It belonged to Spain back when Spain was a Great Power, and their rebellion against Spain was part of the reason Spain ceased being a Great Power. But then the British and Prussians gave it to the Austrians so neither the French nor Spanish (both ruled by the Bourbons) could have territory in the Low Countries, but the Austrians didn't even want it, so they surrendered it easily once the French revolutionaries went to war. The French were harsh rulers, but they did succeed in accelerating the Frenchification of Belgium. So when the Dutch got a hold of Belgium at the Congress of Vienna, they treated the Belgians as second-class citizens, even the Dutch(Flemish)-speaking and/or Protestant Belgians, which finally prompted the Belgians to fight a war for independence. In the liberal nationalist spirit of the times, they should have been absorbed by France, but the British again didn't allow it, which left it the least homogeneous of all Western European countries.
They also had a lot of coal so they were one of the earliest countries to industrialize, which is what made them matter on the world stage just long enough to participate in the rape of Africa before they were left, as In Bruges put it, famous for chocolate and kid-diddlers - and they only have the chocolate to get to the kids.
FYI in Belgium what you are saying is basically the entire ideology of the extreme-right.
Belgium has one of the highest rates of union membership in the world and also one of the few communist parties in the Global North that's actually growing and a relevant political actor: PVDA-PTB. The thing is: both the union membership and the communist party are stronger among the French-speaking minority than in the Dutch-speaking Flanders (the social-democrats and greens are also stronger in the French-speking community) On top of that: Flanders is the more wealthy region. For those reasons, the chamber of commerce and all the organisations of employers advocate for spliting the country, because they know it's much easier to destroy the Belgian welfare state (pensions, unemployment benefits, close to free education and healthcare, and so on) when the country is split because in Flanders the left isn't strong enough to defend it and in Wallonia the currently existing social services wouldn't be able to exist without Flemish subsidies. The left recognises this, and is in favor of the unity of the country (and the unity of the working class and it's struggle) and opposes the Flemish nantionalism that wants to separate the country for that reason.
One last thing: advocating for uniting regions based on the language they speak is a sort of nationalism that the left should never fall for. If you'd be an favor of this in Belgium, why stop there? Unite Ireland and the UK! And throw in the US, Australia and so forth also in there!
I wasn't saying Belgium should Balkanize nor was I advocating for reuniting with those countries. The joke (because it was a joke) is that Belgium is made up of very distinct cultural differences by virtue of their history and looks messy and complicated. You're taking this all way too seriously.
And I know a lot of Belgians are comrades, I was in a long term relationship with a Flemish girl and have an ass-ton of Belgian friends. I went to college for a bit in West-Vlaanderen. It's just banter. They call me a greedy, loud, clog wearing foefke all the time. It's in good fun.
I took it serious because the sentiment "Belgium isn't a country" comes up every time on this site when the country is named and it's infuriating to see left-wingers repeat what's essentially the talking points of our local chuds.
Stop perpetuating the myth that Belgium exists. It's not a country. I don't care how many times I see that word slapped on waffles.
Belgium is just a piece of the Netherlands, Germany and France that refuse to acknowledge they're not a country.
They're Flemish 🤮
Belgium does have a fucked up history.
It belonged to Spain back when Spain was a Great Power, and their rebellion against Spain was part of the reason Spain ceased being a Great Power. But then the British and Prussians gave it to the Austrians so neither the French nor Spanish (both ruled by the Bourbons) could have territory in the Low Countries, but the Austrians didn't even want it, so they surrendered it easily once the French revolutionaries went to war. The French were harsh rulers, but they did succeed in accelerating the Frenchification of Belgium. So when the Dutch got a hold of Belgium at the Congress of Vienna, they treated the Belgians as second-class citizens, even the Dutch(Flemish)-speaking and/or Protestant Belgians, which finally prompted the Belgians to fight a war for independence. In the liberal nationalist spirit of the times, they should have been absorbed by France, but the British again didn't allow it, which left it the least homogeneous of all Western European countries.
They also had a lot of coal so they were one of the earliest countries to industrialize, which is what made them matter on the world stage just long enough to participate in the rape of Africa before they were left, as In Bruges put it, famous for chocolate and kid-diddlers - and they only have the chocolate to get to the kids.
FYI in Belgium what you are saying is basically the entire ideology of the extreme-right.
Belgium has one of the highest rates of union membership in the world and also one of the few communist parties in the Global North that's actually growing and a relevant political actor: PVDA-PTB. The thing is: both the union membership and the communist party are stronger among the French-speaking minority than in the Dutch-speaking Flanders (the social-democrats and greens are also stronger in the French-speking community) On top of that: Flanders is the more wealthy region. For those reasons, the chamber of commerce and all the organisations of employers advocate for spliting the country, because they know it's much easier to destroy the Belgian welfare state (pensions, unemployment benefits, close to free education and healthcare, and so on) when the country is split because in Flanders the left isn't strong enough to defend it and in Wallonia the currently existing social services wouldn't be able to exist without Flemish subsidies. The left recognises this, and is in favor of the unity of the country (and the unity of the working class and it's struggle) and opposes the Flemish nantionalism that wants to separate the country for that reason.
There is no majority in Flanders (and there has never been one) that wants to split the country . The best polls for the nationalists ever are around 25%, but those are outliers, it's more like 10% of the population. The nationalist parties get more votes, however, because they're also the racist parties.
One last thing: advocating for uniting regions based on the language they speak is a sort of nationalism that the left should never fall for. If you'd be an favor of this in Belgium, why stop there? Unite Ireland and the UK! And throw in the US, Australia and so forth also in there!
I wasn't saying Belgium should Balkanize nor was I advocating for reuniting with those countries. The joke (because it was a joke) is that Belgium is made up of very distinct cultural differences by virtue of their history and looks messy and complicated. You're taking this all way too seriously.
And I know a lot of Belgians are comrades, I was in a long term relationship with a Flemish girl and have an ass-ton of Belgian friends. I went to college for a bit in West-Vlaanderen. It's just banter. They call me a greedy, loud, clog wearing foefke all the time. It's in good fun.
Okay, great. Non-taken.
I took it serious because the sentiment "Belgium isn't a country" comes up every time on this site when the country is named and it's infuriating to see left-wingers repeat what's essentially the talking points of our local chuds.