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[email protected] – Website: http://www.hrwf.org A History of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Belgium Willy Fautré This research work was published in Jehovah’s Zeugen in Europe. Geschichte und Gegenwart. (Band I, pp 19-51) Ed. Gerhard Besier/ Katarzyna Stoklosa (University of Dresden, Germany) in Studies of Contemporary Church History (2013). 1 A History of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Belgium The relationship between the state and religion in Belgium is rooted in the principle of state- recognition of religions and worldviews. After Belgium gained independence from The Netherlands in 1830, Catholicism, Protestantism and Judaism1 enjoyed de facto state recognition based on the official status granted under French rule (1795-1814). Anglicanism gained formal recognition in 1835. Essentially, this was the state of religion in Belgium to the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, Flanders (in the north) held about 60% of Belgium’s population. Here, the ruling bourgeoisie spoke French, and the working and peasant classes spoke various Flemish dialects. The remainder of Belgians lived in Wallonia (in the south), where educated people spoke French and the rest spoke dialects of Walloon. A 60 000 strong, German-speaking minority lived in eastern Belgium. The majority of Belgians were Catholic, particularly those living in Flanders. In Wallonia, a process of secularization, fueled by anticlerical sentiments and resentment towards the Catholic Church, was beginning to gain ground among the working classes, the Socialist and Liberal political parties, and in certain sections of the intellectual elite.