which later became France and the Holy Roman Empire. This status quo remained intact, at least on paper, until 1528, but by then, both the County of Flanders on the western bank and Zeeland and the Duchy of Brabant on the east were part of the Habsburg possessions of the Seventeen Provinces. Antwerp was the most prominent harbour in Western Europe. After this city fell back under Spanish control in 1585, the Dutch Republic took control of Zeelandic Flanders, a strip of land on the left bank, and closed the Scheldt for shipping. That shifted the trade to the ports of Amsterdam and Middelburg and seriously crippled Antwerp, an important and traumatic element in the history of relations between the Netherlands and what was to become Belgium. Access to the river was the subject of the brief Kettle War of 1784, and during the French Revolution shortly afterwards, the river was reopened in 1792. Once Belgium had claimed its independence from the Netherlands in 1830, the treaty of the Scheldt determined that the river should remain accessible to ships heading for Belgian ports. Nevertheless, the Dutch government would demand a toll from passing vessels until 16 July 1863. The Question of the Scheldt, a study providing "a history of the international legal arrangements governing the Western Scheldt", was prepared for the use of British negotiators at the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. In the Second World War, the Scheldt estuary once again became a contested area. Despite Allied control of Antwerp, German forces still occupied fortified positions in September 1944 throughout the Scheldt estuary west and north, preventing any Allied shipping from reaching 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 1944. Tributaries and sub-tributaries Western Scheldt or Honte (Vlissingen) Schijn (Antwerp) Rupel (Rupelmonde) Nete (Rumst) Kleine Nete (Lier) Aa (Grobbendonk) Wamp (Kasterlee) Grote Nete (Lier) Wimp (Herenthout) Molse Nete (Geel) Laak (Westerlo) Dijle (Rumst) Zenne (Mechelen) Maalbeek (Grimbergen) Woluwe (Vilvoorde) Maalbeek (Schaerbeek) Molenbeek (Brussels-Laeken) Neerpedebeek (Anderlecht-Neerpede) Zuun (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw-Zuun) Geleytsbeek (Drogenbos) Linkebeek (Drogenbos) Molenbeek (Lot) Senette (Tubize) Hain (Tubize) Samme (Braine-le-Comte-Ronquières) Thines (Nivelles) Vrouwvliet (Mechelen) [further upstream named Grote Beek, Meerloop, Raambeek, Zwartwaterbeek, Boeimeer] Demer (Rotselaar) Velp (Halen) Gete (Halen) Herk (Halen) Melsterbeek (Herk-de-Stad) Grote Gete (Zoutleeuw) Kleine Gete (Zoutleeuw) Voer (Leuven) IJse (Huldenberg-Neerijse) Nethen (Grez-Doiceau-Nethen) (Huldenberg-Terlanen-Sint-Agatha-Rode) Zilverbeek (Rixensart-Genval) Thyle