Foreign relations of the Netherlands context of the Western European Union and the European Security and Defence Policy of the EU – and bilaterally, as in the German-Netherlands Corps. In recent years, the Dutch have become significant contributors to UN peacekeeping efforts around the world as well as to the Stabililzation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) in Bosnia. The Dutch have been strong advocates of European integration, and most aspects of their foreign, economic, and trade policies are coordinated through the European Union (EU). The Dutch postwar customs union with Belgium and Luxembourg (the Benelux group) paved the way for the formation of the
Revolution of 1848 in Luxembourg powers. After being annexed by the French in the Napoleonic Wars, Luxembourg was elevated to a Grand Duchy and awarded to the Dutch King by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. While it was supposed to be ruled by him in personal union, rather than as part of his kingdom, the King-Grand Duke William I treated it merely as a province of the Netherlands. (At the time, modern Belgium was part of the Netherlands, so Luxembourg was not separated from Dutch territory.) The Grand Duchy would also be part of the German Confederation (the successor to the Holy Roman Empire),