Belgium

Eendracht maakt macht
(Unity makes strength)

  The history of Belgium extends before the founding of the modern state of that name in 1830.For most of its history, what is now Belgium was either a part of a larger territory. Due to its strategic location and its history as a country of contact between different cultures, Belgium has been called the "crossroads of Europe"; for the many armies fighting on its soil, it has also been called the "battlefield of Europe" or the "cockpit of Europe". It is also remarkable as a European nation which contains, and is divided by, a language boundary between Latin-derived French and Germanic Dutch.

Belgium's modern shape can be traced back at least as far as the southern core of the medieval Burgundian Netherlands. These lands straddled the ancient boundary of the Scheldt that had divided medieval France and Germany, but they were brought together under the House of Valois-Burgundy. The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) later led to the split between a northern Dutch Republic and the Southern Netherlands from which Belgium and Luxembourg developed. This southern territory continued to be ruled by the Habsburg descendants of the Burgundian house, at first as the Spanish Netherlands. Invasions from France under Louis XIV led to the loss of what is now Nord-Pas-de-Calais to France.

 The first King of Belgium, Leopold I, assumed the throne in 1831. Leopold became known domestically for bringing a swift end to the Belgian theater in the Revolutions of 1848, and internationally as pacifying force in European politics, mediating disputes between great powers and maintaining Belgian neutrality. Belgium's second king, Leopold II, became a controversial figure when he established a colony in south-central Africa, the Congo Free State, as his own personal fief. When the atrocities of his rule became public, he was stripped of control of the colony by the Belgian government, establishing the Belgian Congo. Domestically, Leopold presided over a state known for growing liberal sentiments, with the growth of the labour movement and the establishment of universal male suffrage.

 The first half of the twentieth century was much more tumultuous for Belgium. Belgian resistance to the German invaders resulted in the Rape of Belgium during World War I. The surrender by Leopold III of Belgium to German forces shortly after the 1940 invasion of the country served to drive a wedge between the King and his people and would forever damage his legacy. After the war he remained in exile while a regent, Prince Charles, Count of Flanders, ruled in his stead. His attempt to return to the country and re-exert personal control of the country led to a constitutional crisis in 1950, which led to his abdication in favor of his son Baudouin.

 Baudouin took a less active role in politics than his predecessors, and Belgium entered the second half of the twentieth century showing an unprecedented era of economic growth, as Belgium took an active role in the formation of the Benelux customs union with its neighbors, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The union allowed the states to resist American political and economic influence during the period of the Marshall Plan and allowed the region to plot its own economic path. Ultimately, the Benelux union would serve as a model for the European Economic Community, a precursor to the European Union; to this day Brussels serves as the seat of many of the European Union institutions. Other major events during Baudouins reign included the independence of the Belgian Congo leading to the Congo Crisis, the conflicts between the Christian Social Party and its more left-leaning opponents over school funding, and the growth of the Flemish Movement.

 Domestically, the country has faced divisions over differences of language and unequal economic development. This ongoing antagonism has caused far-reaching reforms since the 1970s, changing the formerly unitary Belgian state into a federal state, and repeated governmental crises. It is now divided into three regions: Flanders (Dutch-speaking) in the north, Wallonia (French-speaking) in the south, and bilingual Brussels in the middle.

 Since the 1990s, Belgium has become involved in several international conflicts, under the aegis of various United Nations peacekeeping forces, including the Rwandan Civil War, the ongoing civil wars in Somalia, the Kosovo War, and several others. Environmental concerns came to a head in the Dioxin affair, bringing down the Belgian government of Jean-Luc Dehaene's premiership. Since then, the Belgian political landscape has become increasingly politically fragmented; the notorious 2010 Belgian federal election, it took nearly a year to form a government, in more recent elections a growing right-wing Flemish nationalist movement has had a strong influence over domestic politics.

Inventaire Du Patrimoine Architectural