Belgium

The Kingdom of Belgium (Dutch: Koninkrijk België, French: Royaume de Belgique, German: Königreich Belgien) is a Federal state in a continuous process of devolution. It is a developed country in North-Western Europe that is bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France, and the North Sea. Belgium has a population of over ten million people in only thirty thousand square kilometres, making it the 17th most densely populated country in the world. It ranked ninth on the 2005 United Nations Human Development Index.

History

Belgium is at the crossroads of Europe, both geographically and culturally; for 2,000 years it has been a pathway for the vast cultural shifts that have moved across the continent. The first well-documented population move is the conquest of the region by the Romans in the 1st century BCE, followed in the 5th century by a Germanic people, the Franks, who established the Merovingian kingdom, succeeded by the Carolingian Empire. During the Middle Ages, the territory was split into many small feudal states. Most of them were united by the house of Burgundy. Since the division of the Burgundian empire into the different branches of the Habsburgs who inherited the souvereignty over the region, and till its independence in 1830, Belgium has been dubbed Cockpit of Europe, as it was the scene of so many battles between the Powers of Europe.{{ref|Nuttall}} Consequently, Belgium is one of Europe's true melting pots. During its history, Belgium has been part of the Low Countries, which also comprises the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Related Topics:
Roman - 1st century BCE - 5th century - Germanic people - Frank - Merovingian - Carolingian - Middle Ages - Feudal - Burgundy - Habsburg - 1830 - Melting pot - Low Countries - Netherlands - Luxembourg

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Though Belgium takes its name from the first named inhabitants of the Low Countries, the Belgae, a group of mostly Celtic tribes, and of the Gallia Belgica, the Roman province in northern Gaul created at their approximative territories, the history of Belgium began to be distinct of the history of the Low Countries (and of the Burgundian Netherlands) much later, during the 16th century.

Related Topics:
Low Countries - Belgae - Celt - Gallia Belgica - Roman province - Gaul - Burgundian Netherlands - 16th century

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The civil war, called the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) divided the Seventeen Provinces into the United Provinces of the Netherlands in the north and the Southern Netherlands in the south. The southern provinces were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs. Till independence, the Southern Netherlands were constantly the aim of the French conquests to the north and were the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. Following the , the entire region (including territories that were never under Habsburg rule, like the Bishopric of Liège) was overrun by France, ending the existence of this territory as the Spanish/Austrian Netherlands. The reunification of the Low Countries, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, was decided in 1815.

Related Topics:
Eighty Years' War - 1568 - 1648 - Seventeen Provinces - United Provinces - Southern Netherlands - Spanish - Austrian - Habsburg - 17th - 18th centuries - Bishopric of Liège - United Kingdom of the Netherlands - 1815

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The Belgian Revolution led in 1830 to the establishment of an independent, Catholic and neutral Belgium under a Provisional Government. Since 1831, when Leopold I was installed as king, Belgium has been a constitutional monarchy. From the revolution to World War II, the democratic system evolved from an oligarchy characterised by two main parties, the Catholics and the Liberals, to a universal parliamentary democracy which has included a further party, the Belgian Labour Party, and a strong role for the trade unions. Originally, Belgium had only one official language, French, which was the adopted language of the nobility and the bourgeoisie. The country has since evolved into a bilingual Dutch-French system.

Related Topics:
Belgian Revolution - 1830 - 1831 - Leopold I - Constitutional monarchy - World War II - Oligarchy - Parliamentary democracy - Belgian Labour Party - Trade union - Nobility - Bourgeoisie

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Much diplomatic maneuvering resulted in the Berlin Conference of 1884?85, at which representatives of 14 European countries and the United States recognized Leopold as sovereign of most of the area he and Stanley had laid claim to. On 5 February 1885, the result was

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The Congo Free State was the private property of king Leopold II, brought under his custody by the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885. It was handed over as the colony Belgian Congo to Belgium in 1908.

Related Topics:
Congo Free State - Leopold II - Berlin Conference - Belgian Congo

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Belgium's neutrality was violated in 1914, when Germany invaded Belgium as part of the Schlieffen Plan. The former German colonies, Ruanda-Urundi (now Rwanda and Burundi), were occupied by the Belgian Congo in 1916. They were mandated in 1924 to Belgium by the League of Nations. Belgium was again invaded by Germany in 1940 without declaration of war. The Belgian army was no match for the German blitzkrieg offensive. The Belgian Congo gained its independence on 30 July 1960 during the Congo Crisis, while Ruanda-Urundi became independent in 1962.

Related Topics:
1914 - Germany - Schlieffen Plan - German colonies - Ruanda-Urundi - Rwanda - Burundi - Belgian Congo - 1916 - 1924 - League of Nations - 1940 - Blitzkrieg - 1960 - Congo Crisis - 1962

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After World War II, Belgium joined NATO and Benelux. It was also one of the founding members of the European Economic Community. Belgium hosts the headquarters of NATO and a major part of the European Union's institutions and administrations, including the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and most of the sessions of the European Parliament.

Related Topics:
World War II - NATO - Benelux - European Economic Community - European Union - European Commission - Council of the European Union - European Parliament

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During the 20th century, and in particular since World War II, the history of Belgium became more and more dominated by the increasing autonomy of its two main communities. The period has also seen a rise in intercommunal tensions and the continual unity of the Belgian state has come under scrutiny as a result. This had led, through constitutional revisions of the 1970s and 1980s, to the formation of three communities (the Flemish-, the French- and the German-speaking communities) within a federal state. {{ref|language_BBC}}

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