In the history of Belgium, the period from 1789 to 1914, dubbed the "long 19th century" by the historian Eric Hobsbawm, includes the end of Austrian rule and periods of French and Dutch occupation of the region, leading to the creation of the first independent Belgian state in 1830. At the start of the period, French was the dominant language, and was the only one approved for use in legal and government business, however Belgium became officially bilingual in 1870 and Dutch was officially recognized as an equal language to French in legal matters in 1898.