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How many European royal families originally are from Germany ? More than five : Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, Denmark, Norway, Great Britain… You can also mention the former royal families from Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, etc… You may also include the royal families of Spain or Russia, for exemple, if you take into account marriages with members of the Houses of Battenberg and Hesse-Darmstadt. In fact the majority of the royal and princely families of Europe have roots somewhere in Germany. Even the Trump family- Donald Trump ! - is originally from Germany ! So what's the matter ?
@@salamanderguy3270 "German"... An Italian mother (with a Belgian grand-mother by his father : Laure Mosselman du Chenoy) and a father who had a Swedish mother (who was Danish too by her mother) and a father - Leopold III - who was half German (Bavarian) and with so many roots from his father Albert I (Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Orléans... that means French too ! ). That's not exactly what I call "German"... The reason and historical truth call it a mixture, a crossing of origins from different European courts. Then this "so-called" German King marries a lady who has a Polish mother and a father with Flemish ancestors (West-Flanders exactly). In short, this is the fairly classic portrait of a European royal family: quite variegated
@Hubert Dubois and how is that "prospérité" going for you? The "boeren" seem to be doing a lot better economically... Why is it that everything French just radiates arrogance? The fact that you decided to start speaking French in an English thread speaks for itself.
This video is quite good for a video over the "division" of Belgium (that is indeed very rare to find an accurate video on the topic). There are however a few inaccuracies that I listed hereafter (sorry for the lenght but being precise is important on such a sensitive topic). - (0:02) You started by saying "in the minds of many Belgian citizens, there is one true Belgian, namely the king, all other citizens being Flemish, Walloon or German". I am Belgian, I speak the 3 national languages and never heard anyone in this country saying such a thing in any of its languages. This is typically a sentence that comes from foreigners, who very often do not understand our country (well nobody really does, I know). To simplify, in Belgium one can say that there is in fact two identities, the Flemish one and the Belgian one. Those identities can coexist within a person or not (Flemings usually identify firstly as Flemish, then as Belgian) but the Walloon identity is in any case very weak in comparison with the Flemish one for two main reasons: (1) Firstly the Flemish identity is born with the Flemish movement in the 20th century, asking cultural respect and linguistic equality from the Belgian state. This is an identity that has constructed itself against the Belgian one. The Walloon identity, on the other hand, has not developped in opposition to the Belgian identity but to the Flemish one. Consequently, the Walloon identity has always been part of the Belgian one, a subdivision of it. (2) Secondly more than 25% of the French speaking Belgians live outside Wallonia (in Brussels and Flanders) and do not identify as Walloons. Those 25% have brought lots of symbols of the (French-speaking) Belgian culture (e.g. Jacques Brel, Tintin, the Smurfs, Eddy Merckx, Stromae, etc.), although not being Walloon. That is why in Belgium we usually speak of "Flemings" to designate Dutch speakers and "Francophones" to designate French-speakers. Finally, I can assure you that German-speakers do not identify as German. They identify firstly as Belgians and we often say in their regard that they are "the most Belgians of all", a term they also like to use themselves. - (3:36) You said that one of the cause of the Belgian secession from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was that "the industrial revolution mainly took place in the north". That is inaccurate. The industrial revolution mainly took place in the extreme south, in Wallonia which has been, from 1790 to 1910, the second industrial power in the world. At that time, Flanders was mostly agricultural and the Netherlands were mostly centered on trade and mercantillism. - (4:02) You said that the language reform in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands intended to impose the Dutch language in the Flemish provinces, which caused the opposition of the French-speaking population. It should be explained that 1) those French speakers were from the Flemish/Brabantian bourgeoisie and nobility, which, at the time, spoke French (hence, not the current French-speaking population in Wallonia) and that 2) this reform was opposed by Flemish speakers as well, since they considered Dutch as a foreign language at the time. - (5:14) You said that the division of Belgium began to progress in the 20th century. The reality is that the linguistic/cultural division STARTED at this moment. Before WW1 the Flemish and Walloon identities were pretty much non existent and the dominant feeling was the Belgian one. - (5:54) You compare Wallonia, mostly rural with Flanders, mostly industrial, and it makes one think that it has always been so. You should explain that this is quite recent in the Belgian history (since 1960). Before the 1960s, the situation was inverted. Wallonia has been the economic powerhouse of Belgium for 130 years when Flanders was mostly rural. - (6:09) You show the GDP of each province and say it is enough to see that there is just one Walloon province in the top 5 to understand the economic divide. This is however quite logical since those 5 first provinces are the most populated (they represent together nearly 7 million people). Numbers like the GDP per capita that you show after are a better indicator to grasp the economic devide, although not being perfect (and they allow to see that the economic devide is mostly between provinces rather than regions). - (7:27) The polls you cite indicating that 40% of Flemings would be in favour of independance were taken during the political crisis of 2007-2011. Such percentage has never been seen again and those polls are in any case to be taken with caution because: (1) During every Belgian political crisis, the proportion of Flemings in favour of independance rises, to go back quickly after to a low proportion of 10-16%, but there has never ever been any majority for independance ever. That is why Flanders is not independant. The problem of Brussels that you cite at 9:30 is, in that regard, just a way to hide the fact that there has never been any majority for an independant Flanders. (2) A lot of polls contradict themselves and there are great variation in proportion depending on the poll (the numbers of 2020 even show that there would be more Flemings wanting to abandon federalism to go back to a unitary state than Flemings wanting separation). (3) Even inside separatist parties, the proportion of Flemings actually wanting independance is not really high (the last numbers show 25% for the voters of the main separatist party, the NVA). Thank you for your reading and I wish you a lot of success with your channel and next videos!
i haven't found anything about the polls on the website of Hbvl so far and like you said this is perhaps nothing like the whole country thinks about this since this is brobably a poll from hbvl itself if it actually is in this light you should considder the readers of hbvl who are mainly older limburgers since it's a local paper considdering limburg is one of the provinces that has a lot of agriculture and isn't very openminded over all so in conclusion even if the article excists you shouldn't take it to serious
@Hubert Beauregard This comment is trying to insult the Dutch/Flemish language. It isn’t working, because boerentaal is een geuzennaam. The French language of the walloons hasn’t brought much prosperity in the last 50years. The video shows the difference in economics between Flanders and Wallonia. And the prestige you’re writing about, is only seen by the walloons themselves. Even the French are acting with disdain about walloons and their silly spoken French. But, as I, you are entitled to your own opinion.
Quite accurate, but I noticed an inaccuracy. During the time when Belgium was part of the United Netherlands, the industrial revolution took place mainly in the Walloon region, while the Northern Netherlands remained focused on trade from its ports. This resulted in a big mentality difference between the Dutch leading aristocracy, which were (generally) merchants, the Walloon aristocracy, which were (generally) modern industrialists, and Flemish aristocracy, which were (generally) land owners.
You make it sound as if Dutch was an equivalent language since the inception of Belgium. However, only since 1968 is the constitution available in the Dutch language. In fact, the original plan had always been to eradicate the Flemish/Dutch language completely with the help of the already French-speaking Flemish bourgeoisie.
As a belgian/ flemish person I am glad my country is discussed on a geopolitics channel, I have been waiting for Shirvan to make a video about belgium for ages. That being said I find it kinda sad that the focus is as ever on Belgiums often messy political situation and lack of unity.
From the geopolitical perspective, it's unavoidable to mention the split. Yet as a person, who been to Belgium a couple of times (mainly Lokeren area) I always admired the country as a pinnacle of statehood and prosperity. Certainly, nothing to be sad about here - and let's face it, it's better to feel secure on the individual level, than dream about the greatness at the expense of your citizens (Russia's case).
oh, we certainly have a beautifull country, but it does not work anymore, even diehard belgicists know this, and you know how the walloon parties behave?, Elio Di rupo not just saying that the transfers had to keep coming, but that they should be increased, since wallonia has a larger teritory,
@@istoppedcaring6209 And what if we stop this transfer ? Will there really be less independentists ? I support the end of this north-south transfer because it's unfair, but in the begin of the 20th century the transfer was south-north because the economic heart of Belgium was Wallonia. And walloons didn't say anything. Wallonia have the worst politicians in the world (I totally agree, and i'm from Wallonia) We should have a party like VB but that is not for the independance. Maybe I'm dreaming
@@belgicain5283 i see your point and yes, if wallonia were to change drasticly, people actually learning dutch, and if the transfers stopped completely, then many of us would be willing to give it another chance, but we just don't trust that that wil happen, also, transfers were never south north, wallonia was the economic center during the 19th and early 20th century, yet at that time wellfare was virtually non existent , so no transfers either, and besides, if things were to change, then it would be better to just unite with the Netherlands or the entire Benelux into one country and actually be a major power in europe and the world but as things stand, i don't see that happening anytime soon
the government we have right now is temporarily though, to handle the corona crisis better. we still don't have an 'official' government right now since the last election results don't make it easy to form a coalition (similar to the 2010 situation where we didn't have a government for 541 days). EDIT: correction of the amount of days without a goverment in 2010
@@tomfirens1400 it's been 1 year after the elections and we still don't have a federal government, but we don't have a fully functional government since december 2018
@@Deelom100 Now we have "theoretically" a government. For the moment the parties don't look at forming a new governement. In 2010 they didn't stop working on forming a government during 541 days. It's not the case here
Welcome to all of you who came from the CaspianReport channel! I can't really emphasize how wonderful it is to see you all here :) I really appreciate all the comments and will try to reply to the majority of them - Caspian's vid came out just when I'm moving to a new place, so I'm short on time a bit. Thanks again!
Belgium is a young and diverse country on a piece of land with a very complex history at the cross-roads of various European civilisations. Sure, you have got Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels but that still does not cover it, inside Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia you also got many regional cultural differences and traditions, and also linguistical differences (several regional languages and dialects), etc. This is for some part a remnant of being divided in many separate counties with separate identities in the past (somewhat like Germany). It is sometimes hard to define what is typically Belgian apart from the superficial cliches like chocolate, waffles, comic books and beer, but what is clear is that we are culturally very distant from the more simple and unified cultures from our neighbours. But Belgium was, is and always will be a very heterogenous and pluralistic country. Some do not like that and want to have some kind of homogenous independent Flanders (that never existed either), but it is very difficult to draw the lines or organize practically if you seriously think about it, which NV-A rarely does (whose strategy is basically to let the federal state level rot away until Belgium reaches a point where the sub-governments are so powerful that it is unable to fulfil its international responsibilities). I acknowledge the merits of the Flemish movement in the past of striving for social and linguistical equality, but I think they have gone far past those goals now. Sadly, the Flemish dialects have been discriminated against from right after we broke away from the Dutch, ironically because they discriminated against French. French was initially chosen as the sole national language because it was regarded as a culturally superior, more standardised and more Catholic language, which was for a long time associated with higher status. The economic prosperity of Flanders, and economic downfall of Wallonian industry, slowly helped Dutch attain equal status with French in Belgium (alongside German), that Dutch has this day. Discrimination against the Dutch language is not a major issue anymore (aside perhaps sometimes in Brussels). Instead, the Flemish movement has shifted the goalposts to a more economic us vs. them narrative where Walloons are supposedly poor because they are 'lazy' and a burden to the 'hard-working' Fleming. History seems to have for partially reversed itself with Flanders being the richer region being arrogant towards the poorer Wallonia, but this too has become a stereotype which is exaggerated by Walloon media or politics. Personally, I am tired of all the petty discussions which have lost all original sense. Flanders and Wallonia have some cultural differences but those are relatively minor and not bigger than any differences in Flanders, Wallonia or Brussels themselves, the main difference are the languages, the separated media giving a different view on actual events, and the language-separated political parties which vilify the parties of the other language group, because that makes political sense (unsurprisingly, 'rich' Flanders is more right-wing and 'poor' Wallonia more left-wing). I dream of a Belgium where everyone respects each other and is free to speak or be what he or she is and where we look for constructive measures to improve our currently quite dysfunctional and sluggish state structure, instead of just further complicating things with the idea that all problems would go away if Belgium would burst, because they wouldn't, it would most likely only complicate the situation even further and come with tons of new problems.
I have rarely read such a balanced point of view on Belgium, recognising the challenges and limitations in defining historical and cultural identities. Well done. And yet it is the one that receives the least appreciation; proving Matthias' final points in his concluding paragraph.
Greetings from Belgium, just a small correction we still don't have a majority government, there is a minority government that has the support of other parties to govern while the coronacrisis is still ongoing.
Cedric Vandierendonck Vlamingen en nederlanders samen. In ieder geval Vlaanderen onafhankelijk. Als vlaam als nederlander heb ik een droom om ons sterker te maken dat we niet meer de kleine brave jongetjes van de klas meer te hoeven zijn. ik ben een limburger, ik ben natuurlijk trots op mijn roots. Maar alleen wij limburgers kunnen niks maken in de internationale politiek, maar samen bij elkaar zijn we sterk. We delen als Vlaamen en nederlanders een taal, DNA, landschap, eten, Goedlopende economie en cultuur. Waarom zwakker los van elkaar zijn dan sterker samen. Als we herenigd zouden worden hadden we internationaal meer te zeggen dan Australië. Wij nederlandstaligen zijn nou eenmaal een kleine bevolking wij limiteren ons door klein te blijven. We verliezen anders onze identiteit alsjeblieft medevolk herenig. Wij zuid Nederlanders kijken er naar uit om te herenigen, onze provincies hebben immers dezelfde taal. De tijd is rijp voor rechts samen hebben we een rechtse meerderheid. Er moet iets veranderen!!!!
@@ironfromicey8700 Wij Nederlanders hebben niets te maken met de Vlaamse boeren in het zuiden. Onze voorouders hebben ons van deze populaties ontdaan. Geen kwestie van teruggaan.
esr243 je weet dat het stedendistrict in Vlaanderen ongeveer even groot is als jullie domme randstad. En onze voor ouders hebben de Vlamingen slecht behandeld daar zijn ze weg gegaan. (Niet mijn voorouders btw)
@@ironfromicey8700 Heb je ooit gehoord van de verkeerde kant van de rivier ? Jullie praten dialecten, en wij een taal. De Vlamigen ? Tussen hun begrijpen ze elkaar niet ! Wij zijn snel ... Het Nederlandse onderwijs is veel beter. Het is gericht op het aanleren van leer- en onderzoekshoudingen en -vaardigheden. Zelfstandig leren handelen is niet belangrijk, in België, waar nog wat meer gaat om luisteren en ‘braaf zijn’. Belgen zijn niet snel open tegenover mensen die ze niet kennen. Maar of België en Nederland ooit echt naar elkaar toegroeien? AUB, niet !
You voice in really enticing like Shrivan from Caspian Report, Its just 'Raw;' also your Research Content is upto level of a International Scholar Paper, Glad, i found your channel before other.🙂 Love from Allahabad, India
I would disagree. How can you say that the research is upto a level of a international Scholar paper if he makes a video in 2020, talking about election results and surveys conducted in 2007? That is a huge gap and a lot can and has changed in 13 years!
@@briekjolie6018 i agree with you, Briek although most of the information is accurate, i noticed two major issue in the video, and a lack of context for some subject, first the industrial revolution toke place in the south, around Charleroi and Liege and to this days Flanders is not "Industrial" in the same matter as it was then, second the NVA's plan to split the country dates a decade ago, since then they stopped the talk about it since they didn't have enough support and started to make them unpopular especially with the french speakers and Brussels inhabitant, ever since then the only party who dare speak about actually splinting the nation is the Vlaams Belang, and they did grow significantly in the same decade its not and will not be in discussion any time soon since some elements of that party talking about the split has been told off by their superior in the party before. Now the element you brushed off is the build up to the current situation, how government evolved in the shape it is now in a attempt to please everyone with the always present financial differences between the north and the south, first the south wanted out during and after the industrial revolution since they had most of the money, political control and saw the Flemish as a burden, and nowadays its the opposite, the Flemish want out because they have a better economy for the modern age and have more political control with their higher population, if you want accuracy and truth, THIS cannot be brushed off. Last thing, sure 30% of people in Flanders said that they want to split, but for such a thing to pass they need to vote for a party to be single-handedly at minimum 51% of the NATIONAL parliament, so they are likely just a "minority" in a way that will not succeed, and do note the journalist that posted those statistic ARE extreme Flemish nationalist, and don't be so naive to think they didn't inflated those numbers one way or another, either by ignoring people they didn't like or targeting a audience they knew would say "split the country". Thank you and have a nice day, a proud Belgian.
I remember reading on the paper that the Belgian were celebrating being X number of days with no government (i.e reaching milestones of one hundred or two hundred days without government)
And we are well on the way breaking it again. Hooray! We do have a Corona-government, but it'll be most likely be voted away again after the lockdown because it's a minority-government
technically we were over 670 since the last government fell in 2018 but most people start counting from the 2019 election. the talks have just ended and thus the counter stopped. The result? the exact oposite of what half of flanders wished for. they formen a coaltition with 7 parties because they blocked out one ''extreme'' party.
As a Dutchman, I would love to see Flanders join the Netherlands. To be honest, I would like to see the whole Benelux as 1 country, but that would not solve the Flanders/Wallonia problem.
It should be noted that there are Catholic regions in The Netherlands, most notably the provinces of North-Brabant and Limburg* but these have been part of The Netherlands since it's creation in 1648. *Not the entirety of Limburg has been part of The Netherlands since 1648 but prominent cities in it are.
This isn't true. The markation line of the Dutch independence was the Moerdijk. Everything that lay south of the Moerdijk, belonged to the Spanish rulers of that time. When Belgium revolted against the Netherlands (1830), new borders were agreed and signed.
Flanders should not be racist against their counterparts the Wallons.Coexistence goes well in Switzerland and Canada and even in England.They have a lot to lose mainly being the headquarters of the EU and Nato to think on these terms.French is regarded with most respect in Bruxelles international hub and not Dutch.More bilinguism and Flemish studying French in schools is necessary.Tearing apart the country will cause national and international consequences,even France might take action against Bruxelles if this happens since the Flemish will do away with french speaking Wallons in Bruxelles and the expectation to replace Waloon influence in the capital will be hardly accepted internationally.Other countries like Spain would not tolerate Flanders coming to the EU as well.Greetings from Costa Rica
Well, even if I was never able to learn Dutch with school (Lessons were bad. did you have good and easy child books? I learn English this way), as a Wallon, I love the Flemmish and our Belgium! ^^
@@SNAKE-ob8pq Well, I clearly don't. Belgium has gained higher port customs duties thanks to the latest European agreements. But who will benefit from this? Probably not Belgium, just Flanders. And we can still hear that if Wallonia is less rich, it is because we are lazy. Tbh if I had to choose, I'd split it to end this exasperating mess.
So the current political situation is even worse than in 2011 with the N-VA and VB on the Flemish side and the PS on the Wallonian side. Even during the times of the event that shall not be named which is happening right now, they were unable to form a government and they created a crisis government which should be dissolved as soon as possible to restart the coalition negotiations.
Nice video. It is hard to keep a country together that has such deep differences of language and identity. Spain and Catalonia come to mind. I saw your video on Caspian Report.
The difference between Flemish and Walloons is not one of language and culture but of ideology. French speaking want a communist regime where the state treats the citizens as lazy children, while Flemish want a thriving private economy. For some reason Walloons succeed already 200 years to let Flanders pay for their communist dreams.
I live in belgium, I don't really care about the whole seperatist movement but I have to say it really feels like we live in 2 countries. I honestly have no idee what is going on in wallonia, whenever I see or hear news about something that happens in our country, like politics, new projects or so it's always something that is only really relevant to flanders. unless its a big incident like a plane crash or something I never hear anything about wallonia
It's the same in France, we never know anything about Flemish or Dutch. I can't say "yes" or "no" in Flemish or Dutch. I don't even know a single word in Flemish or Dutch (I am realy serious). My whole life I never heard a song in Dutch or Flemish, never saw a Dutch or Flemish movie, never read a book (translated in French) written by a Flemish or Dutch. 99% of French population is like me. The only famous Dutchmen who are known in France are "Dave" a 70's and 80's pop singer who sings in French and the artist Van Gogh who lived in France. A total shame ! C'est vraiment pas possible !
I know it is written in Dutch but it shows that only 14% of Belgians want to seperate, there are even more Flemish people who want to go back from a federal government to a unitary government (26%). It is not because the biggest Flemish party are separatist that the people who voted for them want to spilt up, honestly they mostly vote for them for their migration plans and right economic ideology and they are the only party who provides that conservative ideology while not being extreme or being convicted for racism (look it up Vlaams Blok was convicted for racism so they started the Vlaams Belang). I know the people who make these kind of videos are from a different country and I’m happy they wan to inform the world of our little country but for me as a Belgian it hurts that they always say we want to spilt up, I’m Flemish and to be honest not in the polls nor in the general public I experience do people actually want to split up. Yeah I know the loudest voices are the most easily heard but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are the biggest group of people. In this case they are only the extremest of the bigger group. Anyway I hope you receive my message and for the record I’m not attacking you or anything I’m already grateful that you made a video about Belgium and I saw somewhere you visited as well. I do hope you’ll visit us again! www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2019/11/04/er-is-geen-draagvlak-voor-de-splitsing-van-belgie/
bulshit, i can guarantee you that those polls are more than real, it is not because compromise after compromise to get at least something done, lead to a situation in which that option was put forward, that we don't simply want to leave, at least most of us, and more and more share that sentiment We want to either join the Netherlands, or rather, form a new united state or go the way of other small nations and just be rich and independent i have nothing against walloons, I want to speak fluent French as well, it is a great benefit , but that does not change the fact that this shit does not work anymore,
@@istoppedcaring6209 If flanders joins The Netherlands you can do it in a lot of ways. Either just merge, Or become a part of the kingdom. You would still be your own country but we would also be one. Or just become independent. Lots of options.
I watch Caspian. He seems spot on. Subscribed to GTBT just now, your just geopolitical fact approach is excellent, pls keep it up. Something on oil markets maybe, tricky one to do these days tho. Ty
I am half Belgian half Dutch, but I live in Belgium. I love this country and it's people.I also love the Netherlands and I am a proud European. But I feel that the reason why Belgium doesn't work as a country anymore aren't the people. It's their governement. Should they keep on waisting money to try to make it work... NO! I love the people from the South side, but the problem is that a lot of them don't speak a word of Dutch (Flemish), it's not the people fault, it's the governement to blame, because they simply don't learn it in most schools. The situation is very complicated... but I don't think Flanders and Wallonia should become 2 different countries. Flanders back to the Netherlands and Wallonia to France.of them don't speak a word of Dutch (Flemish), it's not the people fault, it's the governement to blame, because they simply don't learn it in most schools. The situation is very complicated... but I don't think Flanders and Wallonia should become 2 different countries.
I have to correct you but Flanders doesn't want The Netherlands, we are economically very strong. Same with Wallonia with France but still this is the ONLY SOLUTION for them. German speaking parts of Belgium could join Germany again but idk if Wallonia is gonna let them go.
@@przemekh4857 oui c'est vrai mais en même temps le néerlandais n'est pas obligatoire dans les écoles en Wallonie donc c'est la faute du gouvernement donc j'aime pas quand certains flamands se permettent de critiquer tous les Wallons
As it happens, the language spoken in Flemish is Dutch. The same as in the Netherlands. Belgium and the Netherlands signed a treaty on the union of the Dutch language. Belgium and the Netherlands used to be divided by religion. In Belgium, Catholics make up the vast majority of Christians. In the Netherlands, Protestants used to be the majority, but this has changed, now Catholics dominate. So there is nothing against merging the Netherlands and Flanders into the Netherlands. Wallonia, in turn, can merge with France or remain independent.
I think the main goal for Belgium would be to achieve that a high percentage of population - no matter Flemish, Walloon or German speaking and also including immigrant population - should get to speaking the other language at least at intermediate level. It would help yo furn into a really bilingual country whereever you go.
@@GoodTimesBadTimes I apologize on behalf of that community as they are very toxic to everyone but Shirvan. I enjoyed the video though and hope to continue seeing more from you and this channel. I'm glad you did that guest apperance as I would've never discovered your great channel.
We always have a back-up plan if money is the issue, joining the Netherlands. It's really a desperate solution because we really don't like the Dutch from The Netherlands, there should be a confederate state if it happens and the main problems are mentality, monarchy and domination.
This is an awesome channel. Just like Caspian Report very well given with lots of good information. Thank you so much for your videos. Keep up the good work...
Amazing content as always, one remark though, you very often say word "area" and with the accent on the wrong vowel, it's "Area", not "arEa", all else is great :)
I found out there was a division in Belgium through a random Reddit conversation. I was asking why a Belgian rapper I like speaks French. This video expands on the basic premise the individual shared. Thanks for the video!
Belgium ran on auto pilot without a government a few years ago. That topic would make a great video, especially in the context of Wallonia and Flanders, dislike (?) for each other. Was it the local regional govts that kept the trains running,or something else?
The government "keeps" in power until a new government is created. There are limits on what laws and decisions can be taken. A lot of laws and mechanisms in Belgium have an automated part that works without input of parlament or government. For example the minimum wage is automatic, no voting on it (except once when the parlement voted to skip one threshhold of the mechanism). Taxes and payments stay the same unless a new regimen is voted in, so government employees and subsidies are payed until parlement can decide to stop or change that. The current governement is only a emergency one, they still haven't made a true new one. The last time we had big trouble getting a new government, was in 2010-20011, because of the systems in place no real measurments were taken during that time against the economic crisis. So instead of austerity during that time, all programs kept running and Belgium seems to have recovered more quickly than most of the surrounding countries. The governments of the regions and communities kept things running for the most part, but are dependend on the federal government in terms of budget size for the most part.
When I lived in Europe for a few years and met many Belgians, I was struck by how the francophones were so disdainful of the Flemish language, always touting their cultural superiority. I can understand why the Flemings don't love sharing a body politic with them.
Good video but small mistake it's not flemish bloc, that was the name of the party in the 90's and is still used by people today but the offical name they have now is Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest)
@@rondidju Incorrect, Vlaams Belang does indeed support the same ideology as the ' nazi's ' but VB doesn't support racism, they do intend to be right/far right but it really isn't as bad as the nazi's.
@@arneray3333 Direct quote from Dewinter, the leader of the party that doesn't support racism: "[...] Our own people first!! And yes, Vlaams Blok chooses a Flemish Flanders. And yes, Vlaams Blok chooses a white Europe!"
It should rather be divided between three states - Flanders to Netherlands, Wallonia to France and the German speaking corner to Germany. Turn Bruxelles into a kind of EU territory.
an independent Flanders will fall out of the European Union. To become a member it would need admittance of all EU-states including Spain and the remaining part of Belgium
Not all people want a split of Belgium. A large majority of the Belgian population still want to keep the nation together, with 27% even wanting to reinforce Belgium and returning to a unitary state. It is the federal state and regional nationalism that are thwarting much of Belgium's development and progress.
@@Deelom100 This 2000 euro extra doesn't take in account the split of the national debt and the potential loss of Brussel. All of that with an aging population who don't want to autorise immigration.
@@Deelom100 Yeah well... that sounds like the double decker bus in the UK that said "280 milion per week for NHS if we leave the EU". Next step is the province of Antwerp saying they don't want to pay for the unemployed people in Limburg. Maybe another 500 euro per year saved. As far as solidarity goes, I prefer to be on the giving end than on the receiving end. Paying more taxes means I earn a better salary ;-) I have never needed extensive surgery and I have never been unemployed. I have (gladly) paid a lot of taxes for people who were unlucky enough to need unemployment money or expensive health care. And I don't care if these people live in Antwerp or in Liège.
I'm Belgian zo saying that only the king feels like a Belgian. Feels strange but I understand what you mean. But I hope that you know that there are still Belgians that feel like a belgian just like me.
What's also interesting to note is that NVA seeks further separation either through further anti-federalistion, confederation or seperatism. This means that if they want to prove that the system in Belgium is truly flaud, and is in need of change, they have to not actually cooperate in the federal government ( if they even are a part of it) but hinder cooperation on a federal level. Through participation on the regional level (which is what they are doing now).
Nice video, it's a really interesting situation ( from the outside). May I suggest 3 words for you to focus on pronunciation? ★ Area ★ Territory ★ Separatist
Great video, as apparently many are. The Guyana video makes me hope you might venture a bit outside of Europe, and so I would suggest looking at Central America and also South America, particularly the situation in Brazil (my country), Argentina, Chile, Venezuela and Perú.
I once questioned the existence of Belgium but now I'm much more optimistic about the future of this country. Having read more about the Belgium history, I think their special power is perseverance. They've been through a lot, being situated between major powers of Europe. Even this day, despite political crises, due to empowerment of local governance there is no major problem affecting citizens lives. I love this country more and I hope Belgium exists forever.
things have never been this bleak for the country as a whole, we don't want to split for some symbolic reason it just does not work anymore, language differences be damned, cultural differences be damned, it is about being politically incompatible, and mostly about the money, this is however only made worse by the troubled history, and the linguistic oppression, people who revolted against the united netherlands did so because of religiocultural and rgional discrimination, dutch spreaking flemishmen deserted the dutch army, but then when they came back they didn't really want to fight because french would be the only official language, so the dutch would have taken the country back if it hadn't been for the damned french, (who actually wanted to take it for themselves ofcourse) now the socialists and communists domminate the south, the regionalists and economically liberal the north, again language differences don't matter much, asside from brussels which should be bilingual but in effect isn't, and it was a dutch city until the 30s, because of Belgian francification practices
like i always say: i am flemish (culture), my nationality in Belgian and i am a citizen of the European Union. Much like Brittany in France, Catalonia and Galicia in Spain, French Canadians... The only difference is that there is no main group after wich the country is named or that is a majority vs minority.
Don’t mention French Canadians. They culturally French, their nationality is Quebec and they see themselves as Québécois first, Canadian second. They aren’t a part of this country, and they don’t want to be.
@@Edmonton-of2ec even so, i feel like it is still very much like belgium then. Many flemish have no desire at all for Belgium to exist or to be part of it, i see there are some differences ofcourse. (like how the flemish form the majority in Belgium) The original point i was trying to make was that belgium is different from other seperatist cases as in this case its the majority that want to split away from a (only slighty though) smaller group in the country.
Pause @0:08. Am i the only one that, now that ray tracing in video games is becoming the norm, cant stop looking in raytracing in real life? It takes video games to show me how fucking beautiful the world really is.
btw the paper you mentioned is a paper that focusses particularly on limburg a region that is next to the netherlands and germany and is next to the french speaking liege so it might not be the best to represent the whole country
Fairly accurate it seems. One mistake though, it was mainly in Wallonia that the Industrial Revolution in the Netherlands took place. That's where most coal mines were situated as well. The other parts of the Netherlands were still mainly focused on trade, as they had been for centuries at that point. Which in the period of the IR shifted the economic centre to Wallonia and resulted in the revolution. Nowadays it's once again the commercial sectors of industry which are most impactful and thus Flanders has the upper hand economically (as you showed in the difference in BBP). Politically it's also worth mentioning that Wallonia mainly votes for socialist parties. Which not only clashes with the Flemish nationalists (or separatists as you called them) but also with slightly more liberal voters in Flanders. However the main problem comes from the nationalists. In the latest election the extreme rightwing party Vlaams Belang won an enormous amount of votes (second largest party) and the slightly more moderate NVA still remained the largest Flemish political party. This has once again made forming a federal government very difficult, not as bad as in 2010 when it took 541 days, but it's already reached a year (technically you could say 9 months since formation was largely put on hold due to corona). The current goverment is a temporary minority government to deal with the crisis only and has no other governmental authority beyond that.
Good report man! Subscribed. I think they should split up or at least decentralise, perhaps a federation similar to Switzerland could be an option. They get along well with a German, French and Italian people. I think the Flems want to be left alone to be Flems and the same for Walloons
Of course Belgium can split up. After being ruled again by a Belgian government that, of course, doesn't represent any political majority in Flanders (what has happened for the last 12 years out of 16), the deterioration of the bounds between Flemings and Frencophones has progressed to a point where the NVA and the Vlaams Belang have a majority in the Flemish parliament, according to every poll. Both parties have Flemish independence written in their political program. So, if they so decide, Belgium will seize to exist in 2024 (in the Flemish part, at least). The only question that remains: will the two biggerst parties of Flanders decide to go for Flemish independence?
They couldn't separate, as it stands splitting would mean, initially at least, splitting from the EU and going to the back of the queue for joining (unless the part that splits gets some preferential treatment...which wouldn't be entirely out of the question). The people on Belgium aren't very unified below the banner of being Belgian but they are very strongly European. Leaving the EU, if only temporarily, would likely be a deal breaker for everyone.
@@s.v.o.579 But most Belgians don’t even feel strongly identified with their own country. Belgium is a weird invention, created as a buffer state between the Netherlands and France. Belgians have very little in common, and they’re fighting each other 24/7..
ill explain it to you, Flanders: can be a country on itself, has alot of poeple wo it would be better to live in flanders instead of belgium. Wallonia : France or Belgium, to many poeple wouldnt economically survive without taxes coming from flanders. If flanders could choose Belgium would have ended a long time ago
Well ehm, the inaccurate thing is, is that +/- 40% of the Flemish support independence. They don't. That's around the same percentage of the Flemish that vote for the two Flemish independence parties. The fact is, only half of that number wants it to be independed. You also have to be careful, as the political insecurity also leads to tiredness among the population. The number of pro-independence goes up when our government formations takes too long, but goes instantly down when it's formed. There is no Flemish identity. Only a feeling of exhaustion a fatalist reactions. You also forgot to mention how the federal state of Belgium works. Which adds to confusion of many and adds to the exhausted sentiment as the state is too complicated. In recent years there is a push to go from 6 states (3 communities & Gewesten), to a simplified 4 (Gewesten). There is also a majority support amongst the population for this. Although not translated into the parliaments as people which are socio economic conservative still vote for the NVA, which is one of the Flemish independence parties (they know the majority of their voters is not pro independence lol, they just act like it). So will Belgium break up? No, at least not for the time being and in the near future. Friendly greetings, ~ A Flemish guy which would prefer to be called a Belgian as the Flemish identity is as artificial as the Belgian one.
Lowkey Dutch speaking Falanders should join the Netherlands while French speaking wallonia should join France and the German speaking East should join Germany
USA should join Canada, all Spanish speaking countries should be one country... Your idea of thinking is too simple. Walloons hate the French and the Germans don't care to go back to Germany, Wallonia won't even allow them so. Flanders can be Independent on their own and has no desire to join the arrogant dominant mentality of The Netherlands
Just wondering... What if polls were to show a majority for Flemish indepedence/separatism? Wouldn't it be a very hard and complicated process? For example, in the cases of Scottish and Catalan independence movements, I think they have to be approved by their respective central government to achieve independence. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the formation of the Belgian federal government has to include parties from both Flanders and Wallonia. So, in order to achieve Flemish independence in some way, it would be to form a coalition with a Walloon party?
If France would have allowed the greater Netherlands, then it would not only be blown away by Germany, but also by the greater Netherlands. And who wants that?
The only reason Belgium exist is geopolitical reasons flanders and walloon would be to small to defend itself and EU/Nato wouldn't support flemish independence and Flanders would be kicked out of Nato /EU as a countrie.
actualy it's simple, we go vote, then they completly ignore the votes and follow orders given from the EU globalists and their masters (banks, multinationals and the CCP)
This video seems extremely biased against the Flemish. - Wallonia oppressed Flanders for decades - Flanders had some of the highest death rates in WW1 due to Walloon reluctance in learning Dutch and their general attitude that French was a more "elite" language with everyone in managerial positions everywhere in the country speaking French and hence barking orders at Flemish soldiers who didn't understand them (sending them to their deaths). The only schools for ages also taught only in French, and all francophone people historically tried to assert the French language in monolingual fashion pretty much everywhere they set foot. - "Flemish Bloc" was dissolved decades ago and what you called the "extremist party" really just stands for liberal values in defense against immigrant hate crimes - Flanders wasn't the "industrial powerhouse" and this didn't take place in the north (in fact they were poorer and treated so unfairly that even the US figured the situation wasn't quite right and invested heavily in their tech sector post-ww2) - they also boast only one large inland port in one province which explains absolutely nothing about why the other provinces are doing so well... And the more populated areas clearly produce more money? What do you think..? - there wasn't even an official Dutch constitution for over a century, meaning the Flemish were often tried and convicted without knowing their laws and rights - Flanders may be a larger economic player today but the Flemish aren't any "richer" per se, as they pay disproportionately higher taxes due to the ridiculous amount of Wallonians on welfare who don't even try and bother to find work - Wallonia routinely prods at Flanders and spends money on lavish monuments and architecture rather than infrastructure and jobs - The francophone population today comprises 40% but houses 70% of unemployment. When polled, 40% responded that even if they could work, they wouldn't, due to welfare programs. Welfare programs were initially intended for the truly sick and disabled, not freeloaders. Hence there is a massive stigma surrounding Wallonians that they're "lazy" and just eat up tax money. Is it really that difficult to understand most separatists today simply don't want to fund a culturally divided people who historically mocked, hate and oppressed them, particularly not in a country with some of the highest tax pressure in the world? - You used footage of De Wever that's way over 12 years old? Did you not see his weight loss since then? This is such a terrible and inaccurate hitpiece, or was made with an extremely biased source. Get your shit right man
it was the flemish aristocrats who tried to force french on flemings. certainly not walloon people who didn’t even spoke french but another language called “walloon”.
Sorry for asking. Can I know why Belgium is not split among France, Germany and the Netherlands? Wallonia has more in common with France than the rest of Belgium and it seems also the other two sides of Belgium have more in common with Germany and the Netherlands. Wallonia had a hard time in the last few years. Maybe it’s time to join a true powerful country to increase their sense of pride. For a foreigner it seems Wallonia is attached to Flanders only for economic reasons however respect and pride last forever. I would be much more proud to be French than Belgian! Belgians out there could you please give me your opinion without animosity and offend me?
walloon people, in order to create an artificial unique identity created a hate relationship with France. the flemish people did the exact same thing with the Netherlands. So, flemish people will never agree to be part of the Netherlands and walloon people will never agree to be part of France.
@@kristelbracke6185 Doe je ogen dicht. Adem in. Adem uit. Oke. Bedenk nu hoeveel EK's/WK's we hadden kunnen winnen in de afgelopen 20 jaar als we een land waren geweest!
@@MovieRiotHD Dat is nu eens het beste dat ik al in lange tijd gelezen heb in de comments gewoonweg omdat het zo correct is. We gingen waarschijnlijk alles gewonnen hebben. Groeten uit België!
Zou een droom zijn om Vlaanderen te voegen bij Nederland. Limburg en Brabant te herenigen zoals vroeger! de havens van Antwerpen en Rotterdam te verbinden en dan zijn we echt vertrokken. Mis jullie mijn nederlandse noorderburen!
If I can be honest.. Belgians are mainly stubborn people. I'm Belgian myself with Dutch herritage as well but I never felt Belgian. We share the same ethnical background , economical we are simulair , and speak the same language as our neighbours in the North. Belgian motto : unity makes strength. What to me is funny as fuck that most Belgians use this as a" good example " why we stay together cause our country is everything except a unity. I like diversity , but we still need to be able to function as 1 country. Not a country with the Berlin wall in the middle. ( philosophical )
What will happen with Brussels should they break up Belgium. Will it be connected to Wallonia by way of a corridor and become France's most important northern city? Or will it be a French exclave?
yes the only reason it has french people in there is bc of political ruling to make it dual linguistic. it's a historically a flemish city and should come to flanders if the split happens
@@PaPyRene i actually meant walloon people but i made the error to type french instead. it used to be majority dutch but bc of past politics is french now dominant there. that was in the time flemish people were seen as less. anyway i made a error by saying french so that's on me. My bad
Everything inside this country is already split up. We have 6 parliaments and more than 200 members of parliament, which cost a massive amount of money. There are literally cities on this planet with more inhabitants than this country... Even the concrete in our roads and nuclear power plants have separated themselves in different regions... I would suggest that the real solution is to tackle the useless expenditure of our government, so we actually need a government that would lower their own wage for 50% of the team, and fire the other 50% because they are redundant... In short, this country is doomed!
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"The only true belgian is the king" who is German
😂 yeah
How many European royal families originally are from Germany ? More than five : Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, Denmark, Norway, Great Britain… You can also mention the former royal families from Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, etc… You may also include the royal families of Spain or Russia, for exemple, if you take into account marriages with members of the Houses of Battenberg and Hesse-Darmstadt. In fact the majority of the royal and princely families of Europe have roots somewhere in Germany. Even the Trump family- Donald Trump ! - is originally from Germany ! So what's the matter ?
@@daryaenoor1976 just thought it was funny that the only true Belgian is german
And speaks french
@@salamanderguy3270 "German"... An Italian mother (with a Belgian grand-mother by his father : Laure Mosselman du Chenoy) and a father who had a Swedish mother (who was Danish too by her mother) and a father - Leopold III - who was half German (Bavarian) and with so many roots from his father Albert I (Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Orléans... that means French too ! ). That's not exactly what I call "German"... The reason and historical truth call it a mixture, a crossing of origins from different European courts. Then this "so-called" German King marries a lady who has a Polish mother and a father with Flemish ancestors (West-Flanders exactly).
In short, this is the fairly classic portrait of a European royal family: quite variegated
Also coming from Caspian Report. I really appreciate your guys' work. Keep it up.
Brussels is the Gordian knot that keeps Belgium together.
Idk about that
yep, but not in a good way.
Not for much longer
I’m Flemish and I hate Brussels. Like Trump once said, Brussels is a hellhole
@Hubert Dubois and how is that "prospérité" going for you? The "boeren" seem to be doing a lot better economically...
Why is it that everything French just radiates arrogance? The fact that you decided to start speaking French in an English thread speaks for itself.
This video is quite good for a video over the "division" of Belgium (that is indeed very rare to find an accurate video on the topic). There are however a few inaccuracies that I listed hereafter (sorry for the lenght but being precise is important on such a sensitive topic).
- (0:02) You started by saying "in the minds of many Belgian citizens, there is one true Belgian, namely the king, all other citizens being Flemish, Walloon or German". I am Belgian, I speak the 3 national languages and never heard anyone in this country saying such a thing in any of its languages. This is typically a sentence that comes from foreigners, who very often do not understand our country (well nobody really does, I know). To simplify, in Belgium one can say that there is in fact two identities, the Flemish one and the Belgian one. Those identities can coexist within a person or not (Flemings usually identify firstly as Flemish, then as Belgian) but the Walloon identity is in any case very weak in comparison with the Flemish one for two main reasons:
(1) Firstly the Flemish identity is born with the Flemish movement in the 20th century, asking cultural respect and linguistic equality from the Belgian state. This is an identity that has constructed itself against the Belgian one. The Walloon identity, on the other hand, has not developped in opposition to the Belgian identity but to the Flemish one. Consequently, the Walloon identity has always been part of the Belgian one, a subdivision of it.
(2) Secondly more than 25% of the French speaking Belgians live outside Wallonia (in Brussels and Flanders) and do not identify as Walloons. Those 25% have brought lots of symbols of the (French-speaking) Belgian culture (e.g. Jacques Brel, Tintin, the Smurfs, Eddy Merckx, Stromae, etc.), although not being Walloon. That is why in Belgium we usually speak of "Flemings" to designate Dutch speakers and "Francophones" to designate French-speakers.
Finally, I can assure you that German-speakers do not identify as German. They identify firstly as Belgians and we often say in their regard that they are "the most Belgians of all", a term they also like to use themselves.
- (3:36) You said that one of the cause of the Belgian secession from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was that "the industrial revolution mainly took place in the north". That is inaccurate. The industrial revolution mainly took place in the extreme south, in Wallonia which has been, from 1790 to 1910, the second industrial power in the world. At that time, Flanders was mostly agricultural and the Netherlands were mostly centered on trade and mercantillism.
- (4:02) You said that the language reform in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands intended to impose the Dutch language in the Flemish provinces, which caused the opposition of the French-speaking population. It should be explained that 1) those French speakers were from the Flemish/Brabantian bourgeoisie and nobility, which, at the time, spoke French (hence, not the current French-speaking population in Wallonia) and that 2) this reform was opposed by Flemish speakers as well, since they considered Dutch as a foreign language at the time.
- (5:14) You said that the division of Belgium began to progress in the 20th century. The reality is that the linguistic/cultural division STARTED at this moment. Before WW1 the Flemish and Walloon identities were pretty much non existent and the dominant feeling was the Belgian one.
- (5:54) You compare Wallonia, mostly rural with Flanders, mostly industrial, and it makes one think that it has always been so. You should explain that this is quite recent in the Belgian history (since 1960). Before the 1960s, the situation was inverted. Wallonia has been the economic powerhouse of Belgium for 130 years when Flanders was mostly rural.
- (6:09) You show the GDP of each province and say it is enough to see that there is just one Walloon province in the top 5 to understand the economic divide. This is however quite logical since those 5 first provinces are the most populated (they represent together nearly 7 million people). Numbers like the GDP per capita that you show after are a better indicator to grasp the economic devide, although not being perfect (and they allow to see that the economic devide is mostly between provinces rather than regions).
- (7:27) The polls you cite indicating that 40% of Flemings would be in favour of independance were taken during the political crisis of 2007-2011. Such percentage has never been seen again and those polls are in any case to be taken with caution because:
(1) During every Belgian political crisis, the proportion of Flemings in favour of independance rises, to go back quickly after to a low proportion of 10-16%, but there has never ever been any majority for independance ever. That is why Flanders is not independant. The problem of Brussels that you cite at 9:30 is, in that regard, just a way to hide the fact that there has never been any majority for an independant Flanders.
(2) A lot of polls contradict themselves and there are great variation in proportion depending on the poll (the numbers of 2020 even show that there would be more Flemings wanting to abandon federalism to go back to a unitary state than Flemings wanting separation).
(3) Even inside separatist parties, the proportion of Flemings actually wanting independance is not really high (the last numbers show 25% for the voters of the main separatist party, the NVA).
Thank you for your reading and I wish you a lot of success with your channel and next videos!
GREAT comment, thank you for writing all this!
Thank you, Cecile. This is going on the top, no question about that.
i haven't found anything about the polls on the website of Hbvl so far and like you said this is perhaps nothing like the whole country thinks about this since this is brobably a poll from hbvl itself if it actually is in this light you should considder the readers of hbvl who are mainly older limburgers since it's a local paper considdering limburg is one of the provinces that has a lot of agriculture and isn't very openminded over all so in conclusion even if the article excists you shouldn't take it to serious
@Hubert Beauregard This comment is trying to insult the Dutch/Flemish language. It isn’t working, because boerentaal is een geuzennaam. The French language of the walloons hasn’t brought much prosperity in the last 50years. The video shows the difference in economics between Flanders and Wallonia. And the prestige you’re writing about, is only seen by the walloons themselves. Even the French are acting with disdain about walloons and their silly spoken French. But, as I, you are entitled to your own opinion.
Bruh you spent your entire day critiquing a RUclips video, wtf.
Quite accurate, but I noticed an inaccuracy. During the time when Belgium was part of the United Netherlands, the industrial revolution took place mainly in the Walloon region, while the Northern Netherlands remained focused on trade from its ports. This resulted in a big mentality difference between the Dutch leading aristocracy, which were (generally) merchants, the Walloon aristocracy, which were (generally) modern industrialists, and Flemish aristocracy, which were (generally) land owners.
*which were
this
Also most Belgians are catholic right? Not only the south but also the north right?
@@mikehulsman4735 officially yes. But most don't care about religion in general.
@@SirThanksalot_1 fair enough but the video stated the north was protestant thats why i asked
You make it sound as if Dutch was an equivalent language since the inception of Belgium. However, only since 1968 is the constitution available in the Dutch language. In fact, the original plan had always been to eradicate the Flemish/Dutch language completely with the help of the already French-speaking Flemish bourgeoisie.
Similar happened in Elsaß Lothrigen.
Coming from the caspian report video, immediately interested on your vids. Keep up the good work!
Awesome to hear that Hugo. Glad you are here!
This looks promising, +1 more subscriber
Thanks, Ghiorghe! Glad to have you here.
Because it is confirmation bias. Belgium is not uniting, it's drifting more apart than ever.
As a belgian/ flemish person I am glad my country is discussed on a geopolitics channel, I have been waiting for Shirvan to make a video about belgium for ages. That being said I find it kinda sad that the focus is as ever on Belgiums often messy political situation and lack of unity.
We have a similar linguistic unity problem here in Canada. It's a tough subject to find a long-term strategy for.
From the geopolitical perspective, it's unavoidable to mention the split. Yet as a person, who been to Belgium a couple of times (mainly Lokeren area) I always admired the country as a pinnacle of statehood and prosperity. Certainly, nothing to be sad about here - and let's face it, it's better to feel secure on the individual level, than dream about the greatness at the expense of your citizens (Russia's case).
oh, we certainly have a beautifull country, but it does not work anymore, even diehard belgicists know this, and you know how the walloon parties behave?, Elio Di rupo not just saying that the transfers had to keep coming, but that they should be increased, since wallonia has a larger teritory,
@@istoppedcaring6209 And what if we stop this transfer ? Will there really be less independentists ? I support the end of this north-south transfer because it's unfair, but in the begin of the 20th century the transfer was south-north because the economic heart of Belgium was Wallonia. And walloons didn't say anything.
Wallonia have the worst politicians in the world (I totally agree, and i'm from Wallonia)
We should have a party like VB but that is not for the independance. Maybe I'm dreaming
@@belgicain5283 i see your point and yes, if wallonia were to change drasticly, people actually learning dutch, and if the transfers stopped completely, then many of us would be willing to give it another chance, but we just don't trust that that wil happen,
also, transfers were never south north, wallonia was the economic center during the 19th and early 20th century, yet at that time wellfare was virtually non existent , so no transfers either,
and besides, if things were to change, then it would be better to just unite with the Netherlands or the entire Benelux into one country and actually be a major power in europe and the world
but as things stand, i don't see that happening anytime soon
the government we have right now is temporarily though, to handle the corona crisis better. we still don't have an 'official' government right now since the last election results don't make it easy to form a coalition (similar to the 2010 situation where we didn't have a government for 541 days).
EDIT: correction of the amount of days without a goverment in 2010
541 Days would be correct. the formation started on the 13th of june 2010 and was completed on the 6th of december 2011
@@tomfirens1400 it's been 1 year after the elections and we still don't have a federal government, but we don't have a fully functional government since december 2018
@@Deelom100 Now we have "theoretically" a government. For the moment the parties don't look at forming a new governement. In 2010 they didn't stop working on forming a government during 541 days. It's not the case here
Wist ik niet
Welcome to all of you who came from the CaspianReport channel! I can't really emphasize how wonderful it is to see you all here :) I really appreciate all the comments and will try to reply to the majority of them - Caspian's vid came out just when I'm moving to a new place, so I'm short on time a bit. Thanks again!
Belgium is a young and diverse country on a piece of land with a very complex history at the cross-roads of various European civilisations. Sure, you have got Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels but that still does not cover it, inside Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia you also got many regional cultural differences and traditions, and also linguistical differences (several regional languages and dialects), etc. This is for some part a remnant of being divided in many separate counties with separate identities in the past (somewhat like Germany). It is sometimes hard to define what is typically Belgian apart from the superficial cliches like chocolate, waffles, comic books and beer, but what is clear is that we are culturally very distant from the more simple and unified cultures from our neighbours. But Belgium was, is and always will be a very heterogenous and pluralistic country. Some do not like that and want to have some kind of homogenous independent Flanders (that never existed either), but it is very difficult to draw the lines or organize practically if you seriously think about it, which NV-A rarely does (whose strategy is basically to let the federal state level rot away until Belgium reaches a point where the sub-governments are so powerful that it is unable to fulfil its international responsibilities).
I acknowledge the merits of the Flemish movement in the past of striving for social and linguistical equality, but I think they have gone far past those goals now. Sadly, the Flemish dialects have been discriminated against from right after we broke away from the Dutch, ironically because they discriminated against French. French was initially chosen as the sole national language because it was regarded as a culturally superior, more standardised and more Catholic language, which was for a long time associated with higher status. The economic prosperity of Flanders, and economic downfall of Wallonian industry, slowly helped Dutch attain equal status with French in Belgium (alongside German), that Dutch has this day. Discrimination against the Dutch language is not a major issue anymore (aside perhaps sometimes in Brussels). Instead, the Flemish movement has shifted the goalposts to a more economic us vs. them narrative where Walloons are supposedly poor because they are 'lazy' and a burden to the 'hard-working' Fleming. History seems to have for partially reversed itself with Flanders being the richer region being arrogant towards the poorer Wallonia, but this too has become a stereotype which is exaggerated by Walloon media or politics.
Personally, I am tired of all the petty discussions which have lost all original sense. Flanders and Wallonia have some cultural differences but those are relatively minor and not bigger than any differences in Flanders, Wallonia or Brussels themselves, the main difference are the languages, the separated media giving a different view on actual events, and the language-separated political parties which vilify the parties of the other language group, because that makes political sense (unsurprisingly, 'rich' Flanders is more right-wing and 'poor' Wallonia more left-wing). I dream of a Belgium where everyone respects each other and is free to speak or be what he or she is and where we look for constructive measures to improve our currently quite dysfunctional and sluggish state structure, instead of just further complicating things with the idea that all problems would go away if Belgium would burst, because they wouldn't, it would most likely only complicate the situation even further and come with tons of new problems.
I have rarely read such a balanced point of view on Belgium, recognising the challenges and limitations in defining historical and cultural identities. Well done. And yet it is the one that receives the least appreciation; proving Matthias' final points in his concluding paragraph.
That is an excellent comment, thank you for putting this in words!
This Channel has a lot of potential! Keep up the good work!
Greetings from Belgium, just a small correction we still don't have a majority government, there is a minority government that has the support of other parties to govern while the coronacrisis is still ongoing.
Thanks Cedric!
Cedric Vandierendonck Vlamingen en nederlanders samen. In ieder geval Vlaanderen onafhankelijk. Als vlaam als nederlander heb ik een droom om ons sterker te maken dat we niet meer de kleine brave jongetjes van de klas meer te hoeven zijn. ik ben een limburger, ik ben natuurlijk trots op mijn roots. Maar alleen wij limburgers kunnen niks maken in de internationale politiek, maar samen bij elkaar zijn we sterk. We delen als Vlaamen en nederlanders een taal, DNA, landschap, eten, Goedlopende economie en cultuur. Waarom zwakker los van elkaar zijn dan sterker samen. Als we herenigd zouden worden hadden we internationaal meer te zeggen dan Australië. Wij nederlandstaligen zijn nou eenmaal een kleine bevolking wij limiteren ons door klein te blijven. We verliezen anders onze identiteit alsjeblieft medevolk herenig. Wij zuid Nederlanders kijken er naar uit om te herenigen, onze provincies hebben immers dezelfde taal. De tijd is rijp voor rechts samen hebben we een rechtse meerderheid. Er moet iets veranderen!!!!
@@ironfromicey8700 Wij Nederlanders hebben niets te maken met de Vlaamse boeren in het zuiden. Onze voorouders hebben ons van deze populaties ontdaan. Geen kwestie van teruggaan.
esr243 je weet dat het stedendistrict in Vlaanderen ongeveer even groot is als jullie domme randstad. En onze voor ouders hebben de Vlamingen slecht behandeld daar zijn ze weg gegaan. (Niet mijn voorouders btw)
@@ironfromicey8700 Heb je ooit gehoord van de verkeerde kant van de rivier ? Jullie praten dialecten, en wij een taal. De Vlamigen ? Tussen hun begrijpen ze elkaar niet ! Wij zijn snel ... Het Nederlandse onderwijs is veel beter. Het is gericht op het aanleren van leer- en onderzoekshoudingen en -vaardigheden. Zelfstandig leren handelen is niet belangrijk, in België, waar nog wat meer gaat om luisteren en ‘braaf zijn’. Belgen zijn niet snel open tegenover mensen die ze niet kennen. Maar of België en Nederland ooit echt naar elkaar toegroeien? AUB, niet !
As a belgian, I can confirm all of this. Good research!
Great to hear that.
Foolish. Separatist feelings have not diminished, only increased as Flanders votes right and Wallonia votes left.
You voice in really enticing like Shrivan from Caspian Report, Its just 'Raw;' also your Research Content is upto level of a International Scholar Paper,
Glad, i found your channel before other.🙂
Love from Allahabad, India
Thank you Suvanshit! I'm also glad that you're on board :) That's true - Shirvan is doing a great job.
I would disagree. How can you say that the research is upto a level of a international Scholar paper if he makes a video in 2020, talking about election results and surveys conducted in 2007? That is a huge gap and a lot can and has changed in 13 years!
@@briekjolie6018 i agree with you, Briek although most of the information is accurate, i noticed two major issue in the video, and a lack of context for some subject, first the industrial revolution toke place in the south, around Charleroi and Liege and to this days Flanders is not "Industrial" in the same matter as it was then, second the NVA's plan to split the country dates a decade ago, since then they stopped the talk about it since they didn't have enough support and started to make them unpopular especially with the french speakers and Brussels inhabitant, ever since then the only party who dare speak about actually splinting the nation is the Vlaams Belang, and they did grow significantly in the same decade its not and will not be in discussion any time soon since some elements of that party talking about the split has been told off by their superior in the party before.
Now the element you brushed off is the build up to the current situation, how government evolved in the shape it is now in a attempt to please everyone with the always present financial differences between the north and the south, first the south wanted out during and after the industrial revolution since they had most of the money, political control and saw the Flemish as a burden, and nowadays its the opposite, the Flemish want out because they have a better economy for the modern age and have more political control with their higher population, if you want accuracy and truth, THIS cannot be brushed off.
Last thing, sure 30% of people in Flanders said that they want to split, but for such a thing to pass they need to vote for a party to be single-handedly at minimum 51% of the NATIONAL parliament, so they are likely just a "minority" in a way that will not succeed, and do note the journalist that posted those statistic ARE extreme Flemish nationalist, and don't be so naive to think they didn't inflated those numbers one way or another, either by ignoring people they didn't like or targeting a audience they knew would say "split the country".
Thank you and have a nice day,
a proud Belgian.
Prayagraj 🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻
This is a wonderful video and channel :) Hope to see more such videos. All the best!
Thanks man! Doing my best and working on new episodes! Stay healthy :)
I remember reading on the paper that the Belgian were celebrating being X number of days with no government (i.e reaching milestones of one hundred or two hundred days without government)
Vinnie Chan we reached more than 500 days if i remember correctly.
And we are well on the way breaking it again. Hooray!
We do have a Corona-government, but it'll be most likely be voted away again after the lockdown because it's a minority-government
technically we were over 670 since the last government fell in 2018 but most people start counting from the 2019 election. the talks have just ended and thus the counter stopped.
The result? the exact oposite of what half of flanders wished for. they formen a coaltition with 7 parties because they blocked out one ''extreme'' party.
As a Dutchman, I would love to see Flanders join the Netherlands. To be honest, I would like to see the whole Benelux as 1 country, but that would not solve the Flanders/Wallonia problem.
yeah we can only dream
Why?
@@jdlc903 bc that means the lowlands can become even more powerful and return to it's original greatness
@@goyslop-consumer Greater Netherlands ,restore the Dutch empire,?
@@jdlc903 yes
It should be noted that there are Catholic regions in The Netherlands, most notably the provinces of North-Brabant and Limburg* but these have been part of The Netherlands since it's creation in 1648.
*Not the entirety of Limburg has been part of The Netherlands since 1648 but prominent cities in it are.
Thanks for the note.
1568* in 1648 spain accepted it independence but in 1568 the 80 yeard war started (the independence war of the netherlands)
This isn't true. The markation line of the Dutch independence was the Moerdijk. Everything that lay south of the Moerdijk, belonged to the Spanish rulers of that time. When Belgium revolted against the Netherlands (1830), new borders were agreed and signed.
French is a better regarded language than Dutch in the Bruxelles area
Flanders should not be racist against their counterparts the Wallons.Coexistence goes well in Switzerland and Canada and even in England.They have a lot to lose mainly being the headquarters of the EU and Nato to think on these terms.French is regarded with most respect in Bruxelles international hub and not Dutch.More bilinguism and Flemish studying French in schools is necessary.Tearing apart the country will cause national and international consequences,even France might take action against Bruxelles if this happens since the Flemish will do away with french speaking Wallons in Bruxelles and the expectation to replace Waloon influence in the capital will be hardly accepted internationally.Other countries like Spain would not tolerate Flanders coming to the EU as well.Greetings from Costa Rica
I'm from flandres and i love the walloons belgium must be united for ever
I hope too (I'm from Wallonia and I like the Flemmings, speaking better French than us speaking Dutch,)
@@SNAKE-ob8pq True but we have to speak better Dutch ! Or to add English as an official language of Belgium ahah
Well, even if I was never able to learn Dutch with school (Lessons were bad. did you have good and easy child books? I learn English this way), as a Wallon, I love the Flemmish and our Belgium! ^^
You don't follow the news i guess, Belgium is an artificial country created by the major powers back in those days.
@@SNAKE-ob8pq Well, I clearly don't. Belgium has gained higher port customs duties thanks to the latest European agreements. But who will benefit from this? Probably not Belgium, just Flanders. And we can still hear that if Wallonia is less rich, it is because we are lazy.
Tbh if I had to choose, I'd split it to end this exasperating mess.
As a Belgian (Flemish) I am really impressed with the details and the correctness of the video. You've one more sub !
So the current political situation is even worse than in 2011 with the N-VA and VB on the Flemish side and the PS on the Wallonian side. Even during the times of the event that shall not be named which is happening right now, they were unable to form a government and they created a crisis government which should be dissolved as soon as possible to restart the coalition negotiations.
It's great to hear that! Belgium is really interesting topic to follow.
@@GoodTimesBadTimes The most of the politicians say it's the fault of the people to choose on the 'wrong' party and that's why it's a mess
New subscriber, excellent analysis. I love your accent and pronunciation.
You made me flush :D Thanks!
Nice video. It is hard to keep a country together that has such deep differences of language and identity. Spain and Catalonia come to mind. I saw your video on Caspian Report.
The difference between Flemish and Walloons is not one of language and culture but of ideology. French speaking want a communist regime where the state treats the citizens as lazy children, while Flemish want a thriving private economy. For some reason Walloons succeed already 200 years to let Flanders pay for their communist dreams.
@@christianwouters6764 Woaw, huge bias here ! It's true that Walloons are more leftifts than Flemish but please, don't make it that extreme.
@@crataclysme1139 Let's be real, Parti Socialiste is a communist party in Wallonië. Bruxelles is no better to be honest
I live in belgium, I don't really care about the whole seperatist movement but I have to say it really feels like we live in 2 countries. I honestly have no idee what is going on in wallonia, whenever I see or hear news about something that happens in our country, like politics, new projects or so it's always something that is only really relevant to flanders. unless its a big incident like a plane crash or something I never hear anything about wallonia
If you live in Brussels it's the same, you have no idea what happens in Wallonië or Flanders
It's the same in France, we never know anything about Flemish or Dutch. I can't say "yes" or "no" in Flemish or Dutch. I don't even know a single word in Flemish or Dutch (I am realy serious).
My whole life I never heard a song in Dutch or Flemish, never saw a Dutch or Flemish movie, never read a book (translated in French) written by a Flemish or Dutch. 99% of French population is like me.
The only famous Dutchmen who are known in France are "Dave" a 70's and 80's pop singer who sings in French and the artist Van Gogh who lived in France.
A total shame ! C'est vraiment pas possible !
I know it is written in Dutch but it shows that only 14% of Belgians want to seperate, there are even more Flemish people who want to go back from a federal government to a unitary government (26%). It is not because the biggest Flemish party are separatist that the people who voted for them want to spilt up, honestly they mostly vote for them for their migration plans and right economic ideology and they are the only party who provides that conservative ideology while not being extreme or being convicted for racism (look it up Vlaams Blok was convicted for racism so they started the Vlaams Belang).
I know the people who make these kind of videos are from a different country and I’m happy they wan to inform the world of our little country but for me as a Belgian it hurts that they always say we want to spilt up, I’m Flemish and to be honest not in the polls nor in the general public I experience do people actually want to split up.
Yeah I know the loudest voices are the most easily heard but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are the biggest group of people. In this case they are only the extremest of the bigger group.
Anyway I hope you receive my message and for the record I’m not attacking you or anything I’m already grateful that you made a video about Belgium and I saw somewhere you visited as well.
I do hope you’ll visit us again!
www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2019/11/04/er-is-geen-draagvlak-voor-de-splitsing-van-belgie/
cringe flemish
sad i thought they would be cooler
bulshit,
i can guarantee you that those polls are more than real, it is not because compromise after compromise to get at least something done, lead to a situation in which that option was put forward, that we don't simply want to leave, at least most of us, and more and more share that sentiment
We want to either join the Netherlands, or rather, form a new united state
or go the way of other small nations and just be rich and independent
i have nothing against walloons, I want to speak fluent French as well, it is a great benefit , but that does not change the fact that this shit does not work anymore,
@@istoppedcaring6209 If flanders joins The Netherlands you can do it in a lot of ways. Either just merge, Or become a part of the kingdom. You would still be your own country but we would also be one. Or just become independent. Lots of options.
I watch Caspian. He seems spot on. Subscribed to GTBT just now, your just geopolitical fact approach is excellent, pls keep it up. Something on oil markets maybe, tricky one to do these days tho. Ty
Thanks man!
I am half Belgian half Dutch, but I live in Belgium. I love this country and it's people.I also love the Netherlands and I am a proud European. But I feel that the reason why Belgium doesn't work as a country anymore aren't the people. It's their governement. Should they keep on waisting money to try to make it work... NO! I love the people from the South side, but the problem is that a lot of them don't speak a word of Dutch (Flemish), it's not the people fault, it's the governement to blame, because they simply don't learn it in most schools. The situation is very complicated... but I don't think Flanders and Wallonia should become 2 different countries. Flanders back to the Netherlands and Wallonia to France.of them don't speak a word of Dutch (Flemish), it's not the people fault, it's the governement to blame, because they simply don't learn it in most schools. The situation is very complicated... but I don't think Flanders and Wallonia should become 2 different countries.
I have to correct you but Flanders doesn't want The Netherlands, we are economically very strong. Same with Wallonia with France but still this is the ONLY SOLUTION for them. German speaking parts of Belgium could join Germany again but idk if Wallonia is gonna let them go.
Ik kom uit Wallonië en toch spreek ik Nederlands omdat ik 4 maanden naar Nederland ben gegaan om Nederlands te leren dus niet alle Walen zijn lui
@@jordanverrecas1261 Oui mais en général les wallons disent pas un mot en flamand
@@przemekh4857 oui c'est vrai mais en même temps le néerlandais n'est pas obligatoire dans les écoles en Wallonie donc c'est la faute du gouvernement donc j'aime pas quand certains flamands se permettent de critiquer tous les Wallons
@@jordanverrecas1261 Een taal leren is niet hetzelfde als werken maar oké.
Very good channel, glad I found it. Hope to see you grow more in the future.
As it happens, the language spoken in Flemish is Dutch. The same as in the Netherlands. Belgium and the Netherlands signed a treaty on the union of the Dutch language.
Belgium and the Netherlands used to be divided by religion. In Belgium, Catholics make up the vast majority of Christians. In the Netherlands, Protestants used to be the majority, but this has changed, now Catholics dominate. So there is nothing against merging the Netherlands and Flanders into the Netherlands.
Wallonia, in turn, can merge with France or remain independent.
I think the main goal for Belgium would be to achieve that a high percentage of population - no matter Flemish, Walloon or German speaking and also including immigrant population - should get to speaking the other language at least at intermediate level. It would help yo furn into a really bilingual country whereever you go.
Good stuff. Came here from Caspian Report. I'm now subscribed.
Wow you pronounced Amsterdam the same way as we do in Dutch, very good video btw
Glad you liked it :)
Very well done!
Came here from your guest video on the Caspian report. Great channel, glad I discovered it.
Glad to have you here!
@@GoodTimesBadTimes I apologize on behalf of that community as they are very toxic to everyone but Shirvan. I enjoyed the video though and hope to continue seeing more from you and this channel.
I'm glad you did that guest apperance as I would've never discovered your great channel.
"Everyone wants their independence... until they run out of money." --Sir Humphrey Appleby, "Yes, Minister"
True that.
Indeed, that's why Wallonia and Brussels don't want to split, because Flanders is the cash maker
I mean the Flemish are the ones screaming for independence and they make the most money, so they're kinda safe
@@beu9245 Exactly!
We always have a back-up plan if money is the issue, joining the Netherlands. It's really a desperate solution because we really don't like the Dutch from The Netherlands, there should be a confederate state if it happens and the main problems are mentality, monarchy and domination.
Keep up the good work 👍
This is an awesome channel. Just like Caspian Report very well given with lots of good information. Thank you so much for your videos. Keep up the good work...
Amazing content as always, one remark though, you very often say word "area" and with the accent on the wrong vowel, it's "Area", not "arEa", all else is great :)
Did you and Caspian purposefully make sure you sounded alike ?
And good vid hopefully you and casp can work together to cover 2 as much
Thanks, mate. No, it wasn't intentional, although I tried to align with Shirvan's style not to cause much difference.
Nice video, promising channel
I'm looking forward to binge watch all your videos 👌
Great to hear! :)
looks good bro
Good vid.
I found out there was a division in Belgium through a random Reddit conversation. I was asking why a Belgian rapper I like speaks French. This video expands on the basic premise the individual shared. Thanks for the video!
Cool channel, hope to see much, much more.
Belgium ran on auto pilot without a government a few years ago. That topic would make a great video, especially in the context of Wallonia and Flanders, dislike (?) for each other. Was it the local regional govts that kept the trains running,or something else?
The government "keeps" in power until a new government is created. There are limits on what laws and decisions can be taken. A lot of laws and mechanisms in Belgium have an automated part that works without input of parlament or government. For example the minimum wage is automatic, no voting on it (except once when the parlement voted to skip one threshhold of the mechanism). Taxes and payments stay the same unless a new regimen is voted in, so government employees and subsidies are payed until parlement can decide to stop or change that. The current governement is only a emergency one, they still haven't made a true new one. The last time we had big trouble getting a new government, was in 2010-20011, because of the systems in place no real measurments were taken during that time against the economic crisis. So instead of austerity during that time, all programs kept running and Belgium seems to have recovered more quickly than most of the surrounding countries. The governments of the regions and communities kept things running for the most part, but are dependend on the federal government in terms of budget size for the most part.
When I lived in Europe for a few years and met many Belgians, I was struck by how the francophones were so disdainful of the Flemish language, always touting their cultural superiority. I can understand why the Flemings don't love sharing a body politic with them.
Good video but small mistake it's not flemish bloc, that was the name of the party in the 90's and is still used by people today but the offical name they have now is Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest)
Got it, thanks Ezekiel!
Different name, but same nazi tendencies.
@@rondidju Incorrect, Vlaams Belang does indeed support the same ideology as the ' nazi's ' but VB doesn't support racism, they do intend to be right/far right but it really isn't as bad as the nazi's.
@@arneray3333 Direct quote from Dewinter, the leader of the party that doesn't support racism:
"[...] Our own people first!! And yes, Vlaams Blok chooses a Flemish Flanders. And yes, Vlaams Blok chooses a white Europe!"
@@rondidju very wrong, get your facts straight, don't let yourself be fooled by the media and comunist-infested universities
It should rather be divided between three states - Flanders to Netherlands, Wallonia to France and the German speaking corner to Germany. Turn Bruxelles into a kind of EU territory.
Don't forget brussels to netherlands
the EU needs to pay rent for brussels then
@@rudidewolf8155 Why not
@@galactorsus_i.n.c
brussels is mostly french-speaking…
Het Belang van Limburg. Very good pronounciation! Nice vid!
thanks man, golden shot ;)
Can't wait!
an independent Flanders will fall out of the European Union. To become a member it would need admittance of all EU-states including Spain and the remaining part of Belgium
Not all people want a split of Belgium. A large majority of the Belgian population still want to keep the nation together, with 27% even wanting to reinforce Belgium and returning to a unitary state.
It is the federal state and regional nationalism that are thwarting much of Belgium's development and progress.
It depends on how you ask the question, would you want 2000 euro extra at end of the year or not.
Everyone would say Yes!
@@Deelom100 This 2000 euro extra doesn't take in account the split of the national debt and the potential loss of Brussel. All of that with an aging population who don't want to autorise immigration.
@@Deelom100 Yeah well... that sounds like the double decker bus in the UK that said "280 milion per week for NHS if we leave the EU".
Next step is the province of Antwerp saying they don't want to pay for the unemployed people in Limburg. Maybe another 500 euro per year saved. As far as solidarity goes, I prefer to be on the giving end than on the receiving end. Paying more taxes means I earn a better salary ;-)
I have never needed extensive surgery and I have never been unemployed. I have (gladly) paid a lot of taxes for people who were unlucky enough to need unemployment money or expensive health care. And I don't care if these people live in Antwerp or in Liège.
I like this channel. I got here from Caspian Report.
Thanks Antarctica! Stay frozen!
I'm Belgian zo saying
that only the king feels like a Belgian. Feels strange but I understand what you mean. But I hope that you know that there are still Belgians that feel like a belgian just like me.
you are a minority though, especially in flanders,
There's no such thing as Belgian, it's all fake
"Belgian" is a meaningless construct like 'citizen of the world'. It doesn't mean anything, it's not an identity.
@Nestquickske inform me then what dus it means.
I am a Belgian and live in Flanders and. I hope Belgium does not split
Why not?
Because I am a Belgian.
Interesting, I really like this !
What's also interesting to note is that NVA seeks further separation either through further anti-federalistion, confederation or seperatism. This means that if they want to prove that the system in Belgium is truly flaud, and is in need of change, they have to not actually cooperate in the federal government ( if they even are a part of it) but hinder cooperation on a federal level. Through participation on the regional level (which is what they are doing now).
Nice video, it's a really interesting situation ( from the outside).
May I suggest 3 words for you to focus on pronunciation?
★ Area
★ Territory
★ Separatist
Great video, as apparently many are. The Guyana video makes me hope you might venture a bit outside of Europe, and so I would suggest looking at Central America and also South America, particularly the situation in Brazil (my country), Argentina, Chile, Venezuela and Perú.
The would be great to do. Hopefully we are able to do so, as the channel grows.
I once questioned the existence of Belgium but now I'm much more optimistic about the future of this country. Having read more about the Belgium history, I think their special power is perseverance. They've been through a lot, being situated between major powers of Europe. Even this day, despite political crises, due to empowerment of local governance there is no major problem affecting citizens lives. I love this country more and I hope Belgium exists forever.
I hope not, wallonia is a cancer that is attached to flanders.
things have never been this bleak for the country as a whole, we don't want to split for some symbolic reason it just does not work anymore, language differences be damned, cultural differences be damned, it is about being politically incompatible, and mostly about the money, this is however only made worse by the troubled history, and the linguistic oppression, people who revolted against the united netherlands did so because of religiocultural and rgional discrimination, dutch spreaking flemishmen deserted the dutch army, but then when they came back they didn't really want to fight because french would be the only official language, so the dutch would have taken the country back if it hadn't been for the damned french, (who actually wanted to take it for themselves ofcourse)
now the socialists and communists domminate the south,
the regionalists and economically liberal the north, again language differences don't matter much, asside from brussels which should be bilingual but in effect isn't, and it was a dutch city until the 30s, because of Belgian francification practices
A very good clip! You could make one about Bosnia, which has a similar problem and structure.
like i always say: i am flemish (culture), my nationality in Belgian and i am a citizen of the European Union.
Much like Brittany in France, Catalonia and Galicia in Spain, French Canadians... The only difference is that there is no main group after wich the country is named or that is a majority vs minority.
Don’t mention French Canadians. They culturally French, their nationality is Quebec and they see themselves as Québécois first, Canadian second. They aren’t a part of this country, and they don’t want to be.
@@Edmonton-of2ec yes, thats what i was going for... this is exactly what i meant, like most see themselves as flemish first and belgian second.
Bert Dierick I supposed I should’ve phrased it differently. They aren’t really Canadian and don’t want to be Canadian, really in any way
@@Edmonton-of2ec even so, i feel like it is still very much like belgium then. Many flemish have no desire at all for Belgium to exist or to be part of it, i see there are some differences ofcourse. (like how the flemish form the majority in Belgium) The original point i was trying to make was that belgium is different from other seperatist cases as in this case its the majority that want to split away from a (only slighty though) smaller group in the country.
What you suggest as options for the future does not consider the German speaking Belgians at all. What about them?
Heh, so belgium has the same problem as Bosnia. Except the fact that Belgium people are smart enough to not kill each other...
Pause @0:08.
Am i the only one that, now that ray tracing in video games is becoming the norm, cant stop looking in raytracing in real life? It takes video games to show me how fucking beautiful the world really is.
btw the paper you mentioned is a paper that focusses particularly on limburg a region that is next to the netherlands and germany and is next to the french speaking liege so it might not be the best to represent the whole country
Fairly accurate it seems.
One mistake though, it was mainly in Wallonia that the Industrial Revolution in the Netherlands took place. That's where most coal mines were situated as well. The other parts of the Netherlands were still mainly focused on trade, as they had been for centuries at that point. Which in the period of the IR shifted the economic centre to Wallonia and resulted in the revolution. Nowadays it's once again the commercial sectors of industry which are most impactful and thus Flanders has the upper hand economically (as you showed in the difference in BBP).
Politically it's also worth mentioning that Wallonia mainly votes for socialist parties. Which not only clashes with the Flemish nationalists (or separatists as you called them) but also with slightly more liberal voters in Flanders. However the main problem comes from the nationalists.
In the latest election the extreme rightwing party Vlaams Belang won an enormous amount of votes (second largest party) and the slightly more moderate NVA still remained the largest Flemish political party. This has once again made forming a federal government very difficult, not as bad as in 2010 when it took 541 days, but it's already reached a year (technically you could say 9 months since formation was largely put on hold due to corona). The current goverment is a temporary minority government to deal with the crisis only and has no other governmental authority beyond that.
Thanks for the feedback mate.
Great report! can you put your equipment in the description please?
Thank you Nafie, reach out to me for this matter.
@@GoodTimesBadTimes is there an email or any kind of contact of you?
@@ninoJAckwwe Yes, please check the information tab on the main channel site.
Very good
Good report man! Subscribed. I think they should split up or at least decentralise, perhaps a federation similar to Switzerland could be an option. They get along well with a German, French and Italian people. I think the Flems want to be left alone to be Flems and the same for Walloons
Of course Belgium can split up. After being ruled again by a Belgian government that, of course, doesn't represent any political majority in Flanders (what has happened for the last 12 years out of 16), the deterioration of the bounds between Flemings and Frencophones has progressed to a point where the NVA and the Vlaams Belang have a majority in the Flemish parliament, according to every poll. Both parties have Flemish independence written in their political program. So, if they so decide, Belgium will seize to exist in 2024 (in the Flemish part, at least). The only question that remains: will the two biggerst parties of Flanders decide to go for Flemish independence?
Well, it's complicated, but bureaucracy keeps everything together.
They couldn't separate, as it stands splitting would mean, initially at least, splitting from the EU and going to the back of the queue for joining (unless the part that splits gets some preferential treatment...which wouldn't be entirely out of the question). The people on Belgium aren't very unified below the banner of being Belgian but they are very strongly European.
Leaving the EU, if only temporarily, would likely be a deal breaker for everyone.
The most important university is in Leuven not Gent, and the industry is in Gent not Leuven.
Belgium has the same culture and same language and same history as the Netherlands so Flanders you are welcome.
what about Wallonia?
Fat Bart de Wever, we miss you hahaha
xD
I'm not a fan of BDW but he probably the most intelligent and strategically aware politician Belgium has right now.
@@MustardSkaven In het land der blinden is éénoog koning...
Doesn’t it make sense that Belgium splits up and become French and Dutch territories respectively?
No it doesn't.
@@s.v.o.579 But most Belgians don’t even feel strongly identified with their own country. Belgium is a weird invention, created as a buffer state between the Netherlands and France. Belgians have very little in common, and they’re fighting each other 24/7..
@@luuchoo93 Sure, but we did incite our own revolution. We also lasted through 2 world wars.
ill explain it to you, Flanders: can be a country on itself, has alot of poeple wo it would be better to live in flanders instead of belgium. Wallonia : France or Belgium, to many poeple wouldnt economically survive without taxes coming from flanders. If flanders could choose Belgium would have ended a long time ago
Great quality video and you did great on your intonation, don't stop practising your English pronunciations though ;)
Well ehm, the inaccurate thing is, is that +/- 40% of the Flemish support independence. They don't. That's around the same percentage of the Flemish that vote for the two Flemish independence parties. The fact is, only half of that number wants it to be independed.
You also have to be careful, as the political insecurity also leads to tiredness among the population. The number of pro-independence goes up when our government formations takes too long, but goes instantly down when it's formed. There is no Flemish identity. Only a feeling of exhaustion a fatalist reactions.
You also forgot to mention how the federal state of Belgium works. Which adds to confusion of many and adds to the exhausted sentiment as the state is too complicated. In recent years there is a push to go from 6 states (3 communities & Gewesten), to a simplified 4 (Gewesten). There is also a majority support amongst the population for this. Although not translated into the parliaments as people which are socio economic conservative still vote for the NVA, which is one of the Flemish independence parties (they know the majority of their voters is not pro independence lol, they just act like it).
So will Belgium break up? No, at least not for the time being and in the near future.
Friendly greetings,
~ A Flemish guy which would prefer to be called a Belgian as the Flemish identity is as artificial as the Belgian one.
Lowkey Dutch speaking Falanders should join the Netherlands while French speaking wallonia should join France and the German speaking East should join Germany
You know nothing bro
@@superduperfreakyDj random international guy who doesn't know the mood there is in Belgium but we can't blame him for that
USA should join Canada, all Spanish speaking countries should be one country... Your idea of thinking is too simple. Walloons hate the French and the Germans don't care to go back to Germany, Wallonia won't even allow them so. Flanders can be Independent on their own and has no desire to join the arrogant dominant mentality of The Netherlands
@@Deelom100
“the walloons hate the french”
ok, so the walloons are xenophobic?
very disappointed by them…
@@maxrolland3148Is not true.
Just wondering... What if polls were to show a majority for Flemish indepedence/separatism? Wouldn't it be a very hard and complicated process? For example, in the cases of Scottish and Catalan independence movements, I think they have to be approved by their respective central government to achieve independence. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the formation of the Belgian federal government has to include parties from both Flanders and Wallonia. So, in order to achieve Flemish independence in some way, it would be to form a coalition with a Walloon party?
Brussel is originally from Flanders it was called Broekzele but the french couldn't speak it out.
The English too... they say Brussels.
If France would have allowed the greater Netherlands,
then it would not only be blown away by Germany,
but also by the greater Netherlands. And who wants that?
The only reason Belgium exist is geopolitical reasons flanders and walloon would be to small to defend itself and EU/Nato wouldn't support flemish independence and Flanders would be kicked out of Nato /EU as a countrie.
I live in Belgium. Politics is so confusing here.
actualy it's simple, we go vote, then they completly ignore the votes and follow orders given from the EU globalists and their masters (banks, multinationals and the CCP)
@@rudidewolf8155 That's true. Fuck the EU!
Our flemish brothers are welcome to join The Netherlands as far as I'm concerned.
This video seems extremely biased against the Flemish.
- Wallonia oppressed Flanders for decades
- Flanders had some of the highest death rates in WW1 due to Walloon reluctance in learning Dutch and their general attitude that French was a more "elite" language with everyone in managerial positions everywhere in the country speaking French and hence barking orders at Flemish soldiers who didn't understand them (sending them to their deaths). The only schools for ages also taught only in French, and all francophone people historically tried to assert the French language in monolingual fashion pretty much everywhere they set foot.
- "Flemish Bloc" was dissolved decades ago and what you called the "extremist party" really just stands for liberal values in defense against immigrant hate crimes
- Flanders wasn't the "industrial powerhouse" and this didn't take place in the north (in fact they were poorer and treated so unfairly that even the US figured the situation wasn't quite right and invested heavily in their tech sector post-ww2)
- they also boast only one large inland port in one province which explains absolutely nothing about why the other provinces are doing so well... And the more populated areas clearly produce more money? What do you think..?
- there wasn't even an official Dutch constitution for over a century, meaning the Flemish were often tried and convicted without knowing their laws and rights
- Flanders may be a larger economic player today but the Flemish aren't any "richer" per se, as they pay disproportionately higher taxes due to the ridiculous amount of Wallonians on welfare who don't even try and bother to find work
- Wallonia routinely prods at Flanders and spends money on lavish monuments and architecture rather than infrastructure and jobs
- The francophone population today comprises 40% but houses 70% of unemployment. When polled, 40% responded that even if they could work, they wouldn't, due to welfare programs. Welfare programs were initially intended for the truly sick and disabled, not freeloaders. Hence there is a massive stigma surrounding Wallonians that they're "lazy" and just eat up tax money. Is it really that difficult to understand most separatists today simply don't want to fund a culturally divided people who historically mocked, hate and oppressed them, particularly not in a country with some of the highest tax pressure in the world?
- You used footage of De Wever that's way over 12 years old? Did you not see his weight loss since then?
This is such a terrible and inaccurate hitpiece, or was made with an extremely biased source. Get your shit right man
it was the flemish aristocrats who tried to force french on flemings.
certainly not walloon people who didn’t even spoke french but another language called “walloon”.
Sorry for asking. Can I know why Belgium is not split among France, Germany and the Netherlands? Wallonia has more in common with France than the rest of Belgium and it seems also the other two sides of Belgium have more in common with Germany and the Netherlands. Wallonia had a hard time in the last few years. Maybe it’s time to join a true powerful country to increase their sense of pride. For a foreigner it seems Wallonia is attached to Flanders only for economic reasons however respect and pride last forever. I would be much more proud to be French than Belgian! Belgians out there could you please give me your opinion without animosity and offend me?
walloon people, in order to create an artificial unique identity created a hate relationship with France.
the flemish people did the exact same thing with the Netherlands.
So, flemish people will never agree to be part of the Netherlands and walloon people will never agree to be part of France.
Actually Flanders had more in common with French than Wallonia but go on XD
(Thanks history influence on culture)
Did not know he had his own channel tell recently.
What do you mean?
Flanders is welcome to join the Netherlands!
nee
@@kristelbracke6185 Doe je ogen dicht. Adem in. Adem uit. Oke. Bedenk nu hoeveel EK's/WK's we hadden kunnen winnen in de afgelopen 20 jaar als we een land waren geweest!
@@MovieRiotHD Dat is nu eens het beste dat ik al in lange tijd gelezen heb in de comments gewoonweg omdat het zo correct is. We gingen waarschijnlijk alles gewonnen hebben. Groeten uit België!
Zou een droom zijn om Vlaanderen te voegen bij Nederland. Limburg en Brabant te herenigen zoals vroeger! de havens van Antwerpen en Rotterdam te verbinden en dan zijn we echt vertrokken. Mis jullie mijn nederlandse noorderburen!
Nooit
If I can be honest.. Belgians are mainly stubborn people. I'm Belgian myself with Dutch herritage as well but I never felt Belgian. We share the same ethnical background , economical we are simulair , and speak the same language as our neighbours in the North. Belgian motto : unity makes strength. What to me is funny as fuck that most Belgians use this as a" good example " why we stay together cause our country is everything except a unity. I like diversity , but we still need to be able to function as 1 country. Not a country with the Berlin wall in the middle. ( philosophical )
Flanders to the netherlands, the german speaking part to germany, the province to luxembourg and the rest is of france
If Belgium is divided, then what is the possibility of the German Language area would Join in which part ?
God bless Belgium
grate vjdeoman, you won a subscriber . Just practice saying "areas " better
Thanks and noted!
What will happen with Brussels should they break up Belgium. Will it be connected to Wallonia by way of a corridor and become France's most important northern city? Or will it be a French exclave?
yes the only reason it has french people in there is bc of political ruling to make it dual linguistic. it's a historically a flemish city and should come to flanders if the split happens
@@PaPyRene i actually meant walloon people but i made the error to type french instead.
it used to be majority dutch but bc of past politics is french now dominant there. that was in the time flemish people were seen as less. anyway i made a error by saying french so that's on me. My bad
Everything inside this country is already split up.
We have 6 parliaments and more than 200 members of parliament, which cost a massive amount of money.
There are literally cities on this planet with more inhabitants than this country...
Even the concrete in our roads and nuclear power plants have separated themselves in different regions...
I would suggest that the real solution is to tackle the useless expenditure of our government,
so we actually need a government that would lower their own wage for 50% of the team, and fire the other 50% because they are redundant...
In short, this country is doomed!