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BELVUE MUSEUM
HISTORY OF BELGIUM
TEXTS IN THE ROOMS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ROOM 1 - 1830 : A NEW STATE IN EUROPE........................................................................ 2
ROOM 2 – 1831-1884: A LAND OF OPPOSITES ................................................................... 3
ROOM 3 – 1885-1914: THE BELLE ÉPOQUE ........................................................................ 4
ROOM 4 : 1885-1914 : UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE! NOW! ....................................................... 5
ROOM 5 - 1914-1918 : A SMALL COUNTRY IN A GREAT WAR ........................................... 6
ROOM 6 - 1919-1939 : SEDUCING THE MASSES................................................................. 7
ROOM 7 - 1940-1945 : WAR ONCE MORE ............................................................................ 8
ROOM 8 - 1945-1973 : FROM THE ROYAL QUESTION TO THE GOLDEN SIXTIES ............ 9
ROOM 9 - 1973-2005: BETWEEN GLOBALISATION AND FEDERALISATION ................... 10
The federalisation of Belgium ............................................................................................ 10
1
ROOM 1 - 1830 : A NEW STATE IN EUROPE
After the defeat of the French Emperor Napoleon at Waterloo, in 1815 the southern and
northern Netherlands are reunited. Despite their common past, large differences have grown between
the predominantly Catholic, francophone, industrial and agrarian, protectionist south and the protestant,
Dutch-speaking, commercial, liberal north. King William I wants to unify the two countries into a
centralised state. His policies cause tensions from the 1820s on. In the south, there are two prominent
groups in society: the Catholics, who want to free the Church from state intervention, and the Liberals,
who demand more political participation and personal freedom. In 1828, these forces fuse into one
opposition movement: ‘unionism’, or the ‘monstrous alliance’.
At the end of August 1830, riots break out in Brussels and quickly become a popular uprising.
The opposition to William I uses this social unrest to push through its political demands. In September,
the king – who is a poor diplomat – deploys the army, ruling out a compromise. As a result, on 4
October the opposition’s pursuit of administrative separation turns into the proclamation of Belgium’s
independence. William I opposes the secession until 1839, but he finally has to give in to the Great
Powers, which act as guarantors for Belgian independence and impose permanent neutrality on the
new state.
The provisional government, consisting of nine prominent revolutionaries, temporarily takes all
power. Meanwhile, two hundred delegates from the upper and middle classes ratify a new constitution
‘on behalf of the people’. Belgium becomes a constitutional monarchy in which the interests of the rich
and powerful groups (major landowners and the economic and official elite) are protected. The
constitution guarantees basic liberal principles such as the balance of powers, the central role of an
elected parliament (with a House of Representatives and a Senate), the restriction of royal power and
ministerial responsibility, and freedom of opinion, assembly, press, religion, education and language.
Once the country has a constitution, the search for a king starts. Eventually, the German Prince
Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha accepts, and is sworn in as first King of the Belgians on 21 July
1831.
2
ROOM 2 – 1831-1884: A LAND OF OPPOSITES
Shortly after independence, a new revolution surges through Belgium. In 1835, work starts on a
rail network, the first on the European continent. Its construction engenders enormous industrial growth.
Belgium quickly develops into the most industrialised country in the world after Great Britain. The heart
of the coal mining and metal industries lies in the southern part of the country, around Liège and in
Hainaut. Brussels becomes the financial artery of industry. The Société Générale and the Bank of
Belgium, two institutions that guide the growth of industry and provide capital by creating limited
companies, are established in the capital. In agrarian Flanders, the Ghent textile business is the only
island of industry.
Belgium evolves into a country of two worlds. While the new urban world changes and
progresses, traditional agrarian society is dislocated. In contrast to the secularisation in the city, the
Church and its rituals give country-dwellers something to hold onto in their insecure lives. From the
1840s, it becomes increasingly hard for the Flemish peasant population to earn a decent living. The
mechanisation of the textile industry kills cottage industries and causes many families to lose the
income on which they depend. In addition, a number of crop failures in the years 1844-1846 lead to
unbearable misery. The Flemish provinces become ‘Poor Flanders’. Migration increases, often to the
Walloon industrial districts. Although factory workers suffer deplorable conditions, they can more easily
support themselves than leaseholders and day labourers in the countryside.
The government of the country is in the hands of a francophone elite that is elected, on the
basis of tax suffrage, by a mere 2% of the population. Initially there are no political parties. Catholics
and Liberals cooperate and do not form separate entities. This period of ‘unionism’ ends when the
differences of opinion expand and the Liberals found a party of their own in 1846. The Catholics use the
constitutional freedom of education, assembly and religion to extend substantially the influence of the
Church in public life. Their hold on education in particular is an annoyance to the Liberals, who react by
organising non-denominational state schools. An extraordinarily fierce struggle for the ‘soul of the child’
ensues. The conflict between clericss and anti-clerics seems insurmountable and will continue well into
the 20th century.
3
ROOM 3 – 1885-1914: THE BELLE ÉPOQUE
From the 1890s, the Belgian economy enters a new growth phase. In this period of high
capitalism, the possibilities seem endless. The world fairs are a typical product of this euphoric belief in
the future. These ‘celebrations of progress’ showcase the latest innovations in science and technology:
photography, film, telephone, cars, electricity. It is no coincidence that the young state of Belgium
organises no fewer than seven world fairs before 1914. Belgian entrepreneurs confidently travel across
the globe. Powerful companies such as Empain, Cockerill, Otlet and the Société Générale build
railroads and tramlines all over Europe, China, South America and Central Africa. Besides industry and
the banking sector, Belgian commerce also profits from the new markets. Antwerp grows into an
international port.
In spite of its status as an economic world power, there is little enthusiasm in Belgium for
overseas expansion. King Leopold II interprets this reserve as a lack of spirit and vision. In 1885, he
acquires the Congo region in Central Africa as his private property. From the end of the 19th century,
huge profits are made in the rubber trade due to the development of the car industry, but the cruel
system of exploitation provokes an indignant outcry. In 1908, Leopold II hands over the Congo to the
Belgian state.
The new bourgeois elite reap the fruits of the industrial development. Smugly, they flaunt their
power and wealth in a lavish lifestyle. Brussels is transformed into a modern capital with wide
boulevards, grand buildings and lush parks. Leopold II, also called the ‘king-urbanist’, makes an
important contribution by investing his profits from the Congo in urban development projects. The
capital becomes a crossroads of cultures where new artistic expressions, such as art nouveau, are born
and appreciated.
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ROOM 4 : 1885-1914 : UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE! NOW!
Thanks to the industrial development of the 19th century, a small proportion of the population
can live in comfort. They have all the political power, while the have-nots exist in subhuman conditions
without political representation. In factories, men, women and children work more than 12 hours each
day for a mere pittance. They live packed together in neighbourhoods that are strictly segregated from
the stately, bourgeois mansions. Hunger riots and violent strikes are brutally suppressed by police and
army. The largest rising takes place in March 1886 among Walloon factory workers. The army
intervenes, causing several deaths. The authorities are rudely awakened to social reality. As a result, a
number of social laws are passed. From 1889, children under 12 can no longer work in industry.
In 1885, the Belgian Workers’ Party (BWP) is founded, with the aim of reforming capitalist
society from within by gaining political power in Parliament for the workers. Its programme hinges on
achieving universal suffrage through strikes. The support of Walloon workers is indispensable to this
project: only the Walloon industrial districts can provide the necessary manpower. In Flanders, social
consciousness is less well developed, except in the textile town of Ghent. There the workers’ movement
and the cooperative Vooruit (Forward) start to build a network of organisations that will prove to be a
model for the rest of Belgium and the world.
From 1884 to 1914, the Catholic Party rules without interruption. It considers the rise of the
Socialist Party an enormous threat. A Christian Labour movement is founded to prevent workers from
defecting to the ‘godless’ socialists. Especially in the countryside and in smaller towns, where priests
and Catholic dignitaries still have considerable influence, the Catholic Party succeeds in keeping the
pious vote.
Under the pressure of public BWP demonstrations, Parliament adopts universal plural suffrage
for men in 1893: every man, rich or poor, can cast one vote, but that is as far as equality goes. House
owners, graduates and heads of family get one or two extra votes, which gives this category of men the
majority of the votes. In the elections of 1894, the BWP only wins 28 out of 154 seats in the House of
Representatives. The socialist struggle for the principle ‘one man, one vote’ goes on.
Besides the labour movement, another emancipation campaign is active in the second half of
the 19th century. In the northern part of Belgium, present-day Flanders, a language movement arises
that promotes the use of Dutch as the offical state language. In the state administration, the army and
the schools, French predominates. French is the language of the elite and the socially ambitious, but
the majority of Flemings do not speak French. Gradually, several language acts are passed to give
more rights to the Dutch-speaking population, but in practice there remains much inequality. For
instance, no university teaches courses in Dutch.
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ROOM 5 - 1914-1918 : A SMALL COUNTRY IN A GREAT WAR
On 4 August 1914, at 9 a.m., German troops cross the eastern border of neutral Belgium. There
is great outrage about the German invasion and a wave of patriotism engulfs the country. The harsh
reality of war rapidly becomes clear, however. The Belgian army is no match for the German war
machine. A million and a half civilians run from the violence and the German terror – executions,
pillaging, arson. They flee for France, Great Britain and the Netherlands. Allied propaganda uses the
‘rape’ of brave ‘poor little Belgium’ to rally support for the war.
The German offensive intensifies in mid-November 1914. The Belgian army under the
command of King Albert succeeds in holding ground behind the river IJzer by flooding the plains.
French and British troops help to defend the long front line. The offensives turn into a trench war that
drags on for four years. The Belgian government takes up residence behind the front in the French town
of Sainte Adresse near Le Havre, while King Albert and his army staff stay in the Belgian coastal town
of De Panne. To stand united in the defence of the homeland, the ministers decide to bury their political
differences. In this climate of ‘truce’ the prewar Catholic cabinet is transformed into a government of
national unity by the entry of a socialist and two liberal ministers.
In the occupied territories the Germans install a harsh regime. They requisition everything of
value: industrial equipment, means of transport, agricultural products, metal, wood, coal. Around
120,000 civilians are deported to labour camps in Germany. The plundering causes scarcity, hunger,
illness and cold. A National Relief Commission, chaired by leading businessmen such as Ernest Solvay
and Emile Francqui, mitigates the greatest need by organising the distribution of food.
A small group of radical members of the Flemish movement cooperates with the occupier.
Known as ‘activists’, they are in favour of a unilingual Flanders, free from Belgium, and to this end they
support the occupier. On the war front the Flemings have other demands. Several thousand of them
react against the French orders of their officers. The army command does not listen to them. The
movement radicalises and demands autonomy for Flanders.
When Germany capitulates, on 11 November 1918, Belgium faces the immense task of
rebuilding a devastated country. A small piece of Germany – Eupen, Malmedy and Sankt Vith – is
annexed to Belgium: 60,000 Germans become Belgian nationals.
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ROOM 6 - 1919-1939 : SEDUCING THE MASSES
On 11 November 1918 King Albert reaches an agreement with prominent members of the
Belgian political and economic world in his headquarters in Loppem. Some fundamental reforms are
passed to reward the working class for its loyalty in the fight against Germany: suffrage is democratised
and new social laws are enacted.
Universal single suffrage is accorded to every man. Women are excluded, except for municipal
elections. The new system entails coalition governments because it has become impossible for a single
party to gain 50% of the vote. In Parliament the socialists and the Catholics are the largest groups. The
liberals lose many votes, but they often remain indispensable in forming a government. The second
major reform is the adoption of social laws that offer workers some financial security against the threat
of poverty through illness, old age and unemployment. The working day is set at eight hours a day, six
days a week.
Economically, Belgium has suffered enormously from the war, but from 1926 there is a
remarkable recovery. The ‘crazy years’ start. By 1928 there are hardly any unemployed. Business soars
and colonial exploitation by firms such as the Société Générale reaches new heights. In Flanders
industrialisation expands modestly, with the coal mines of Limburg, for instance. Mobility increases
rapidly. Cars become a regular sight and the radio turns into a mass medium.
In 1929 the Belgian export economy is severely affected by the global crisis. Democracy too
becomes besieged. Coalition governments look for compromise solutions, but the parties distrust each
other. Governments come and go. Not only the public at large, but also King Leopold III is disappointed
about the functioning of democracy. Support grows for extremist groups such as the Communist Party,
Rex, Verdinaso and the Vlaams Nationaal Verbond (VNV). The call for a strong leader becomes ever
louder: the totalitarian regimes of Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin are a source of inspiration. Other parties
and organisations become enamoured of militaristic rituals such as mass meetings, uniforms, militia,
marches and flags. Individualist principles are completely subordinated to group values.
The Flemish movement is weakened by the First World War. Because of the ‘activist’
collaboration all the supporters of the Flemish movement are labelled traitors. Further, there is a split
within the Flemish movement. The moderate fraction favours a unilingual Flanders and a bilingual
Brussels within a democratic Belgium. In the 1930s Parliament passes several language laws to meet
these demands. The radical Flemish nationalists, however, want to destroy Belgium and establish an
independent Flanders. They found the VNV in 1933, a party that not only rejects Belgium, but also
democracy.
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ROOM 7 - 1940-1945 : WAR ONCE MORE
Despite the strictly neutral course of Belgium from 1936 on, Germany invades the country again
on 10 May 1940. After 18 days Leopold III capitulates as commander in chief. He stays in Belgium as a
prisoner of war. The government leaves for France and does not succeed in convincing the King to
accompany it. This rift will prove to be definitive. After the French capitulation the Belgian government
hesitantly decides to move to London, where it supports the allied war effort and prepares for the
postwar future of Belgium.
The German military occupation regime leaves the actual ruling of the country to the Belgian
administration. By cooperating with the Germans within the confines of the Belgian constitution, many
functionaries think they can prevent something even worse, but in reality the Nazis keep strict control.
They issue regulations that affect social life to its very roots. The most important victims are the Jews:
nearly half of the 56,000 registered Belgian Jews are deported to concentration and extermination
camps via the Dossin barracks in Mechelen. Only 1291 of them return alive. Most Belgians try to adapt
to the circumstances but daily life becomes very strained.
A small number of Belgians knowingly chooses to cooperate with Nazi Germany. In
francophone Belgium there is the fanatical but marginal grouping around Léon Degrelle’s movement,
Rex. In Flanders Staf de Clercq’s Vlaams Nationaal Verbond collaborates. The VNV arranges a steady
supply of administrators to replace the ‘disobedient’ prewar civil servants and it recruits soldiers for the
German battle with communism.
At the other end of the political spectrum resistance groups are formed to gather intelligence,
distribute clandestine publications and evacuate shot-down British pilots. As the war progresses they
also help Jews and men called up for forced labour in Germany to go underground. Some resistance
groups commit acts of sabotage and kill Germans and collaborators. The occupier ruthlessly squashes
every form of resistance: tens of thousands of Belgians are arrested and many – including innocent
hostages – pay a heavy price.
In September 1944 Belgium is liberated by the allies, but the war goes on until the German
surrender in May 1945. The government returns from London, the resistance is disarmed and
collaborators are punished.
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ROOM 8 - 1945-1973 : FROM THE ROYAL QUESTION TO THE GOLDEN SIXTIES
Belgium experiences dramatic changes after World War II. The modern consumer era begins.
Radio, television, cars and telephones all become within reach of the masses, and new products such
as tights, transistor radios and washing machines flood the market. American-style skyscrapers, selfservice supermarkets, new neighborhoods and motorways transform the country. Traditional customs
also adapt to the changes. A youth culture emerges: sipping on a bottle of Coca-Cola, the kids discover
rock and roll. The symbol par excellence of this period of unrestrained optimism is Expo 58. The worlds
gets to meet modern Belgium, and a whole generation of Belgians gets its first taste of a new era.
At Expo 58 Belgium is presented as a model nation, but this is not without good cause. The
country possesses one of the most complete social security systems in the world. At the end of 1944,
employers and unions establish the foundations of the present welfare state with the ‘social pact’.
Retirement benefits, support for illness or disability, child allowances and paid holidays become
certainties. Belgium is also a pioneer in international politics. The country is one of the founding
members of NATO (1949) and also of the European Coal and Steel Community (1951), the precursor of
the present-day European Union.
But all is not quiet after 1945. The Royal Question brings Belgium to the brink of a civil war and
the ‘school conflict’ too causes a fierce confrontation between free-thinkers and Catholics, and between
Flemish and francophone people. What is at stake here, is the control over and funding of the
educational system. The Church and the christian-democratic party mobilise their followers against the
free-thinking school policy of the socialist-liberal government that had come into power in 1954. The
School Pact of 20 November 1958 ends this conflict; however, things to not stay quiet for long. In June
1960, the Congo gains its independence amid a climate of turmoil, causing the evacuation of
Europeans from the formers Belgian colony. In the winter of 1960, the turbulent strike against the Unity
Law takes place. After several weeks the strike becomes a general strike in Wallonia, but not in
Flanders.
The economic growth is still quite modest in the fifties, but it booms in the sixties. Companies
experience extremely fast growth; unemployment figures are very low. A new generation of migrant
workers from the Mediterranean arrives in order to help maintain this high level of prosperity. The
country is wealthy, but tensions still exist: the legislative fixation of the language boundary, the linguistic
regime in Brussels, and the division of the University of Leuven into a Flemish and a francophone part
stir the emotions of the people. Waves of protest affect the limitless optimism and basic assumptions of
the consumer society, and new social movements arise. In 1968 student protests shake the whole of
Europe. Despite the introduction of female suffrage in 1948, feminists criticize the gender inequality that
still persists. The peace movements protests against imperialism and the cold war, the environmental
movement against the use of nuclear energy and the third world movement against the growing gap
between the north and the south.
9
ROOM 9 - 1973-2005: BETWEEN GLOBALISATION AND FEDERALISATION
The economic boom of the 1960s ends in the worldwide oil crisis of 1973. The government
urges people to be economical about using energy. Cars have to stay garaged during car-free Sundays.
A period of economic crisis commences, accompanied by soaring unemployment. The government is
unable to stem the tide, because Belgium’s economy is becoming ever more dependent on global
developments over which it has no control. Globalisation is also felt in other spheres. Brussels becomes
recognized internationally as the capital of the European Union and as the headquarters of NATO.
Belgium cedes parts of its sovereignty to these international decision-making bodies, but a shift
in the balance of power is also in evidence within the country itself. Thus, from 1970 on, the unitary
state is transformed into a federal one in which the regions and communities take over a whole range of
powers from the central government. The purpose behind this move is to diffuse tensions between
Dutch- and French-speaking Belgians, which have mounted as a result of the demographic and
economic changes since World War II. The population of Flanders increases, while the population in
Wallonia stagnates, and the economic centre of gravity shifts from the south to the north of the country.
Gradually, the conviction grows on either side of the linguistic divide that a federal reform of the state is
necessary. This applies both to linguistic and cultural policies as well as to tailor-made economic
policies. In the capital, a movement grows for the recognition of Brussels as a separate entity. Thus the
national reforms give rise to a reorganization of government, whereby communities are responsible for
cultural matters and personal well-being, while the regions are empowered to deal with economic and
territorial affairs.
The economy starts to recover again from the 1990s onwards, thansk in particular to the
service and IT sectors. Today, despite its ideological, social and community tensions, Belgium is one of
the most affluent countries in the world. In 2004, a UN classification of countries according to living
standards, known as the Human Development Index, ranked Belgium in sixth place out of the world’s
‘Most Liveable Countries’. The challenges that confront Belgium at present are the same as in the rest
of the European Union: the ageing of the population, the affordability of social security, unemployment
and the underprivileged, the integration of migrant workers, the issue of asylum seekers, sustainable
development and the growth of the extreme right.
The federalisation of Belgium
As a result of five successive revisions to the constitution in1970, 1980, 1988-1989, 1992-1993
and 2001, the unitary entity of Belgium has been transformed into a federal state of three communities
(the Flemish, the French, and the German-speaking Communities) and three regions (the Flemish, the
Walloon, and the Brussels Capital Regions). Each of them has its own parliament and government,
except in Flanders where the community and region form a single institution.
The communities have authority over socalled personal matters, such as culture, education,
child protection, providing assistance for families and relief for immigrants. The Flemish Community
exercises its powers in the Flemish provinces and in Brussels, the French Community exercises power
in Brussels and in the Walloon provinces (with the exception of the German-language municipalities);
10
while the German-speaking Community exercises power in nine municipalities in the province of Liège
bordering Germany.
The three regions are a territorial division. They exercise control over the economy,
employment, agriculture, water, housing, public works, energy, transport (with the exception of the
railways), the environment, nature conservation, town and country planning, and urban development.
The federal government has power over defence, foreign affairs, justice, finance, social
security, some publicly owned enterprises, significant areas of public health and home affairs (including
security and asylum).
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