VOL. IV, No. 38 SEPTEMBER 23, 1944 All material published In N E W S F R 0 M BEL G I U M may be reprinted without permission. Please send copies of material In which quotations are used to this office. THESE PERIODICAL BULLETINS MAY BE OBTAINED FREE ON REQUEST. One Step Toward a Better Europe Those people who do not know geography Having progressed that far in the lin­ are learning very rapidly these last few guistic labyrinth, they hear that not all Bel­ weeks, but one cannot blame them if at gians speak French but that the majority of times they are somewhat bewildered. For them speak Flemish. Then again they are instance, they knew about the existence of told that Flemish is Dutch and that the Holland and Belgium, but now they hear official Belgian documents are published about the Low Countries or the Low Lands both in French and in what is officially and also about the Netherlands, and they called Netherlandish, which is Dutch and have a hard time keeping them apart. When which is Flemish. At this point they may they have understood that by Low Coun­ lose confidence in their book knowledge tries are meant both Belgium and Holland, and consult a Dutchman (Hollander or although these are separate political enti­ Netherlander) and ask him if the Flemings ties, that the Nether lands mean only H ol­ speak Dutch. He may answer, "Yes, in a land and not Belgium, they are confronted way!" They may consult a Belgian-Fleming with another problem: the inhabitants of and ask if he speaks Dutch and the answer the Nether lands who are called either may be, "I earnestly try to." Dutchmen, Hollanders or Netherlanders To save the poor student of geography speak Dutch, that much one knows. One from going berserk, someone must stand up suspects that it is not the same language as and tell him that Flemish is to Dutch what Pennsylvania Dutch, which is German mix­ American is to English, or - not to make ed with bad English grammar. it too plain at once - the reverse, that the NEWS FROM BELGJUM SEPTEMBER 23, 1944 difference between the language of Flanders seventeen provinces of Charles V and to and that of Holland is approximately the join Belgium and Holland together. same as that between Mr. Churchill's and It did not work out very well, mainly Mr. Roosevelt's English, a matter of vocabu· on account of administrative blundering by lary and-pronunciation; lift for elevator and a well-meaning but very conservative mon­ footpath for sidewalk, etc., etc. Once the arch, and to the astonishment of Europe newspaper reader has survived this informa­ the Belgian revolt against the Dutch regime tion and got hold of the clues, he may pro­ in 1830 became a success. ceed without danger on the road to further The Belgian revolution proved one his­ knowledge. torical fact, - that although people may He will find out that the Belgians and have a common historical tradition, a com­ the Dutch have a great deal in common, mon language and a lot of common interests, although they are in many respects very two centuries of separation create a distance different. Up to the end of the sixteenth which leaves practical and psychological re­ century they constituted one single country sults. Different institutions influence peo­ the seventeen Provinces of the Low Coun­ ples differently. Above all, the religious tries which belonged to Spain. All of them difference between the two countries was revolted against the Spanish regime: the instrumental in creating an atmosphere in issue was freedom of religion, which meant Holland which could not be likened to the at that time simply freedom, at least at the Belgian atmosphere. A century ago the in­ outset. Human folly being as it is, immense fluence of religious thinking on social and and incurable, once the fighters for religious political life was certainly far greater than freedom attained their object, they started it is now: it was a determining factor in the persecuting those who did not adhere to Dutch-Belgian conflict. The Dutch regarded their doctrines, just as a century later the the Belgians as easy-going, bigoted papists· brave men who, on account of their con­ the Belgians looked on the Dutch as sour victions, had come to the wilderne8s of heretics. The Belgians were profoundly in­ America used to pester those who did not fluenced by the French outlook on life, the worship exactly as they did. (It is all very Dutch more by the English and by the discouraging, but it is wearing off!) When lessons they had derived from their own the Spanish reconquered the Southern Neth­ extraordinary achievements on the sea and erlands, they restored Catholicism; when in the colonies. The Belgians, although most they had to give up reducing the Northern of them were of Dutch stock, had a lot of Provinces, they were forced to make their "Latin" in their character; the Dutch abhor­ peace with these "heretics," who were ag­ red this apparent flightiness. gressive Protestants. All that was 114 years ago and since then From then on till 1814, Holland took the a lot has changed. Religious differences no high road to prosperity and riches, Belgium longer set nations against each other, men took the low road to provincialism and are no longer ready to fight for or against mediocrity. Holland became a great nation, the doctrine of predestination. They fight Belgium became a more or less neglected for their interests and for their civil free­ outpost of Spain, later on of Austria, and dom. finally of conquering France. When the In the last hundred years the Dutch and Allied countries had finally broken down the Belgians have discovered that - their the Adolf of their day, Napoleon they de­ quarrel being settled - a great number of cided to reunite under the Dutch king the elements in their respective economies were [ 302] NEWS FROM BELGIUM SEPTEMBER 23, 1944 bound to bring them closer together. Neither land's economy would be a complement to of them was bloodthirsty or wanted to the highly industrialized Belgian economy. avenge anything. There was some bickering They had the vision of a group of seventeen from time to time, but without consequence. million people, located in the most inter­ They found out that they were both small esting part of Europe, defending their com­ countries of about the same size, as to ter­ mon interests unanimously, making cultural ritory and population. That they were at and economic contacts among themselves the mercy of their neighbors and apt to easier, transforming the Meuse-Rhine­ become buffer states between conflicting Scheldt delta into an economic unit which, interests. They both had colonial empires together with the Grand Duchy of Luxem­ to protect and care for. Spiritually they bourg, already linked to Belgium in a cus­ enriched each other. Flemish writers learn­ toms union, would be an impressive and ed a great deal from the formal perfection respectable ensemble. of Dutch letters in the last century, and Efforts to that end had failed repeatedly when Flemish literature experienced a new on account of a number of secondary blossoming, it greatly profited Dutch writ­ factors. But the common dangers of1939- ing. In recent years there was less distance 1940 brought forth a common political between Dutch and Flemish letters than action on the part of Queen Wilhelmina and there was between French and French-writ­ King Leopold. Together, expressing the will ing Belgian authors. The latter had always of their peoples, they appealed to the na­ to contend with a great and productive liter­ tions of Europe to save peace and they of­ ary activity; the Flemish authors met the fered their good services. Both Belgium and Dutch as perfect equals. Holland were engulfed in the German am· But the main element of rapprochement lanche of 1940. Common suffering and the was the fact that both countries understood realization that their fate in Western Eu­ how the combination of their economic rope reposes on solidarity and not on strife assets could lead to very interesting results: resulted a few weeks ago in the conclusion they were competitors as far as maritime of a customs union between Holland anJ trade was concerned. Both had their com­ Belgium. It had already existed between mercial hinterland to a great extent in Ger­ Belgium and Luxembourg since 1921, to the many. The ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp ~atisfaction of both parties. It is temporary sometimes looked at each other askance, m character - on account of the war situa· each trying to snatch traffic from the other, It had been preceded by a monetary agree­ but after all, that was a traditional proce­ for a permanent and complete settlement. dure which only an earthquake could alter. in character- on account of the war situa­ The competition of two great ports could ment between the two nations. never lead to the decadence of one or the The significance of these agreements for the three parties concerned is not to be other: they were doomed to stand each underestimated, but they are also of great other and to compete. interest for the rest of the world. Belgians Economic rapprochements are never bas­ and Dutchmen are known as realistic and ed on similarity but on contrast. For more practical people. By what they have done, than thirty years, therefore, groups of bus­ they clearly point the way to a regional re­ inessmen have tried in Belgium and in H ol­ organization of Europe which will improve land to establish greater intimacy between economic conditions and which will make both countries because they understood that international relations safer and sounder.