| |
Belgium The History
Although the modern country of Belgium was founded in 1830, the history of the peoples and the territory of the southern Low Countries reaches back to the Roman period. Around 50 bc Roman general Julius Caesar named the territory of the Belgae he had conquered Gallia Belgica (Belgian Gaul). The Roman region of Gallia Belgica included modern Belgium, northern France, Netherlands, and part of Switzerland.
Rome’s successor in western Europe was the kingdom of the Franks, which originated in Belgian Gaul and expanded into Germany, eventually extending from the Pyrenees eastward across the Alps and southward as far as Rome itself. The Franks were led by Charlemagne, who united all of western Europe through conquest during his reign from 768 to 814. When the Frankish realm was partitioned in 843, Belgium was incorporated in the duchy of Lorraine, which was part of Francia Orientalis (the East Frankish Kingdom, or Germany). In the extreme west of this realm arose the county of Flanders, which was a fief of the kings of France.
The Middle Ages, and especially the 12th and 13th centuries, were a period of intensive commercial development throughout the southern Low Countries. The merchant class rose to great prosperity, and cities flourished. In Flanders the cloth trade was the basis of the wealth and growing independence of such cities as Brugge, Ghent, and Ypres. Liège grew rich on the profits of its iron forges and arms manufacture. Wealthy merchants and powerful guilds vied with each other in endowing public works such as the belfries, guildhalls, and churches that are still the pride of many Belgian cities.
The most important of the medieval states in what is now Belgium was Flanders. In the early Middle Ages the counts of Flanders succeeded in establishing themselves as independent rulers, although the king of France was the theoretical overlord of the region. At the end of the 13th century Flanders was annexed by King Philip IV of France. French rule was welcomed by some of the Flemish nobility but was bitterly resented by the merchants and craftsmen in the cities. In 1302 the craftsmen of Brugge massacred the French garrison of the city. In the same year an army of Flemish townsmen inflicted a crushing defeat on the French in the Battle of Courtrai. It is sometimes called the Battle of the Spurs because the Flemings collected the spurs of the dead French knights as trophies. However, the French later gained control over Flanders. During the Hundred Years' War between France and England, the Flemings rebelled under the leadership of Ghent and allied themselves with England, but in 1382 were decisively defeated.
In 1384 Flanders was united with Burgundy, and by the mid-15th century the dukes of Burgundy ruled the greater part of the Belgian and Dutch Netherlands. Flanders continued to enjoy great prosperity, and the great age of Flemish art began. While owing allegiance to the French crown, Burgundy’s aim was to found a powerful state between France and Germany. This effort was disrupted by the death in 1477 of the last Burgundian ruler, Charles the Bold.
Habsburg Rule
By the marriage in 1477 of Mary of Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold, to the German prince Maximilian (later Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I), all of the rich Burgundian realm except the duchy itself passed to the control of the Habsburg family. Maximilian’s grandson, Charles, inherited Netherlands (which included present-day Belgium) in 1506. Charles ascended the throne of Spain in 1516 and later became Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. In 1549 he decreed that Netherlands be formally joined to the possessions of Spain.
Philip II of Spain, Charles’s successor, tried to suppress Protestantism and forbade all trade between his subjects and the outside world. Many of the inhabitants of the northern Low Countries had converted to Protestantism during the Reformation, and religious feeling intensified with Roman Catholic Spain. Philip’s policies provoked a rebellion in Netherlands that began in 1566. This upheaval was partly a religious and economic struggle and partly an attempt to preserve local traditions of self-government. Spanish armies were defeated, but the strife between the predominantly Catholic south and the Protestant north continued. In 1581 seven northern provinces (Gelderland, Friesland, Holland, Groningen, Overijssel, Utrecht, and Zeeland) declared their independence as the United Provinces of The Netherlands, while the southern provinces (Belgium) remained loyal to Spain.
Philip II continued to pursue reconquest of the north without success. In 1609, with neither side capable of a decisive victory, Philip III of Spain signed a 12-year truce with the rebels. By the time this accord expired, the Thirty Years' War was raging, and the Spanish Netherlands was once again a battleground. In 1635 the Dutch and the French joined forces to divide the Spanish Netherlands, but still could not dislodge the Spaniards. A succession of Franco-Dutch victories finally forced the Spanish king, Philip IV, to accept a separate peace with the Dutch in 1648. The south, present-day Belgium and Luxembourg, remained a Spanish domain. By the Treaty of Münster, the Dutch gained some territory on their southern border, notably Maastricht, and Spain agreed to close off shipping from the Schelde River, which flowed through Dutch territory but which was Antwerp’s sole outlet to the sea. The great port city, a center of commerce, thus entered a period of decline.
France, with a growing coalition of European powers, continued the war with Spain. Throughout his long reign the French king, Louis XIV, refused to abandon his quest for the Spanish Netherlands. By the Peace of the Pyrenees in 1659, France gained several frontier areas, and through subsequent conquests won possession of additional towns. The Spanish Netherlands became an important pawn in the next major European conflict, the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714). A settlement concluded at Utrecht (see Peace of Utrecht) in 1713 gave France part of Flanders, including Dunkerque and Lille. The bulk of the territory, however, came under the control of the Habsburg rulers of Austria, with a stipulation that its fortresses on the French border be garrisoned by the Dutch. Until the end of the 18th century the area was generally known as the Austrian Netherlands.
During the War of the Austrian Succession in 1744, the country was occupied by the French, but it was restored to Austria by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748. Except for this invasion, Belgium’s Austrian era was initially peaceful. This tranquility was disrupted in 1781 when the Austrian emperor, Joseph II, decided to raze the border fortresses and reopen the Schelde estuary. The Dutch mounted an effective blockade and again closed the river to trade. Then, in 1787, as part of his effort to centralize the administration of the far-flung Habsburg domains, Joseph abolished provincial autonomy in the Austrian Netherlands. The loss of local control led to a general uprising, which coincided with the outbreak of the French Revolution (1789-1799). Most of the Austrian garrisons were forced to capitulate, and on January 11, 1790, a Belgian republic was proclaimed.
Quarrels between social and religious factions shook the new state from the outset, and within a year of Joseph’s death in 1790, his successor as Austrian emperor, Leopold II, reestablished control. A conciliatory and enlightened ruler, he revoked his predecessor’s decrees, but the new regime won little popular support. After Leopold was succeeded by Francis II in 1792, Austria became embroiled in war with the revolutionary government of France. Belgium was twice occupied by the French army, and the country was formally ceded to France by the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797.
French and Dutch Rule
The regime installed by the French was generally unpopular, but Belgium profited from French rule. It expanded in area after France conquered the prosperous city of Liège and annexed it to Belgian territory. Economically, after the French opened the Schelde River to shipping, Antwerp’s trade revived. New markets were also opened for local industry.
In 1814 the country was occupied by armies of the nations ranged against Napoleon Bonaparte. The next year the Battle of Waterloo, the last great battle of the Napoleonic Wars, was fought on Belgian soil.
In 1815 the Congress of Vienna assembled to redraw the map of Europe in the wake of Napoleon’s defeat. The peace settlement adopted at the Congress again united Belgium and Netherlands, this time under a Dutch king, William I. Catholic Belgium, however, did not want a Protestant ruler, even though the country prospered under the Dutch. The outbreak of a revolution in France in July 1830 (see July Revolution) inspired a Belgian uprising in August. Dutch troops were driven from Brussels, and on October 4 a coalition of the normally antagonistic Catholics and Liberals proclaimed Belgian independence. The great powers—Austria, France, Britain, Prussia, and Russia—accepted Belgian independence, and the Dutch were unable to overcome such a formidable group.
Independence and Neutrality
The Belgians drew up a constitution providing for a bicameral legislature elected by male property owners and a king whose executive acts had to be countersigned by a responsible minister. They chose as their monarch Leopold I of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He was a model constitutional monarch whose political skills enabled him to wield considerable power at home, and to become an influential figure among Europe’s rulers. The Dutch finally agreed to recognize Belgium in 1839 and a peace treaty was signed. In the settlement, half of Luxembourg became a Belgian province, while the Dutch were awarded nominal control of the remainder of the Grand Duchy, as well as Limbourg east of the Meuse River. In its most important provision, the European powers confirmed Belgium as an “independent and perpetually neutral state” (Neutrality).
Even after the internal alliance of Catholics and anticlerical Liberals disintegrated, Belgian constitutionalism survived. The economic decline that followed the separation from Dutch markets was halted by Europe’s first national program of railway construction, which connected all major Belgian towns by 1840. Belgium was the first country in continental Europe to industrialize, and had become politically and economically viable by 1865, when Leopold I died and was succeeded by his son.
Under Leopold II, Belgium faced many domestic problems. Liberals and Catholics fought over control of education, finally agreeing to let local governments decide whether or not to subsidize parochial schools. By the 1880s industrialization and population density—the greatest in Europe—had produced appalling living conditions in the cities. As the rural labor force shrank and the number of people engaged in industry tripled, the government enacted legislation to improve housing and working conditions. The workers, who still could not vote, began organizing to obtain political equality. An 1893 general strike forced parliament to institute universal adult male suffrage, modified to give more than one vote to university graduates, men over age 50, and property owners.
Another domestic problem was the lack of a common language. The country’s inhabitants were divided between Dutch-speaking Flemings in Antwerp, East and West Flanders, and Limbourg, and French-speaking Walloons in the remaining provinces; the province of Brabant, which included Brussels, contained speakers of both languages. Flemings outnumbered Walloons, but French was the language of the upper classes who controlled much of Belgium’s wealth. Thus, Walloon interests were disproportionately represented in the government, and only the small segment of the Flemish who were bilingual could participate equally. The passage of a law granting universal manhood suffrage (voting rights) began to redress this imbalance and forced the government to accord equality to both languages when transacting official business.
Early in his reign Leopold II personally financed an expedition up the Congo River in Africa and acquired personal control of the vast Congo basin. At the Berlin West Africa Conference of 1884 and 1885 he was recognized as sovereign of the Congo Free State, as the land was called. The Congo Free State supplied Belgium with incalculable wealth in raw materials. After 1900, however, reports of mistreatment of the native Africans outraged Belgian public opinion and led to legislation in 1908 transferring control of this royal enterprise to the state. From 1908 until independence in 1960, it was known as the Belgian Congo.
As the outbreak of war seemed imminent in Europe, Belgium’s neutral status caused a domestic controversy over the military budget. Advocates of preparedness opposed those who believed that the nation’s neutrality rendered most armaments unnecessary. In 1909, when Albert I ascended the throne, he warned that the army was not strong enough to defend the country. The Catholic-led government used an electoral victory in 1912 to increase draft quotas, over the opposition of Liberals and Socialists.
World War I
On August 4, 1914, one week after World War I began, German troops crossed the frontier into Belgium, ignoring its neutral status. The government resisted invasion and appealed to France, Britain, and Russia for aid. The Belgian army put up a heroic defense against overpowering forces; for four years its troops held on to a sliver of Belgian territory between the Yser River and the French border. The Germans, meanwhile, carried on a ruthless occupation of Belgium, confiscating property and deporting civilians. Although they attempted to capitalize on language divisions by establishing separate Flemish and Walloon administrations, only a small minority of Flemings collaborated with the invaders. A million Belgians fled the country. As the war dragged on, more than 80,000 soldiers and civilians died.
The major Allied offensive that began on September 28, 1918, liberated the entire Belgian coast and led the Germans to agree to an armistice and to withdrawal on the Allies’ terms. The shooting war was finally over. Under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany ceded Eupen-et-Malmédy, and Moresnet to Belgium, adding 989.3 sq km (382 sq mi) and some 64,500 inhabitants to the kingdom.
After the war Belgium was faced with the task of rebuilding the devastated areas. Although the damage was enormous, the country made a remarkable recovery. Another consequence of World War I for Belgium was the discrediting of the policy of neutrality. Belgium effectively renounced its neutrality in 1920 by signing a military alliance with France. In 1925 it became a party to the Locarno treaties, in which Britain, France, Germany, and Italy guaranteed the boundaries of Belgium and affirmed its right to form defensive treaties. Ruanda-Urundi was created from part of a former German colony in East Africa in 1923 and placed under Belgian control by the League of Nations.
World War II
In 1936, after France failed to oppose German remilitarization of the Rhineland, Belgium again returned to neutrality with the understanding that Britain and France would assist in its defense against foreign aggression. Nevertheless, Belgium was attacked for a second time by Germany on May 10, 1940, early in World War II. Without warning or ultimatum, Belgian airfields, railroad stations, and communications centers were bombed by German planes, and German armored units rolled across the border. The army and the French and British troops that came to Belgium’s aid were overwhelmed by the superior might of the invading forces.
By May 26, 1940, the Allies had been pushed into a narrow beachhead around Dunkerque, France, near the Belgian border. King Leopold III surrendered his remaining forces unconditionally on May 28 and was taken prisoner. The Belgian cabinet, which had fled to Paris, refused to acknowledge defeat, declaring the king’s surrender “illegal and unconstitutional.” On May 30 the ministers voted to divest the king of all powers and of the right to rule, a decision supported by the Belgian parliament. After the fall of France, the Belgian government moved to London; it returned to Brussels on September 8, 1944. Later that month parliament elected Leopold’s brother, Prince Charles, as regent.
Postwar Belgium
Although Belgium was in better economic condition after World War II than after World War I, it was politically disorganized because of a conflict between the Christian Democrat parties and a coalition of Liberals, Socialists, and Communists. Intensifying the political struggle was the question concerning King Leopold, who had remained in Austria awaiting determination of his future. Despite pressure from the Christian Democrat parties (now strengthened by the enfranchisement of women), which favored the return of the king, the Belgian parliament in the summer of 1945 extended indefinitely the regency of Prince Charles, virtually exiling the king because of his alleged defeatism in 1940.
While the struggle for political control continued, Belgium regained much of its former position as one of the world’s great trading nations. Industrial areas in the south were modernized, and Antwerp’s port facilities were expanded. Rich uranium deposits from the Congo, which were of particular value in the nuclear age, added to Belgium’s postwar prosperity.
Royal Controversy
On March 12, 1950, after more than a year of successive governmental crises brought on by the controversy over the king, the Belgian electorate went to the polls in an advisory plebiscite on the question of Leopold’s return. A slight majority of the voters favored the return of the king from exile, but his attempt to resume power led to strikes, demonstrations, and riots. Leopold agreed to abdicate in 1951, when his son reached the age of 21. Baudouin was proclaimed king the day after Leopold’s abdication.
European Cooperation
The 1950s were marked by the concentrated effort of European leaders to effect a political and economic union of the Western European nations. Taking an active role in this movement, Belgium, along with France, West Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, and Netherlands, became a charter member of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1952. The efforts of Belgian Foreign Minister Paul Henri Spaak were instrumental in the founding in 1957 of the European Economic Community (EEC). Brussels became the seat of its governing commission and much of its bureaucracy, reflecting the key role that Spaak played in shaping the new European order. In 1967 the ECSC, the EEC, and Euratom merged to form the European Community, now called the European Union.
Crises of Empire and Nation
In 1960 uprisings in the Belgian Congo forced Belgium to withdraw from its African empire. On June 30, 1960, King Baudouin proclaimed the independence of the colony (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC). In 1962 the Belgian-administered UN trust territory of Ruanda-Urundi achieved independence as two states, Rwanda and Burundi. The Belgian Congo was a source of great wealth for Belgium, especially for a few large companies, in which the Belgian government also had substantial shares. The loss of the Congo caused economic hardship in Belgium.
To strengthen the economy, the Belgian government instituted an austerity program in the early 1960s. The Socialists called for a general strike and violence erupted, particularly in the Walloon south. Although the strike was called off, the crisis had sharpened the differences between Flemings and Walloons. Socialist leaders proposed that the unitary state of Belgium be replaced by a loose federation of three regions—Flanders, Wallonia, and the area around Brussels.
New laws in 1962 and 1963 established official language frontiers, but the problem was not that easily solved. Both Flemish and Walloon workers protested discrimination in employment, and disturbances broke out at the universities of Brussels and Leuven, which eventually split into separate Dutch-speaking and French-speaking institutions. Although during the 1960s the Christian Social and Socialist parties remained the major contenders for power, both Flemish and Walloon federalists continued to make gains in the general elections, principally at the expense of the Liberal Party. Eventually separate Flemish and Walloon ministries were created for education, culture, and economic development. Finally, in 1971, the constitution was revised to prepare the way for regional autonomy in most economic and cultural affairs.
Despite this reversal of a long-standing policy of centralization, the federalist parties opposed the revisions on the grounds that they did not go far enough. Moreover, repeated efforts to transfer actual legislative authority to regional bodies were blocked by disagreements about the geographical extent of the Brussels region. In 1980 agreement was finally reached on the question of autonomy for Flanders and Wallonia.
During the 1980s the Christian Democrat parties formed the cabinets, usually under the leadership of Wilfried Martens. In January 1989 parliament passed a devolution bill designed to transfer power from the central government to the three ethnolinguistic federal regions. Implementation of this law moved slowly, and the 1991 elections resulted in a reduced plurality for the Christian Democrats. Martens resigned as party leader, and his successor, Jean-Luc Dehaene, formed a new center-left government.
European Integration
Belgium moved to support increased economic and political cooperation in Europe by ratifying the Treaty on European Union, or the Maastricht Treaty, in the fall of 1992. In May 1993 Belgium approved the devolution process and it became a federal state with three regions—Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels—in July of that year. King Baudouin died on July 31, 1993, and was succeeded by his brother Albert, who ruled as Albert II. In parliamentary elections held in May 1995, Dehaene’s coalition was returned to power. Belgium took another step toward integrating with Europe in May 1998, when it officially agreed to replace its national currency with a new single European currency, the euro. The euro was introduced in 1999 and entirely replaced the Belgian currency, along with the currencies of other European nations participating in the single currency, in early 2002.
Recent Events
Dehaene’s center-left coalition suffered a major defeat in parliamentary elections in June 1999, a defeat attributed to rising public anger over a food contamination scandal. The government had revealed in May that a wide variety of Belgian foodstuffs might have been contaminated by the cancer-causing chemical dioxin. Officials reportedly allowed more than a month to pass before warning the public about health risks. The contamination led to the banning of many Belgian food exports by the European Union (EU) and cost the Belgian economy hundreds of millions of dollars.
A center-right coalition led by the Liberal parties took office in July 1999, and Liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt of the Flemish Liberal Democrats became prime minister. The formation of the new government, which also included the left-leaning Socialist parties and the environmentalist Green parties, marked the first time since 1958 that the Christian Democrats had been excluded from government. Verhofstadt and his coalition were returned to power following parliamentary elections in 2003. The government’s plan to raise the age at which Belgian workers could retire with full benefits led to strikes in late 2005.
In local elections held in 2000 a far-right party, Vlaams Blok (Flemish Block), achieved significant gains. The Vlaams Blok wants independence for the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders and an end to immigration. In 2004 the Vlaams Blok was declared racist, deprived of funding, and subsequently disbanded. However, it reorganized under a new name. Meanwhile, disputes over Belgium’s language boundaries continued in the early 2000s.
In parliamentary elections in June 2007, Verhofstadt’s party suffered a crushing defeat, coming in fourth place, and Verhofstadt resigned as prime minister. The Flemish Christian Democrats emerged as the single largest party and its leader, Yves Leterme, was nominated to form a coalition government. However, ensuing rounds of coalition talks repeatedly broke down as the French-speaking politicians of Wallonia rejected Leterme’s plans to give more autonomy to the regions. The country remained mired in political deadlock until March 2008, when marathon talks led to the formation of a five-party coalition government headed by Leterme. |
|
