Belgian Unity And The Flemish Movement

Author : Chantal Kesteloot
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9789082684049
Total Pages : 56 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (84 download)

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Download or read book Walloon Federalism Or Belgian Nationalism? The Walloon Movement at the End of the First World War written by Chantal Kesteloot and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Much has been written about the history of the Flemish movement and the crucial importance of the First World War in its evolution. The history of its Walloon counterpart during the same period is much less known. It is true that the Walloon movement was a less important actor, but it is nonetheless interesting to see whether the winds of radicalism that blew over the Walloon movement in 1912 had a lasting effect.0For a long time, people were satisfied with the idea of a Walloon movement falling into lethargy from July 1914 to the spring of 1919, little or nothing happening between these two dates. Recent research has helped to nuance this vision. The Walloon movement, both in occupied Belgium and in Paris, was neither inactive nor silent, and the occupying Germans also took an interest in it. But what impact did this have at the end of the war, when Belgian nationalism seemed to triumph? Here also, research has mainly focused on Flemish nationalism, marked by the emergence of a new competing nationalist identity, in radical opposition with the Belgian fatherland. In short, a Flemish movement deeply transformed by the First World War....0On closer inspection, the Walloon movement also appears to be deeply marked by the First World War. It is far from the hesitations that characterized it before the war when it came to giving shape to projects for state reform. If the Walloon Assembly never really debated the question of federalism and its forms before 1914, it is quite different after the war. During the war various projects are prepared, usually in secret. The year 1919 sees intense debate, with no less than eight proposals ranging from two- or three-party federalism to regionalism submitted to the delegates of the Assembly. Eventually, the moderate approach prevails and federalism is temporarily sidelined.