belgium identity

belgium identity

The Belgian identity is a difficult issue to articulate.   For a country that has such a rich history, outsiders would assume that all of the turmoil and controversy would have created a strong unique identity.   However due to a number of variables a strong national identity did not become truly visible until the First World War.   Before 1830 the region of Belgium was constantly invaded, divided, and conquered.   People living in the area were first Celtic Tribes; they were than invaded by the Romans, fallowed by Charlemagne, whose French influence still exists today.   Upon his death the kingdom was divided among his heirs and the area of Belgium was part of the middle kingdom, The Burgundians than ruled until the Spanish took over, after them the Austrians, than the Dutch finally got a chance to rule the Belgium until the Belgian Revolution in 1830. The combination of so many ruling States and the division between Flanders and Wallonia are all contributing factors to the lack of Belgian Identity. In fact according to the essay Belgian National Sentiment by Jean Stengers the Belgian country was created artificially by the “will of the great powers” to not allow France to annex the country.
After the Belgian Revolution the country started to lay the foundations for a national identity.   The first king of Belgium was not actually the ruler of the land but the King of the Belgians.   King William I was declared the King of the Belgians in an effort to make the Walloons and Flemish feel that they are all Belgians and that its not just the piece of land they live on that makes them a Belgian.   At this time Belgium was still a manufactured state and most of the inhabitants identified more with there local region rather than the nation as a whole.   In the 19th century the feeling of nationalism continued to grow but to the rest of the world Belgium was a tiny spec on the map that was not French enough to be France and not Dutch enough to be part of Holland. 1
It was...