued by the Dutch-Belgian treaty of separation, 1839, gave the Netherlands the right to collect tolls on Scheldt shipping. The expansion of Antwerp as a major modern port dates only from 1863, when, by a cash payment, Belgium ended Dutch restrictions on traffic on the Scheldt.

Antwerp was seriously damaged in World War I when it was captured by the Germans in Oct., 1914 after a 12-day siege. In World War II it was again taken by the Germans in May, 1940. The Allies recaptured it in September 1944, which compelled the Germans to bombard the city heavily in retaliation. In WWII the estuary once again became a contested area. Despite allied control of Antwerp, German forces still occupied fortified positions through the Scheldt estuary west and north, preventing any allied shipping to the port. In the Battle of the Scheldt, the Canadian First Army, successfully cleared the area, allowing supply convoys direct access to the port of Antwerp, by November of 1944.

However, as of the end of the 19th century, Antwerp recovered. Discoveries in South Africa brought forth a stream of rough stones, which in turn contributed greatly to Antwerp’s status as the world’s leading diamond centre. After World War II, the Antwerp World Diamond Center really boomed. Antwerp reestablished itself after World War II as the international diamond trade center.

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