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The Kingdom of Belgium ( Dutch: België, French: Belgique, German: Belgien) is a country in Western Europe, bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France, and the North Sea. Belgium is at a cultural crossroad between Germanic Europe (with Dutch speakers in the North, the Flemings, and German speakers in the East) and Romance Europe (with French speakers in the South, the WalloonThe term Walloon may refer to either the Walloon language, or to the ethnic people of the same name. Walloon people — inhabitants of Wallonia who speak Belgian French or Walloon. Walloon language — a romance language spoken in Wallonia.s), which is reflected in its complex institutions and political historyGovernment Belgium is a constitutional monarchy. It is considered to be a federal state, altough it also has confederalist characteristics, as well as unionist ones (fiscal power remains heavily concentrated on the Federal level). The present monarch, Kin.
Main article: History of BelgiumThis is the history of Belgium . See also the history of Europe, history of the European Union, and history of present-day nations and states. Before the independence Prehistory and Antiquity The oldest trace of human presence was found at Hallembaye ( Li
Geographically and culturally, Belgium is at the crossroads of Europe, and during the past 2,000 years has witnessed a constant ebb and flow of different raceThis article is about race as a concept of intraspecies classification. For the many types of competitive sport, see racing. FBI identifies fugitives by photographs, physical features, occupation, nationality, and race. From left to right, the FBI identifs and cultureThe word culture comes from the Latin root colere (to inhabit, to cultivate, or to honor). In general it refers to human activity; different definitions of culture reflect different theories for understanding, or criteria for valuing, human activity.s. Consequently, Belgium is one of Europe's true melting potAlternate meaning: crucible (science The melting pot is a metaphor for the way in which heterogenous societies develop, in which the ingredients in the pot (iron, tin; people of different backgrounds and religions, etc. are processed until they lose theirs with Celtic, Roman, and Germanic cultures having made an imprint, and later on in history, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Austrian influences.
The earliest named inhabitants of Belgium were the Belgae. They were (mostly) Celtic tribes, living in northern Gaul and overcome by Julius Caesar in 54 BC, as described in his chronicle De Bello Gallico. In this same work Julius Caesar referred to the Belgae as ...the bravest of all Gauls. After the Roman Empire collapsed ( 5th century), Germanic tribes invaded the Roman province of "Gallia". One of these people, the Franks, finally installed a new kingdom under the rulers of the Merovingian Dynasty. Clovis was the most famous of these kings: he converted to Christianity and ruled from northern France, but his empire included today's Belgium. Christian scholars, mostly Irish monks, preached Christianity and started conversion work under the pagan invaders. The Merovingians were rather short-lived, as the Carolingian Dynasty took over: after Charles Martel countered the Moorish invasion from Spain ( 732 - Poitiers), their famous king Charlemagne brought a huge part of Europe under his rulership and was crowned as the " Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire" by the pope himself ( 800).
European Feudalism became the base for military, political and economical stability. Christianity flourished under the protection of these rulers and by the founding of religious communities and monasteries, churches and pilgrimages.
The region was later associated with the Netherlands, under Burgundian then Spanish rule, until the Protestant provinces took their independence (see Netherlands). Then followed Austrian rule, and a few years of French rule under Napoleon. After Napoleon's demise, in 1815, Belgium was reunited with the northern provinces in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands until the Belgian Revolution in 1830, which established an independent Belgian state. The Belgian revolution was initiated by the French-speaking minority who controlled the factories and other economical resources and who didn't want to live under a Dutch-speaking administration. The fact that Belgium was mostly catholic and Netherlands predominantly protestant also played a role. For the next century and a half, the Flemish culture was subsequently severely suppressed.
The Belgian King, Leopold I, was chosen with the assistance of the British. This king was chosen after the first choice of the Belgians refused his appointment. The country's neutrality was guaranteed against future foreign military aggression. This neutrality was violated in 1914 when Germany invaded Belgium as part of the Schlieffen Plan. The British decision to honour their treaty obligations, as much as the entente cordiale with France, forced them into the First World War. After a period of alliance with France after the First World War, Belgium tried to return to neutrality in the 1930s, but was once again invaded by Germany in 1940. After World War II, the policy of neutrality was abandoned, and Belgium joined NATO. It was also one of the founding members of the European Economic Community.
Belgium possessed one primary foreign colony during its history: the Congo, which was given to King Leopold II in the Conference of Berlin in 1885. He made the land his private property and called it the ' Congo Free State'. In this Free State, the local population was brutalised in exchange for rubber, a growing market with the developement of rubber tyres. In 1908, the international pressure against the cruelties of King Leopold became so great that Leopold II was forced to give his property to the Belgian state as a colony. From then on, it became Belgian Congo, before gaining independence from Belgium in 1960.
Belgium's foreign involvement increased after the First World War when two former German colonies, Rwanda and Burundi were mandated to Belgium by the League of Nations. Belgian policy in the administration and socio-cultural development of these countries has been heavily criticised, many seeing Belgian decisions as contributing significantly to the troubles in Rwanda in the 1990s when a genocide took place, with an estimated 1 million casualties.
Since the 20th century, the history of Belgium became more and more dominated by the increasing autonomy of its two main communities, the Dutch- and the French-speakers. As an indication of this, since around 1970, there are no significant national Belgian political parties anymore, but only Flemish or French-speaking parties (and one german speaking party). The regular attempts to re-establish national, Belgian parties end up below 1% of the electorate; the Brussels parties either never got started (as with the 'Blauwe Leeuwen' and 'Rode Leeuwen' for the Flemings in Brussels), or got merged into one of the French-speaking liberal parties (such as the French-speaking FDF , which however has had a significant influence for years, and still keeps some independence). As such, the political landscape shows a near-perfect dual political system, reflecting the two underlying dominant communities.
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