Going all out on development in Belgium was a bad idea.
The Art of War said: "In the methods of employing troops, the general receives his commands from the sovereign, assembles the army and gathers the masses. Do not linger in difficult ground; form alliances on crossroads ground; do not remain on desperate ground; plot on encircled ground; fight on death ground."
That meant one should build ties with neighboring states at major transportation crossroads, and not remain in areas unfit for survival, but pass through them quickly. Though Belgium counted as crossroads ground, it was also desperate ground unsuitable for survival. During the Second Anti-French Coalition in 1799, Britain hoped to restore its original borders, Russia intended to utterly destroy the French Republic, and Austria sought to reclaim the lands it had lost in Italy to compensate for the loss of Belgium and the right bank of the Rhine River.
While Russia and France were fiercely fighting in Zurich, England once again secretly seized Malta, as it had done before. This enraged Tsar Paul, so in 1800 he withdrew all Russian ground forces, leaving Austria to face France's counterattack alone. He also formed an Armed Neutrality League of Denmark, Sweden, and Prussia, intending to disrupt Britain's Baltic Sea trade and naval supplies.
In 1800, he also assembled a Cossack cavalry force, intending to dispatch it to British India. The plan was abandoned after Paul was assassinated.
Belgian independence could resolve the opportunity European nations had after 1815 to establish a barrier along France's northeastern border. Some said offense was the best defense; others said defense was itself an offense. The Macedonian phalanx had been created by Alexander the Great. Before Homer, infantry fought like a swarm of bees, appearing disorderly and chaotic, with warriors of noble birth engaging in