The Flemish National Question

Abstract

A corollary of the Belgian Revolution of 1830 was that the new nation wanted to manifest itself in the cultural sphere. Some of the Belgian culture nationalists explicitly aimed at the development and full emancipation of the Flemish vernacular. They were responsible for starting the Flemish Movement which, initially, was a mere by-product of Belgian nationalism. Gradually, however, the Flemish Movement gained importance in its own right. About 1890, it broadened its programme advocating a Flemish Belgian sub-nationalism. It was not until World War I that Flemish nationalism shook off its Belgian tutelage and developed into a sub-state ethnic ideology. At that time the Flemish Movement comprised two major groups: a democratic one, remaining loyal towards the Belgian state, and an anti-Belgian one which gradually adopted Fascist overtones and led to collaboration with the Nazi-occupier in World War II. After the war the latter group of course disappeared from the public scene although it survived under the surface. The tendency loyal to Belgium made a come-back, at first as a moderate Flemish cultural nationalism entwined with Belgian loyalty. In the sixties though, a more radical political movement came to the fore again, demanding Federalism and rejuvenating the anti-Belgian tradition1.KeywordsBilingual StatusLinguistic CommunityCultural SphereNational MovementFlemish CommunityThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.