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Belgium Studies in Modern European History Frank J. Coppa General Editor Vol. 50 PETER LANG New York Washington, D.C./Baltimore Bern Frankfurt am Main Berlin Brussels Vienna Oxford Bernard A. Cook Belgium A History PETER LANG New York Washington, D.C./Baltimore Bern Frankfurt am Main Berlin Brussels Vienna Oxford Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cook, Bernard A. Belgium: a history / Bernard A. Cook. p. cm. — (Studies in modern European history; v. 50) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Belgium—History I. Title. II. Series. DH521 .C66 949.3—dc21 2001050655 ISBN 0-8204-5824-4 ISSN 0893-6897 Die Deutsche Bibliothek-CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Cook, Bernard A.: Belgium: a history / Bernard A. Cook −New York; Washington, D.C./Baltimore; Bern; Frankfurt am Main; Berlin; Brussels; Vienna; Oxford: Lang. (Studies in modern European history; Vol. 50) ISBN 0-8204-5824-4 The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council of Library Resources. © 2002 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York All rights reserved. Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm, xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited. Printed in the United States of America Although Belgium has only been an independent state since the 1830s, it has a long and complex past. This history is essential for understanding the complexities of issues that led to a devolution of the unitary Belgian state into a federation of linguistically based regions. In addition to the elements that contributed to Belgium’s particular political evolution, the history which is traced in this book is a composite of many themes of broad historical interest and importance. Belgium: A History covers the gamut of Belgian history through dramas of religious and cultural conflict, intense localism, state building, uneven development, divergent class interests, war and domination, and finally, integration into a larger European community. Bernard A. Cook is Professor of History at Loyola University in New Orleans. After studying at the Gregorian University in Rome and at the University of Marburg on a Fulbright Fellowship, he received his Ph.D. in modern European history from Saint Louis University. Since 1993, he has been codirector of Loyola University’s summer study program in Leuven, Belgium. In addition to writing numerous scholarly articles, he is editor of Europe since 1945: An Encyclopedia (2001). Bernard A. Cook: Belgium: A History page v To Rosemary who has been indispensable to the success of the Loyola New Orleans Summer Study Program in Belgium and whose presence has made Belgium even more enjoyable Bernard A. Cook: Belgium: A History page vii Contents List of Illustrations ix Foreword xi Preface xiii Acknowledgments xv Place Names with Multiple Forms xvii Chapter 1. The Beginning 1 Chapter 2. The Struggle with France 12 Chapter 3. The Burgundian Period 18 Chapter 4. Four Cities and a Begijnhof (Béguinage) 24 Chapter 5. The Spanish Netherlands 32 Chapter 6. The Austrian Netherlands 40 Chapter 7. The French Revolution and Napoleon 49 Chapter 8. Union with the Netherlands 55 Chapter 9. Revolution and Independence 58 Chapter 10. The Kingdom of Belgium 63 Chapter 11. Industry and Workers 67 Chapter 12. From Mid-century to the First World War 77 Bernard A. Cook: Belgium: A History page viii viii Belgium: A History Chapter 13. World War I 91 Chapter 14. Between the Wars 113 Chapter 15. World War II 121 Chapter 16. Belgium Since 1945 132 Appendix I. Kings, Prime Ministers, and Governments 147 Appendix II. Leuven 152 Notes 157 Bibliography 187 Index 193 Bernard A. Cook: Belgium: A History page ix Illustrations Maps Belgium and Its Neighboring Countries xiv The Provinces of Belgium xviii Photographs Statue of Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck 18 Leopold II 90 Albert I 109 The Ruins of Leuven (Louvain) 110 The Ruins of the Cloth Hall, Ypres 111 Sanctuary Woods 112 Léon Degrelle 120 Leopold III 122 This page intentionally left blank Bernard A. Cook: Belgium: A History page xi Foreword his book was written as a result of Loyola University New Orleans’ Summer Study Program in Belgium. Before Fr. David Boileau suggested that we start a Tsummer study program in Leuven, I had only been to Belgium once. Now David, my wife, Rosemary, and I have spent nine summers in Belgium. In addition over 200 Loyola New Orleans students have experienced the richness of Belgian culture and the pleasure of a summer in Leuven. I wrote this book in the hope that it would help introduce students and others to Belgium. I hope that it will bring back familiar memories for the alumni of our program and that the students of our host Loyola College of Maryland, which shares its Loyola International House in Leuven with us in the summer, will also find it useful. Fr. Boileau, who received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Louvain, is an old Belgium hand, but after nine summers Rosemary and I also regard Leuven and Belgium as our home away from home. I am hesitant to quote Martin Conway’s observation which seems so absolutely condescending, but which is, nevertheless, quite true especially for Americans. According to Conway, “the history of Belgium has been remarkably neglected by historians of modern Europe.” He continues explaining that Belgium’s “. origins in a diplomatic compromise of 1830, unremarkable geography and seemingly placid political culture have conspired to create an impression of a country hardly worthy of serious attention alongside its larger—and more volatile—neighbors.” He adds and I completely concur that “this neglect is unjustified.”1 I hope that any- one who reads this book will agree. Here are dramas of religious and cultural con- flict, of nation building, of divergent class interests, of a small state overwhelmed by by a potent neighbor, and, finally, of integration into a larger European Com- munity. These are all important and interesting topics, to which I hope that I in some measure do justice. This page intentionally left blank Bernard A. Cook: Belgium: A History page xiii Preface elgium is a small, densely populated country with cities and towns spread across its countryside. There has been much development since World War BII. However, individuality of appearance and a sense of rural tranquillity has been retained. Belgium has an area of 30,562 square kilometers or 18,991 square miles, a bit larger than the state of Maryland. It has short North Sea shoreline of 60 kilometers or about 40 miles and from the coast to its farthest border in the east Bel- gium stretches only 290 kilometers or about 180 miles. In addition to the main por- tion of the country, situated between the North Sea, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and France, there is a small enclave, Baarle-Hertog, 12 kilometers in- side the Netherlands and completely surrounded by Dutch territory. Belgium is a country, but not “a nation.” It consists of two major nationalities, the Dutch speaking Flemish and the French speaking Walloons. In addition to these two major groups which number approximately 6 and 4 million respectively, there are approximately 70,000 German speakers. The Dutch, French, and German speakers of Belgium, apart from the bi-lingual city of Brussels, largely live in defined areas of the country. The north is Flemish and the southeast is Walloon. The Ger- mans live along the frontier with Germany near Aachen and Monschau. Belgium today is a federal state consisting of geographically separate language communities. The Flemish and the Walloons control the cultural, social, and political life of their separate regions. The Belgian capital, Brussels, is also the seat of the European Union. For those who believe that the heyday of the nation state has passed, what more appropriate venue for the administrative center of a Europe of regions rather than of nation states. Bernard A. Cook: Belgium: A History page xiv Belgium and Its Neighboring Countries. Courtesy of the CIA World Factbook Bernard A. Cook: Belgium: A History page xv Acknowledgments o my wife, Rosemary, I must express my gratitude for her patience and ad- vice. Her assistance has rendered the book more readable. To David Boileau, Tfriend and colleague, who shared his enthusiasm for Leuven with me, thanks. My secretary, Vicki Horrobin, is due special thanks for her always cheerful support and extraordinary effort. Heather Mack, my student assistant, carefully read through the manuscript in an earlier form and offered useful suggestions. Patricia Doran, the Interlibrary Loan Coordinator at the Loyola University Library, pro- vided her talent and assistance on this project, as on others, locating needed books and articles. I would like to thank Christel Snels, the Assistant Director of the Loyola Inter- national House in Leuven, and her husband, Luc, for their friendship and for the valuable insights into Belgium, its society, and culture, which they have shared with me. I am grateful to Professor Emile Lamberts of the Catholic University of Leuven, who placed me in contact with a number of Belgian historians, who wrote entries for Europe since 1945: An Encyclopedia, and to those contributors, who added to my knowledge and understanding of contemporary Belgium. Grateful acknowledgment is hereby made to copyright holders to use the follow- ing copyrighted material: Bernard Cook, “Belgian Revolution of 1830,” reprinted from Chronology of Euro- pean History, pages 819–821, John Powell, editor. By permission of the publisher, Salem Press, Inc. Copyright, c. 1997 by Salem Press, Inc. Bernard Cook, “Belgium: Neutrality of” and “Belgium, Occupation of,” in Euro- pean Powers in the First World War, Spencer Tucker, editor, copyright 1996, repro- duced by permission of Routledge, Inc., part of The Taylor & Francis Group.

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