After World War I, Belgium did not receive war reparations, and its economy was seriously affected. The coal mines, steel and manufacturing industries in southern Belgium began to decline, while the Flemish region in the north developed steadily through the development of light industry, especially around Antwerp, and became a new industrial zone. Advanced agricultural technology has brought higher production efficiency and income to the Flemish people. By the end of1930s, the Flemish people had surpassed the Walloons in number, and they used enough votes to make Flemish the official language of Flemish education, justice and administration.
1940 10 In May, Nazi Germany invaded Belgium, and 18 days later, the Belgian government surrendered. King Leopold III stayed at home, trying to alleviate the cruel rule of the conquerors. Belgian resistance organizations, together with underground organizations in other parts of Europe, fought tenaciously against the Nazis, but on the other hand, both Flanders and Walloons had traitors who joined the Germans. They formed different SS units and participated in the German war in Russia.
The Walloons, one of the two major ethnic groups in Belgium, are distributed in the capital Brussels and its south. Speaking French, belonging to the Romance (Latin) family of Indo-European languages; Catholicism; Ethnic origin is close to that of the French. Its former democracy was Billy of the Celts, which was gradually romanized around A.D., and then it absorbed the influence of some Germans, namely the Lippian Franks. From the Middle Ages to modern times, it was ruled by Frankish Kingdom, French duke of burgundy, Spanish, Austrian, French and Dutch successively until Belgium became independent in 1830. Flemish, also known as Flemish, Flemish, namely Flemish. One of the two major ethnic groups in Belgium, mainly distributed in the north of the country, but also distributed in France and the Netherlands. Speaking Flemish belongs to the Indo-European Germanic language family, and there is little difference between written language and Dutch. The ancestors were Batavians, LibriaFranks and other Germanic peoples, and their national origins were similar to those of the Dutch. /kloc-After the Dutch Revolution in the 0/6th century, the Netherlands in the north became independent from Spanish rule, and the area still under Spanish rule in the south (Belgium was formed in the 0/9th century) gradually evolved into a single Flemish. After the founding of Belgium, the ethnic conflicts between Walloons and Flanders focused on language disputes. Starting from 1963, according to the distribution of residents in history, different language areas were divided, and French and Dutch were defined as two major national languages with the same effect, giving them equal legal status.
In the autumn of 200 1, a Flemish in Belgium founded a right-wing party, the New Flanders Union, which was part of the Flemish separatist movement. The party advocates liberal nationalism and is committed to the peaceful separation of Flanders from Belgium.
Belgium held legislative elections on June 3, 20 10, and the new Flemish Union, which advocated "disintegration step by step", won the Belgian general election. In the House of Representatives 150 seats, the Dutch-speaking New Flanders Union won 27 seats and the French-speaking Socialist Party won 26 seats, making it the largest political party in Flanders in the north and Walloon-Brussels in the south respectively.
2010 June 13, Belgium held national legislative elections. According to the usual practice, the prime minister will be elected by the majority party or party group in parliament and form a cabinet. The seven political parties that won the most votes in the legislative elections were divided into two camps, French and Dutch. They were arguing about the reform of the state system, and the election ended without results.
In this Belgian legislative election, Flemish, the Dutch-speaking area, obviously turned right, and the first four political parties entering the House of Representatives were all right-wing or right-wing. They advocate free market economy, and demand to cut public expenditure, reduce taxes, encourage entrepreneurship and enhance the competitiveness of enterprises in order to cope with the current financial and economic crisis. The French-speaking Walloon Region turned left, and the Socialist Party, which advocated state intervention, expanded public expenditure, increased taxes and improved social security, became the largest party in the region.
So far, Belgium, which has the headquarters of the European Union and NATO, has not had a formal central government for 289 consecutive days. On March 29th, nearly 8,000 college students held activities in seven major cities in Belgium, calling on all political parties to reach an agreement as soon as possible and form a coalition government.
Last June, Belgium held a national legislative election. As the French-speaking and Dutch-speaking camps are at loggerheads over the reform of the state system, they have been unable to reach an agreement so far, which has led to the emergence of new governments being stranded again and again. Although the political crisis did not lead to social unrest in Belgium, it is a bit "alternative" in the mainstream international society.
Completely different ideas of governing the country, coupled with the entanglement of Brussels' ownership, make it difficult for all parties to reach an agreement. In the past nine months or so, King Albert II of Belgium has appointed seven people to coordinate and form a cabinet six times, but so far there has been no result.
Analysts believe that an important difference between Dutch-speaking political parties and French-speaking political parties is how to separate brothers financially. During the negotiations, French-speaking parties accused Dutch-speaking parties of seeking political division, while Dutch-speaking parties accused French-speaking parties of harming others and benefiting themselves economically, and both sides held their own words.
According to Belgian law, Prime Minister Letham's caretaker cabinet has no right to make important decisions now, and even the national budget of 20 1 1 was formulated with the special permission of the king. At present, the country is basically in a state where big things cannot be done and small things have not been done. However, Belgium, like a sophisticated machine, is still running steadily in all fields without a government.
As always, the unique chocolate shops and waffle shops in Brussels attract diners from all over the world. Drivers on Qingshi Road are still polite to pedestrians. People have fun as usual on holidays. Once-in-a-century snow sweepers are dispatched in time, sanitation personnel remove rubbish and sundries on time, and heads of state hold international conferences here as scheduled. Orderly, life remains the same.
Fran? ois, a media person, said: "Belgians are rational. They will not mess around because there is no government management, just as people will not disobey traffic rules because there is no police."
Analysts say that although Belgium's normal operation without a government is amazing, it is a bit "different" in the mainstream international society, and even some Belgians themselves are ashamed of it.
Founded in 200 1, the New Flanders Alliance became the biggest winner in this election, jumping from no seats in 2007 to 27 seats, winning about 30% of the votes in the northern Flanders, thus replacing the Dutch Christian Democratic Party as the largest party. The Christian Democratic Party of the Netherlands only got 17.5% of the votes, which dropped from 30 seats to 17 seats. The French Socialist Party increased from 20 seats to 26 seats, replacing the center-right French Reform Party as the largest party in the south, and the latter decreased from 23 seats to 18 seats. Together with the "sister party", this is the second time that the Socialist Party has become the largest party group in Belgium after a lapse of 20 years. The election results show that voters want the country to carry out reforms and are disgusted with the successive political crises in the past.
The right-wing New Flanders Alliance advocates the implementation of state reform, giving more autonomy to the Flemish region, and finally realizing the disintegration of the country in an orderly and gradual manner. It is the first time that a political party advocating the disintegration of the country has won a total victory in the election, so the Belgian media called it a "historic election" or a "political earthquake".
"New Flanders Union" * * Bart de Weaver is 39 years old. De Weaver has repeatedly said that the current federal government system has been unable to operate effectively, and reform is imminent. He asked the federal government to delegate all powers except national defense and diplomacy to the Dutch-speaking Flemish region, and advocated that the Flemish region stop "transfusion" to the French-speaking region and the poor Walloon region. De Weaver's statement that the country "disintegrated step by step" caused great controversy in Belgium.
However, analysts say that the "New Flanders Union" does not want to see a divided Belgium, but only wants Dutch-speaking areas to gain more autonomy. After the election results were announced, French socialist Di Lv Bo also said that the current regime must be reformed. Since there are no national political parties, Belgium needs at least four political parties to form a Coalition government. After the last election, it took more than six months to form a cabinet because the political parties in two languages were arguing over the redistribution of state power.
Although the New Flanders Union has become the largest party, it only holds 18% of the seats in the House of Representatives, only one-third of the support in Flanders, and the support rate in Belgium as a whole does not exceed 15%. Therefore, it is difficult for it to pursue its separatist ideas. Since there is no majority party in this election, both the New Flanders Alliance and the French Socialist Party need to unite with other political parties to form a cabinet. Analysts say that if the new Flemish Union can form a cabinet, it will not be able to immediately implement its campaign concept.
According to the Belgian Constitution, legislative elections are held every four years, and the Prime Minister is elected by the parliamentary majority party or party group and forms a cabinet. The last parliament was formed in June 2007 and should have expired on 20 1 1. In April this year, due to the breakdown of negotiations between Dutch-speaking political parties and French-speaking political parties on the ownership of three administrative regions, the Dutch Liberal Democratic Party announced its withdrawal from the Coalition government, which led to the collective resignation of the cabinet led by Prime Minister Letem. Therefore, Belgium held legislative elections one year in advance.
Both King Albert II and Latham of Belgium believe that this political crisis comes at a very bad time, because Belgium will assume the rotating presidency of the European Union from July 1 day. This internal dispute makes people and other EU countries doubt whether the Belgian government can concentrate on the goals and tasks of the rotating EU presidency.
Belgium has a population of over 100000, of which 56% live in the Dutch-speaking Vlad region in the north, 34% in the French-speaking Walloon region in the south, and 10% in the bilingual Brussels region. Since bilingual Brussels is located in Vlad region, Dutch-speaking residents demand that it be included in Vlad region, but French-speaking residents object. The administrative ownership of Brussels involves regional administration, justice, education and other aspects, which is related to the vital interests of residents and often leads to government crisis.