History

Early history

Belgae and Romans (57BC-431AD)

Julius Caesar praised the bravery of the Belgae tribe who lived in the northern region of Gaul near the rivers Scheldt and Meuse. Despite the courage of the natives, the Roman army gradually conquered the region from 57 to 50 BC, renaming it Gallia Belgica. An important Roman settlement was created at Tongeren on the road from Cologne to Boulogne. Fragments of the Roman wall have survived on the outskirts of the modern town. Roman power began to decline during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD as Germanic tribes slowly conquered Gaul. The Romans initially employed the Franks, a Germanic tribe, as mercenaries.

The Franks (431-768)

The Franks established the Merovingian empire with its capital at Tournai in about 431. King Clovis I succeeded in driving the last of the Romans out of Gaul, which gave him control of a large area of Europe including much of what today is northern France, Belgium and southern Germany. Clovis gained the support of the church by converting to Christianity. The Merovingian empire began to fall apart after Clovis died and the period ended when Pepin III (the Short) deposed Childeric III and had himself crowned King of the Franks. His son Charlemagne ruled over a large area of Europe.

Charlemagne (768-843)

Charlemagne united a large area of Europe during a long reign which lasted from 768 to 814. He was appointed by Pope Leo III as Emperor of the West in 800 and ruled over an area which extended from Denmark to Italy and from France to Germany. He based his court in Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) and encouraged the development of crafts, commerce and river transport in Belgium. After Charlemagne's death in 814, bitter fighting between his grandsons led to the split of the empire into three kingdoms, under the Treaty of Verdun of 843. The area now occupied by Belgium was divided between West Francia, under Charles the Bald, and the Middle Kingdom, under Lothair. The Scheldt river marked the boundary between the two kingdoms.

Feudalism (843-1384)

Counts of Flanders

The first Count of Flanders, Baldwin Iron Arm, built the Gravensteen castle at Ghent in about 867 to defend the region from Viking raids. His son, Baldwin II, strengthened the region further by building town walls around Ypres and Bruges. His marriage to a daughter of England's Alfred the Great led to closer ties between Flanders and England. Originally subject to the Kings of France, the Counts of Flanders gradually asserted their independence in the 10th and 11th centuries.

Crusades

The Counts of Flanders played a major role in the Crusades against Islam from the 11th to the 13th century. Count Robert II of Flanders was a leading figure in the First Crusade, earning himself the title of the "Lance and Sword of Christendom". Godfrey of Bouillon, who came from the village of Baisy-Thy in Brabant, was offered the title of King of Jerusalem after he captured the Holy City in 1099. He declined the honour. A later Flemish Crusader, Baldwin IX, was appointed king of the Latin empire of Constantinople. His daughters, Margaret and Joanna, founded several Begijnhofs (Béguinages) in the 13th century for the widows of Crusaders.

Rise of the Cities

The great medieval cities of Flanders such as Bruges, Ghent and Ypres grew enormously wealthy in the feudal period. Tall belfries, cloth halls and town halls have survived as a symbol of this economic boom. Much of the cities' prosperity came from the manufacture of luxury cloth using prime quality wool imported from England. The cloth trade led the merchant class in Flanders to side with England, though the Flemish nobility remained loyal to France. The tension led to urban conflict in Ghent and several major battles in the 14th century.

The Battle of the Golden Spurs (1302)

The Battle of the Golden Spurs was fought outside the walls of Kortrijk on 11 July 1302. The weavers of Ghent and Bruges formed a tough rebel army which routed the pride of the French nobility under Robert of Artois. The battle takes its names from the spurs that were taken from the dead French knights and hung in a local church. The battle, which represented a crushing if temporary defeat for the French nobility, is commemorated every year in Flanders.

The Burgundian period (1384-1482)

Philip the Bold (1384-1404)

A new period in this region's history began in 1384 when Louis de Male, the last Count of Flanders, died. Philip the Bold of Burgundy gained control of Flanders through his marriage to Louis's daughter, Margaret. He also acquired Antwerp, Brabant and Limburg. He was succeeded by John the Fearless.

Philip the Good (1419-1467)

Following years of stagnation, the region's economy revived under Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. After building up an extensive territory that included Flanders, Brabant and Namur, Philip created a strongly centralised state that suppressed the hard-won privileges of the great cities. The art of oil painting flourished under artists such as Robert Campin in Tournai, Roger van der Weyden in Brussels and Jan van Eyck in Bruges. The crafts of tapestry weaving, wood carving and furniture reached a high point in Brussels, Mechelen and Bruges.

Charles the Bold (1467-1477)

Charles the Bold succeeded his father Philip the Good in 1467. He cemented an alliance with England by marrying Margaret of York, sister of King Edward IV, in 1468. The arts continued to flourish, but Charles over-stretched himself in a military campaign in Lorraine, and died outside the walls of Nancy in 1477. His lands descended into anarchy and his successor, his daughter Margaret, was held prisoner and forced to sign a charter giving a broad range of privileges to the region. Her marriage to Maximilian of Austria brought an end to Burgundian rule in the Low Countries.

Hapsburgs

Early Hapsburgs (1494-1516)

Maximilian gained control of the region after the death of Mary in 1482. He handed over power to his son, Philip the Handsome, in 1494. Philip married Joanna ("the Mad") of Castile, which linked together the Low Countries and Spain. He died in 1506. His lands passed to his six-year-old son, Charles, but his aunt, Margaret of Austria, ruled on his behalf until he was 15. Under Margaret, the art of the Renaissance reached this region from Italy. Her court in Mechelen attracted northern European artists and scholars such as Erasmus, Albrecht Dürer and Bernard van Orley. Charles V took over in 1515.

Charles V (1515-1555)

Charles V gradually acquired a vast Empire that embraced the Low Countries, Spain, Sardinia, Naples, Sicily, Milan and Alsace. Trading opportunities expanded enormously as the New World was conquered and Charles chose Antwerp as the main port of the Empire. The city grew into a cosmopolitan trading centre and home of the world's first stock exchange building. But resentment grew in the Low Countries as Charles imposed a series of crippling taxes to fund his ambitious military campaigns. The city of Ghent was fined and stripped of its privileges after it rebelled in 1540. Charles eventually grew weary of his duties and abdicated in Brussels in 1555.

Philip II (1555-1598)

Philip II succeeded his father Charles V as King of Spain in 1555. He had little interest in his northern territories and lived a cloistered life in Madrid's Escorial. Philip was resented in the north for policies such as centralising power, introducing the Jesuits and persecuting religious dissidents. The northern territories won a temporary victory when they forced Philip to withdraw his Spanish troops in 1558. He appointed Margaret of Parma, a daughter of Charles V, to rule the region, but opposition continued to grow. Dissatisfaction reached flash point in 1566 when anti-Catholic riots broke out in several cities and many churches were looted. The revolt of the Netherlands had begun.

The Revolt of the Netherlands (1565-1585)

The revolt against Spain began in 1565 when a group of aristocrats formed the League of the Nobility and petitioned Philip II to end the persecution of heretics. Philip tried to suppress the revolt by sending the Duke of Alva at the head of an army of 10,000 Spanish troops. During Alva's reign of terror, thousands of victims were executed including Counts Egmont and Hoorn, who were beheaded on Grand'Place in Brussels. William of Orange narrowly escaped execution and began to organise an army in the north to oppose Spanish rule. He captured several towns in the north of the Low Countries in the 1570s, but Alva remained in control of the south. Under the Treaty of Münster of 1648, Spain recognised the independence of the northern Netherlands (now the Netherlands), but retained control of the southern Netherlands (now Belgium). The economy of Antwerp was devastated by a Dutch naval blockade of the Scheldt river which lasted until the 19th century.

Foreign Rule

The Spanish Netherlands (1579-1713)

The Spanish Netherlands was created in 1579 after the northern Netherlands declared itself independent of Spain. The economy slumped due to the flight of skilled Protestant workers to the north and industries such as shipping, printing and diamond-cutting were particularly hard-hit. The Spanish rulers concentrated on maintaining Catholicism as the sole religion in the region, aided by a strong presence of Jesuits. The region saw an economic and cultural revival after Archdukes Albert and Isabella were appointed as governors by the ailing Philip II in 1598. Under their enlightened rule, baroque art and architecture flourished in the region. The Antwerp artist Pieter Paul Rubens produced hundreds of religious paintings to fill the churches devastated in the Protestant uprising of 1566.

French invasion (1667-1713)

Louis XIV of France made several bids to capture the Spanish Netherlands in the 17th century. After the death of King Philip IV of Spain in 1667, he used his marriage to the Spanish Infanta as an excuse to invade the Spanish Netherlands. He was driven out the following year by the combined armies of Holland, England and Sweden, but invaded again in 1702 following the death of the childless King Charles II of Spain. He was opposed by the English and Dutch in a drawn-out conflict known as the War of the Spanish Succession. The Duke of Marlborough defeated the French at Ramillies, near Namur, in 1706, and again at Oudenaarde in 1709, paving the way for final victory in 1713.

The Austrian Netherlands (1713-1794)

The war of the Spanish Succession ended in 1713 when France signed the Treaty of Utrecht and gave up all claims to the Spanish Netherlands. The disputed territory was handed over to Emperor Charles VI of Austria and became known as the Austrian Netherlands for most of the 18th century. The country was invaded by the French in 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession, but returned to Austria in 1748. The state was modernised and industry improved under the popular Austrian governor, Charles of Lorraine, until his death in 1780. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria died the same year. Her successor, Emperor Joseph II, appointed his sister Marie Christine as governor of the Austrian Netherlands. Joseph II was more authoritarian and met with opposition when he tried to introduce reforms. An uprising inspired by the French Revolution broke out in 1789 and the United States of Belgium was briefly established as an independent state, but Austrian troops regained control in 1790, at which time Joseph II was succeeded as Emperor by Leopold II. The French occupied the country in 1792 but were driven out the following year. In 1794, the French conquered the country again, this time bringing an end to Austrian rule. Marie Christine fled.

The French occupation (1795-1815)

The Austrian Netherlands became part of Revolutionary France in 1795. The new rulers suppressed the Church, demolished many religious buildings and imposed a centralised French bureaucracy. An uprising known as the Peasant's Revolt broke out in 1798, but was quickly put down by French troops. The economy began to improve at the end of the century under Napoleon, who developed the port of Antwerp as part of his plan to invade Britain. The defeat of Napoleon in 1814 led to a brief period under Allied occupation. The following year, Napoleon escaped from captivity and gathered an army of loyal troops. He invaded Belgium in the summer of 1815.

Waterloo (1815)

The most important European battle of the 19th century was fought on 18 June 1815 in the rolling countryside south of Waterloo. The Duke of Wellington led an Anglo-Dutch army of 68,000 soldiers and 150 guns against a French army of 72,000 men and 246 guns. Wellington based himself in Waterloo village and lined up his troops along a narrow ridge about two kilometres south of the village. The French attacked for much of the day and seemed by the late afternoon to be close to victory. The Allies were finally saved by the arrival of Prussian troops led by Marshal Blücher. An estimated 39,000 soldiers died during the battle, which Wellington described as "a close run thing."

The Dutch Period (1815-1830)

The Allies created a new state after the defeat of Napoleon known as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Allies' aim was to create a strong state that would prevent any further French invasions, by uniting Belgian and Holland under King William I of the Netherlands. The union led to economic prosperity and important educational reforms, but the Catholic south resented being dominated by the Protestant north. The resentment led finally to the outbreak of the Belgian Revolution in September 1830.

Independence

The Belgian Revolution (1830)

The Belgian Revolution broke out in the Monnaie/Munt Theatre in Brussels on 25 August 1830 during a performance of Auber's opera La Muette de Portici. The audience rushed out of the theatre and hoisted the Brabant flag in the street. The Dutch sent in troops immediately but were driven out of Brussels by the rebels after four days of fighting. A provisional government was established and a new model constitution drafted. The London Conference on 20 January 1831 recognised Belgium as an independent and neutral state, but the Dutch did not give up their claim on the country until the Treaty of London of 1839.

King Leopold I (1831-1865)

Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg became the first King of the Belgians in 1831. An uncle of Queen Victoria, he was a seasoned solider who had fought on the Allied side during the Napoleonic wars. He married Louise-Marie, daughter of King Louis-Philippe of France, in 1832. The economy went through a slump after independence, which Leopold tried to alleviate by introducing major construction projects, including the opening of the first railway line on the Continent of Europe, between Brussels and Mechelen, in 1835. He died in 1865 and was succeeded by his son, also called Leopold.

King Leopold II (1865-1909)

The reign of King Leopold II saw an economic boom in Belgium. Heavy industry developed in the southern Belgian cities of Liège and Charleroi, while the port of Antwerp expanded after the lifting of the Dutch blockade of the Scheldt in 1863. The creation of the Congo Free State in 1885 brought new wealth to the country through the exploitation of its vast ivory and rubber resources. Leopold used the wealth generated by the Congo to carry out prestigious architectural projects, such as the construction of the Palais de Justice/Justitie Paleis in Brussels and the Africa Museum in Tervuren. The Art Nouveau movement was launched in Brussels in 1893 by the Ghent architect Victor Horta and flourished in the main Belgian cities until the early 20th century. Leopold died in 1909 and was succeeded by his nephew Albert.

The Congo (1885-1960)

Desperate to create a Belgian colony in Africa, Leopold II employed the Welsh explorer Henry Morton Stanley to explore the River Congo and open trading stations. A royal decree of 1885 recognised the Congo Free State as an independent state with Leopold II as its ruler. King Leopold was criticised for ruthlessly exploiting the country for personal profit and his critics claimed that he seized land from the locals and allowed his agents to carry out atrocities. In response to mounting international criticism, the Belgian government took over the territory as a colony in 1908. The independence movement gathered momentum in the Fifties and the country gained independence in 1960. It was renamed Zaire, but reverted to the Congo in 1997.

World Wars

World War One

The German army marched into Belgium on 3 August 1914, violating the independence of Belgium guaranteed by the Treaty of London of 1839. British and French troops were sent to support the Belgian army, but the German advance rapidly conquered the country, apart from a small pocket of West Flanders between Ypres and Nieuwpoort. For the next four years, the Western Front in Belgium was the scene of horrendous fighting as the Germans tried repeatedly to break through the line of trenches defended by troops from Belgium, Britain, the Commonwealth, France and the United States. A resistance movement grew up in Occupied Belgium which helped Allied soldiers to escape to the Netherlands, but many of its members were executed, including the British nurse Edith Cavell, who was shot in 1915. The war ended on 11 November 1918 when the German high command signed an Armistice.

Interwar years

Belgium received substantial war reparations from Germany under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, including control of a German-speaking area around Eupen and Malmedy called the Cantons d'Est (Ostkantone). Angered at the disproportionate number of Flemish soldiers who died in the trenches, Flemish nationalists campaigned for recognition of Dutch as the official language of Flanders, which was granted in 1921. After a brief economic revival, the Belgian economy slumped during the Depression. The rise of Fascism in Germany encouraged the formation of Belgian fascist organisations such as the Rex party led by Léon Degrelle in Wallonia and the Vlaams Nationaal Verbond in Flanders.

King Albert I (1909-1934)

King Albert I won the respect of the people during World War One when he led the Belgian army from his headquarters at De Panne, near the French frontier. His wife Elisabeth was a great patron of the arts after the war. She founded the annual Queen Elisabeth Contest for young musicians. Albert died in 1934 in a climbing accident at Marche-les-Dames on the River Meuse. He was succeeded by his eldest son Leopold.

World War Two

History repeated itself in 1940 when the German army swept into Belgium and captured Liège. The Allies rushed to defend the country but the Belgian army crumbled when the French army was defeated at Sedan in mid-May, allowing the German army to push into France and attack Belgium from the south. King Leopold III decided to surrender after the Germans had broken through the Belgian lines near Kortrijk. The Allies were forced to evacuate from the beaches at Dunkirk and De Panne. The country remained occupied for the next four years. Many resistance fighters were executed and almost the entire Jewish population was deported and killed. The Liberation began in early September 1944 when Canadian, British and American forces swept through the country.

The Battle of the Bulge

Hitler made a final desperate bid to recapture Belgium in December 1944. His plan was to break through a weak point in the Allied front in the Ardennes and capture the strategic port of Antwerp. Led by Marshal Von Rundstedt, the German army attacked the American lines at Bastogne. The American 101st Airborne Division held out in bitter temperatures until reinforcements arrived and the German tanks ran out of fuel. This was the last major German battle of the war on the Western front.

Postwar Belgium

King Leopold III (1934-1950)

King Leopold III's reign began with a tragic accident in 1935 when his popular Swedish wife, Queen Astrid, was killed in a car accident in Switzerland while Leopold was driving. Leopold was widely criticised during World War Two for his decision to surrender to the Germans and remain in the country as a political prisoner. His second marriage to Lilian Baels, a commoner, in 1941 provoked further rage. After the war, he was deported with his family to Germany and then Austria. He was freed in 1945 but he did not dare to return to Belgium. His brother Prince Charles was appointed as regent until 1950, when a referendum was held. A majority voted in favour of Leopold's return, but he decided to abdicate after angry demonstrations in which he was accused of collaboration with the Germans. He was succeeded by his son Baudouin.

King Baudouin (1950-1993)

Baudouin became king at the age of 20 after his father's abdication in 1950. His reign saw growing prosperity and the rise of the welfare state. He married the Spanish aristocrat Fabiola de Mora y Aragon in 1960 but the couple remained childless. Baudouin died suddenly in 1993 while on holiday in Spain. He was succeeded by his younger brother Albert. He witnessed the unstoppable devolution process that led Belgium to be divided into three regions, two communities and a German-speaking part.

King Albert II (1993)

Born in 1934, Albert was invited to succeed his brother Baudouin, who died childless in 1993. Some Belgians considered Albert too frivolous, but Albert rapidly grew into the job. He married the Italian princess Paola Ruffo di Calabria in 1959. They have three children, Philippe, Astrid and Laurent.