History History

The oldest human traces (800 000 ans) have been discovered in Hallebaye (north of Liège). To 400 000 av. BC, Neanderthal man settled in our regions. In the Neolithic period (4000 av. J.-C.), his descendants began to cultivate and breed. But that's to 600 av. The first Celtic civilizations from Central Europe violently seized the area between the Rhine, the Alps and the Pyrenees, known as "Gaul". The Celts, whose culture was widely assimilated by the conquered populations, worked iron, travelled on horseback and practised the Druidic religion. They mainly engaged in agriculture (using the iron wheel plough) and livestock farming, also selling slaves to Mediterranean merchants in exchange for wrought products.

At ^{Ier siècle} B.C., the permanent instability caused by the Germans provides the pretext for the sending of Roman legions by the Emperor Julius Caesar. The conquest of the Gauls begins (57 av. J.-C.). It will take five years to destroy the vigorous resistance of the Belgians, led in particular by Ambiorix, king of the Eburons. Julius Caesar recognized that "of all the peoples of Gaul, the Belgians are the bravest. A long period of prosperity began with the Pax Romana. Trade routes were opened up, allowing the economic development of the region thanks to agriculture, textiles, ceramics and metal products (weapons). Cities develop at the crossroads of these axes (Tongres, Tournai, Arlon). The Belgian populations are romanized, adopting the Roman language, religion and ways of life. Christianity appears in Belgium from ^{IIIe siècle.} The Roman occupation lasted 400 ans.

The weakening of the Roman Empire was followed by barbarian invasions from northern and eastern Europe. The Salian Franks, who ushered in the Merovingian era, occupied the north of present-day Belgium and made Tournai the capital of their kingdom (Childéric ^I was buried there). Under the reign of his son Clovis (482-511), who converted to Christianity, they set out to conquer the whole of Gaul and strengthen its evangelization. It was at this time that the linguistic frontier of the country was drawn. The heavily Romanized south was less affected by Frankish immigration than the north. The Romanesque language therefore prevailed in the south, while the Frankish language prevailed in the north. The term "Walloon" derives from the Frankish walha, meaning "foreigner".

During the decline of the Merovingian dynasty (the era of the lazy kings), a powerful noble family from Hesbaye reigned over large feudal estates and included many energetic mayors of palaces (viceroys). One of them, Charles Martel, gained recognition with his victory over an Arab army at Poitiers in 732. His son, Pepin the Short, was crowned King of the Franks in 751, ushering in the Carolingian period, while his successor, Charlemagne (771-814), extended Christianity eastwards and was crowned Emperor of the West in Rome in 800.

After Charlemagne's death, the Treaty of Verdun in 843 put an end to the fratricidal wars between his three heirs to the throne by dividing up the Empire. Charles the Bald obtained the lands west of the river Scheldt (future kingdom of France), Louis the Germanic, the eastern part (Holy Empire), and Lothary, the intermediate territories (from Holland to Italy) called Lotharingia. But the Belgian part did not resist the stranglehold of its powerful neighbours for long and, in 925, it was absorbed by the Frankish Empire. Already at that time, the administrative situation of the future Belgium was complex. Flanders, with its predominantly Germanic language, depended on the King of France, while the Romance-speaking lands were the vassals of the Germanic Empire!

The great lords began to emancipate themselves, and the Belgian space broke up into numerous feudal lordships, organizing themselves behind high walls and fortified castles (dungeons) to resist the raids of the Viking invaders. One of these lords, Godefroy de Bouillon, was to play a decisive role during the First Crusade and was proclaimed king of Jerusalem in 1099. His statue is on the Place Royale in Brussels.

Philippe ^I de Flandre, also known as Philippe d'Alsace, was a nobleman and aristocrat who followed in his father's footsteps, leaving for the Crusades in Jerusalem in 1157, the year of the beginning of his reign. The sterility of his marriage and the death of his brothers prompted him to join the crusade in 1177. On his return from Palestine, he had to contend with territorial quarrels with the French king Philippe Auguste. The death of his wife Élisabeth de Vermandois in 1183 and the absence of offspring with his new wife Mathilde of Portugal prompted the Count, after four years of struggle, to cede the Vermandois and Amiens to the King of France. Philippe d'Alsace then transformed his county into a modern state, reformed the judiciary and launched the construction of the ports of Nieuwpoort, Damme, Gravelines and Biervliet. He was an erudite sovereign who built Ghent into an important cultural center. In 1180, he built the majestic castle of the Counts of Flanders, the Gravensteen. Ghent became the county capital. In 1190, Philip of Alsace left for the Third Crusade in Palestine, and died in Jerusalem of the Black Death a year later. By the time of his death, the country was economically very prosperous. His devotion will be remembered in churches, notably the statue on the façade of the Basilica of the Holy Blood in Bruges.

In the Middle Ages, larger feudal entities were formed into principalities, duchies and counties, where the dynamism of the towns was predominant. The county of Flanders, west of the Scheldt, under the control of the kingdom of France, underwent significant economic development. A powerful corps of merchants and craftsmen was formed. By 1200, Ghent was employing 20,000 weavers in its cloth market, while Bruges was a center of European trade. The granting of communal liberties confirmed the first rise of a capitalist bourgeoisie. The construction of the town hall and belfry in Bruges, as in other cities, symbolized bourgeois prosperity and the blossoming of the arts (cathedrals, flamboyant Gothic). The spirit of rebellion and freedom made this period the golden age of Flanders, which lasted for two centuries.

Also known as the Battle of Kortrijk (explained in the Kortrijk Museum, 1302), it pitted King Philip the Fair against the victorious Klauwaerts, the Flemish communal militia. The former was supported by Godfrey of Brabant, lord of Vierzon, and Jean Sans Merci, lord of Beaumont, who were killed during the battle. Opposite, the Flemish militias were helped by those from Zeeland and Namur. The region prospered thanks to the textile factories that imported wool from England. When Philip the Fair declared war on the perfidious Albion to regain control of Aquitaine in May 1294, Mistletoe de Dampierre, Count of Flanders, continued to organise a marriage with the dynasty of Edward I, King of England, which was tantamount to joining the enemy. Two years later, the King of France returned to the territory in bloody repression and negotiated peace to his advantage.

Philip II the Bold, Duke of Burgundy and brother of King Charles V of France, married Marguerite de Maele, daughter of the last Count of Flanders, in Ghent's Cathedral of Saint Bavo, becoming heir to the County of Flanders. The unification of the regions that make up present-day Belgium continued through marriages, alliances, takeovers and conquests. The result was the Burgundian Netherlands, with Brussels as its capital, encompassing Flanders, Artois, Brabant, Limburg, Hainaut, Namur, Luxembourg, Holland and Zeeland.

The grandson of the Bold, Philip III of Burgundy, known as Philip the Good (1419-1467), led the war against the Armagnacs and the dolphin Charles VII of France on the side of England. But the peace treaty of Arras reconciled the duke with the French crown, provoking the anger of the English. He will support the French in battle, but will focus on his reign. He is promoted to Grand Duke of the West and becomes the most powerful ruler in Europe. As a patron of the arts, he developed the arts in Brussels, embellishing the city and making it a great European capital. The administrative centralisation that accompanied Burgundian expansion was opposed to the maintenance of communal liberties through numerous bloody events.

The marriage of Mary of Burgundy, only daughter of Charles the Bold, to Maximilian ^I of Austria, brought the Netherlands under Habsburg control. The Habsburgs were forced to grant the Grand Privilege, diluting central authority in favor of regional autonomies. Marie and her father Charles were buried in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges. After the reign of Philip the Handsome, married to Joanna of Castile (known as Joanna the Mad), their son Charles V, born in Ghent, inherited an immense territory including Spain and the Netherlands.

In a bitter struggle against the King of France, Francis I, the Emperor annexed Tournai, signed an alliance with the Prince-Bishop of Liège, made France renounce its suzerainty over Flanders and Artois, and abolished the border that had divided Belgian territory since 813 (Augsburg Transaction of 1548). Charles V then instituted the Circle of Burgundy, a group of seventeen provinces of the Netherlands that could no longer be dissociated in subsequent successions, forming today's Benelux. The New World and its riches, mercantilism, stimulated trade. The silting-up of Bruges was matched by the accelerated development of the port of Antwerp and its stock exchange. Financiers from all over Europe (Jews, Portuguese, Lombards) set up trading posts. But Charles V decided to ban Protestantism, a new doctrine preached by a German monk named Luther, and to re-establish the bloody Inquisition. In 1555, he abdicated in favor of his son Philip II, who inherited Spain, the Netherlands, the Italian possessions and the colonies. His brother Ferdinand inherited the Austrian crown.

The Beggars' Revolt broke out and spread, as Philip II (1556-1598), the Spanish king, wanted to subjugate the northern provinces. Very authoritarian, he intensified persecutions against Calvinists. Philip II sent the Duke of Alba, who set the Netherlands on fire. Gold from the Americas, which had passed from the coffers of the hidalgos (Spanish nobles) to those of the merchants and craftsmen of the Netherlands, was now used to pay the armies against the autonomists. He ordered 8,000 death sentences, including those of the Counts of Egmont and Hornes, Catholic nobles opposed to the crackdown on Protestants, who were beheaded in Brussels' Grand-Place. Spanish armies repelled the Protestants, who took refuge in the northern Netherlands. In 1579, the southern provinces (Flanders, Hainaut, Artois), bled dry and exhausted, signed the Treaty of Arras to form the Spanish Netherlands, which included Luxembourg. The northern provinces then formed the United Provinces. This marked the end of Charles V's hegemony. Shortly afterwards, the cities of Bruges, Ghent, Mechelen, Brussels and Antwerp were taken back from the Calvinists (1581-1585). The result was a long period of economic stagnation. Thousands of Flemish workers emigrated to England with their manufacturing methods, while the intelligentsia and bourgeoisie moved to the hitherto underdeveloped Netherlands.

Philip II cedes sovereignty of the Netherlands to his nephew, Archduke Albert, and his wife Isabella. After the recapture of Ostend, they worked on the triumph of Catholicism, economic reconstruction and major works (draining the Moeren, digging the Brussels-Willebroek canal). However, as the Archduke, who died in 1621, left no heir, the Southern Netherlands reverted to Spain and hostilities resumed. The treaty cessions outlined the course of present-day Belgium: Septentrional Brabant and Zeeuws-Vlaanderen were lost to the United Provinces, and Artois, part of Flanders and Hainaut were ceded to France. The Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 separated it from the seventeen provinces. This century of misfortune for the Spanish Netherlands ended with the bombardment of Brussels and its Grand-Place by French King Louis XIV.

Defeated and in decline, Spain cedes the Netherlands to the Habsburgs of Austria. The territory was reduced by the conquests of the King of France (Arras, Lille...). Agricultural yields are improved, many industries are created. The internal market of the Austrian Netherlands is unified by a protectionist policy of foreign competition. During the reign of Maria Theresa (1740-1780), arts and trade develop, Belgium is prosperous. But reforms aimed at reducing the power of the church and reducing provincial and local autonomy met with much resistance. They take the form of open protest and revolts against the enlightened despot Joseph II (1780-1790).

The French Revolution was soon echoed in Belgium. The Austrian garrisons were defeated in street fights. The Brabant and Liège revolutions were the result of a precarious alliance between statists and patriots against the common enemy. The first grouped the clergy and the feudal nobility, while the second mobilized the Third Estate and were progressive, sensitive to the ideas of the Enlightenment. At the same time, the Principality of Liege also experienced a republican revolution, driven by the French Revolution. As a consequence, the United Belgian States was proclaimed in January 1790. Definitely defeated at the battle of Fleurus by the French revolutionary army (1794), the Austrians capitulated. Assimilated to France, it sees the application of the revolutionary principles and the code. Belgium enters the industrial revolution and a short period of prosperity. The supremacy of the French language is established, as well as the administrative centralization and the principles of Roman and Catholic law. The Belgians participated in the Napoleonic campaigns and in the Allied armies (English and Prussians) at Waterloo. Voices were raised against the crushing of Dutch culture in Flanders.

It is a sign of the failure of the French imperial expansion attempt. At the initiative of England, Belgium is incorporated into the United Provinces to form the Kingdom of the Netherlands under the aegis of William I of Orange. As for Luxembourg, the western part falls to Belgium (province of Luxembourg) and the Germanic eastern part forms the independent Grand Duchy. It will be economically integrated into Prussia in 1842. But the deux siècles separation between the south and the north forged deep differences between the industrial bourgeoisie (encouraged by the regime) in the south, and the trading bourgeoisie in the north, religious differences, linguistic differences. Brussels revolts on August 25, 1830. The patriots drive out the Dutch army and a provisional government is formed as a constitutional monarchy.

A National Congress voted the Constitution on 7 février 1831, guaranteeing many freedoms to citizens. The new Belgian political life is dominated by the Catholic Party and the Liberal Party (free thinkers). In its early years, Belgium experienced governments of national unity, which helped to overcome the contradictions of its society, which was divided into liberal modernists and conservative Catholics. After a few years, the ideological war between the two parties was expressed in particular through the debate on schools: freedom of religion and education was enshrined in the new Belgian Constitution and the state equally funded private Catholic and public schools. Gradually, the proletariat is organising itself under the leadership of enlightened young bourgeois from liberal circles.

The crown is offered to the German Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He took the oath and became the first King of the Belgians on July 21, 1831, the date of the Belgian National Holiday. He was the founder of the country's current ruling dynasty. Belgium thus became "the keystone of the European order", according to King Louis-Philippe, whose daughter Louise-Marie d'Orléans Leopold I married, thus securing France's support. But Leopold was also Queen Victoria's uncle, making the United Kingdom Belgium's other "godfather". Considered a liberal, Leopold was instrumental in modernizing the economy, building continental Europe's first railway line between Brussels and Mechelen in 1835 and promoting industrialization, coal mining, the expansion of glassworks and cloth weaving, and the production of cast iron and steel. This boom led to the migration of many Flemings to Brussels and the industrialized regions of Wallonia. He died at the age of 74 in 1865, leaving his son Leopold II as his successor.

The reformist Belgian Workers' Party was founded that year. Gradually, a number of social advances were made. The right to strike was recognized and, in 1892, universal suffrage was achieved. However, universal suffrage was tempered by plural voting: each man had one vote, diploma holders two and the wealthiest three. It was not until 1919 that universal suffrage, equal for all, was introduced, and 1948 that women were also able to vote. Succeeding Leopold ^I in 1865, Leopold II nurtured colonial ambitions. He financed expeditions to Central Africa, including Stanley's. Before the great powers completely divided up the continent, he claimed for himself an immense hunting territory that would become the "Independent State of Congo", over which the Congress of Berlin recognized the sovereignty of the King of the Belgians in 1885, 80 times the size of Belgium... This colony was fabulously rich, its soil concealing gold, silver, copper and diamonds.

The numerous polemics on the exploitation of the indigenous masses and the allocation of colonial wealth (a prosaic counterpart to the proclaimed civilising mission), led the king to transfer sovereignty over the Congo to the Belgian state. The need for grandeur also prompted Leopold II to redesign Brussels according to the canons of Haussmann-style urban planning (vaulting of the Senne, park and triumphal arch of the Cinquantenaire, grand boulevards, etc.). At the time, Dutch was spoken by the Flemish workers while the bourgeoisie, including in Flanders, spoke French. Justice was therefore dispensed in French, the administration was unilingual and the state took no account of the Dutch-speaking population. In 1898, the Flemish national movement obtained the status of official language for Dutch.

If no European country can boast of having been "humanist" in exploiting and subjugating the populations of the colonies in Africa, the Belgians, while the Congo was under the yoke of Leopold II, were particularly bloodthirsty towards the Congolese. At the time, shocked Europeans, particularly the British, led a campaign against the Belgians from 1890 to 1908, when the colony finally came under Belgian rule. The colonists were notorious for abusing the chicote (whip), but above all for cutting off the hands and feet of slaves collecting natural rubber. Failure to meet rubber collection quotas meant the death penalty. And every bullet fired had to be justified by a severed hand of a slain worker, taken back to Belgium. Poachers didn't hesitate to cut them off at will... Women and children were held hostage, raped, tortured and killed... At the Africamuseum in Tervuren, there are atrocious photos showing, for example, a father named Nsala looking at the severed foot and hand of his 5-year-old daughter Boali, who died as a result of torture... Hard to believe. Nearly 50% of Congolese orphans (forcibly sent to schools to become soldiers) died of maltreatment. These mass executions led to a collapse of the Congolese population. Researchers estimate that between 15 and 20 million inhabitants disappeared. To such an extent that the Belgian state subsequently ran out of manpower and imported it from all over Africa.

The German Empire violates Belgian neutrality on August 2, 1914. The government withdrew to Le Havre. King Albert ^I (1909-1934) maintains the resistance and his sovereignty over the reduced territory in the north-west of the country bounded by the Yser. This lasted throughout a horrific trench war (the first use of mustard gas). At the end of the Great War, the Treaty of Versailles gave Belgium the German cantons of Eupen and Malmedy. It adopted universal suffrage and social measures on hiring conditions, wages and strikes. In 1921, the Belgo-Luxembourg Economic Union was created (monetary parity, abolition of customs duties). This was to form the basis of the Benelux (including Holland). The Flemish Movement obtained a few measures, such as the Dutchization of Ghent University in 1932. The great economic crisis of the 1930s led to the emergence of fascist movements, which provided the political framework for collaboration with the German occupiers.

On May 10, 1940, the Nazi army entered Belgium and occupied the country in 18 days. Having gone into exile in London, the Belgian government took part in the Allied war effort (among other things, uranium from the Congo was used to make the first atomic bombs). King Leopold III (1934-1950), for his part, refused to leave and decided to stay at home to share the fate of the Belgians. Transferred to Germany at the time of the Nazi evacuation, Leopold III had a meeting with Hitler at Berchtesgaden. What's more, the prisoners of war reproached him for his remarriage in captivity in 1941 (to the daughter of a collaborator), while the Germans released the Flemish prisoners before the French. In the referendum of March 12, 1950, 57.5% of those in favor of the King's return won. But there was a clear community divide between Flanders (70% for) and Wallonia (58% against). The bloody Grâce-Berleur demonstrations finally prompted the King to abdicate in favor of Prince Baudouin, who would take the throne when he came of age in 1951.

After the war, the Belgian economy will recover fairly quickly. The reconstruction of the country requires an increase in coal production. In Charleroi, the Bois-du-Cazier museum bears witness to this period. From 1946 onwards, the state calls on foreign labour. Thousands of Italians arrive in Belgium. At the same time, ore from the Congo was flowing into the port of Antwerp and the steel industry was flourishing. However, from the end of the 1950s, this Walloon industrial fabric, based mainly on coal and steel, began to decline irreversibly, while Flanders, on the contrary, developed a dynamic commercial activity, encouraged by the creation of the European Common Market, of which Brussels became the financial and political capital in 1959.

Belgium, which cannot escape the turmoil of the anti-colonial movements, will be forced to recognize the independence of the Congo. The Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervurencan be visited from this period. The loss of the colony's natural resources was keenly felt and forced the Belgian government to take a series of measures (known as the Single Law) to transform an outdated industrial apparatus, establish new productivity and ensure the transition from the declining extractive activity to the new mass manufacturing production. This Single Law introduces new taxes and reduces social expenditure. Workers will react with the largest social protest movement in contemporary Belgium (winter 1960-1961), blocking the country's activity for long weeks. It was in Wallonia that the opposition was most virulent. The Single Law was repealed on 13 juillet 1961, but this strike left lasting traces in the country, consecrating the rupture between Flanders and Wallonia. Regionalisation was inevitable.

While prosperous Flanders wants cultural autonomy, the trade union and progressive circles in Wallonia want federalism. Only this reorganisation of Belgium seems to them to guarantee an economic policy adapted to its difficulties. The Ministries of Education and Culture are split up and new ones (Regional Economy, Community Relations) are created. At the end of 1970, the Constitution was revised. The Egmont Pact signed in 1977 divided the country into three cultural regions: Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels Region. Successive reforms were then made to the Constitution to form the current Belgian federal state. After the death of King Baudouin in 1993, national mourning showed that, despite the differences between the communities, Belgians could still feel a national feeling, but this seems to be waning, particularly in the north of the country. Distortions that still exist today between the Flemish and Walloon Regions.

The 1990s were a period of great turmoil for the Belgians (the Dutroux affair, the dioxin chicken crisis, political scandals...) who then lost all confidence in the institutions and the State. Politics in Belgium is no small matter. The political parties quickly outgrew their function in order to broaden their audience and thus their electoral weight. They are more commonly referred to as "political families" in reference to the complex network of organisations and sectors of activity that correspond to a specific electorate. In this way, each party deploys its influence on the components of civil society. Traditionally, in Flanders it was the Flemish Christian Social Party (CD & V, formerly CVP) that was found in all spheres of society, while in Wallonia it was the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS) that was omnipresent.

In the elections of June 1999, the Social Christians and Socialists suffered a crushing defeat. The big winners of this election were the Liberals, who became the country's leading political party. The ecologists also took advantage of this disavowal by the major parties and reached 15% of the vote (which remains a reference even today). Liberals, environmentalists and socialists then set up an unprecedented alliance, excluding social Christians from all federal, regional and community governments. A first in more than forty years. This new "rainbow" coalition is led by the Flemish liberal Guy Verhofstadt.

He was the country's Prime Minister from 1999 to 2008. Although a radical liberal, he formed the "rainbow coalition" with the socialists and ecologists in 1999, followed by the social-liberal "purple coalition" in 2003. He served as interim Prime Minister during the Belgian crisis of 2007, but was elected Member of the European Parliament in 2009. In October 2012, together with Daniel Cohn-Bendit, he published a manifesto for a federal Europe entitled Debout l'Europe, translated into six languages and distributed in many European countries. In 2015, Guy Verhofstadt called for a reform of the asylum and immigration system, and criticized France and the UK for refusing the European Commission's proposal to divide asylum applications between EU countries. He was responsible for coordinating the European Parliament's work on the Brexit negotiations. He is currently still a Member of the European Parliament and, since 2023, has held the position of President of the European Movement International.

After the 2003 elections, he remained Prime Minister, leading a coalition of liberals and socialists (without the ecologists). But the most significant development in these elections was the rise of the extreme right: the Vlaams Blok (now called Vlaams Belang). It won 25% of the votes in Flanders. A breakthrough that will manifest itself in different forms and under the influence of several leaders, from this period.

During the legislative elections, the Socialists lost out in Wallonia, overtaken by the Liberals. A "transitional" government, led by outgoing Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, is set up.

After three years of crisis and a Flemish separatist push, the socialist Elio Di Rupo formed a government after 541 days and launched reforms of the state, pensions and the labor market, while adopting austerity measures to limit the public deficit.

The Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, or N-VA, emerged from the break-up of the Flemish nationalist and conservative Volksunie party, and was for a time in a cartel with the powerful Flemish social Christian party CD&V, before standing on its own two feet. Under the leadership of party chairman Bart De Wever, the nationalist party, which dreams of Flanders' independence or, at worst, a confederation, went on to become Flanders' leading party with each passing election. In the 2014 elections, the NV-A became unavoidable, and after lengthy negotiations, a government was formed with the CD&V, the Mouvement Réformateur (MR, French-speaking liberals) and the Open Vld (Flemish liberals). With French-speakers in the minority in this government, Charles Michel, MR, became Prime Minister in a bid to rebalance the situation.

Charles Michel reshuffles the government by redistributing portfolios between French-speaking liberals, Christian Democrats and Flemish liberals after the resignation of N-VA members following disagreements over the signing of the Marrakech pact.

Alexander De Croo, leader of the Flemish liberal party VLD, becomes prime minister on¹ October 2020, almost 500 days after the federal elections, after much negotiation, at the head of a seven-party government.

In 2020, Covid-19 hit Belgium hard, a densely populated country at the crossroads of European roads. The country's total death toll is close to 32,000.

On July 21, Belgium celebrated the 10th anniversary of the reign of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.