Belgium

F

Defense

Belgium is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which has its headquarters in Brussels. Recruitment in Belgium’s armed forces is made by voluntary enlistment. Military training methods and equipment are coordinated with those of Netherlands under an agreement of 1948. The Belgian armed forces, which include a navy, army, and air force, stood at 36,900 in 2004. Large force reductions took place during the 1990s.

VI

History of Belgium

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.

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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.

A

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.

B

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.

C

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.

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