Why Belgium Isn't A Real Country

Contact:
twitter: @romuluselmo
You can find the script and all the sources here:
www.romuluseurope.eu
If you disagree strongly with this video, please send us an article, so we can publish it and make sure your perspective is heard.
The team contact details:
twitter: @ArthurVijg123
twitter: @romuluseurope
email: [e-mail]
About the video:
I've seen a lot of videos covering Belgium, more specifically the divides between Flanders and Wallonia, but I always feel like they haven't done justice to the relationship between the Walloons and Flemmings.
Usually, it doesn't touch upon Catholicism, the more concrete policy decisions, the underlying history, etc., etc. So, hopefully you'll enjoy this video, which also tries its hardest to give this political situation the respect it deserves.
About us:
We are a team of Europeans trying to create a European media platform.
Feedback is extremely useful, and it's incredibly important to understand that we are by no means the arbiters of truth: we can be wrong, and we will be wrong.
Also, there is a large difference between fake narratives and fake facts. Although we will try to stay as close to the truth in presenting objective facts (i.e there are 27 EU commissioners not 10), it is much more difficult to stay close to the truth when it comes to important narratives.
What the team decides is 'news' can shift the attention to a certain set of facts that may be true but may not be as important for other people, and this is where bias can easily come to fruition.
We ask the viewers to be aware of our bias and realize that, just like them, we are an imperfect team pushed by our own moral convictions and beliefs.
Music:
Title: Blue Wednesday, tender spring - Exhale
Artist: Blue Wednesday
Link: chillhop.bandcamp.com/track/e...
Dreamer by Hazy
/ hazy_music
Music provided by www.plugnplaymusic.net
Chapters:
00:00 | Intro
00:56 | Belgian Federal State
01:30 | Communities vs Regions
02:18 | The Divides Are Real
03:21 | Belgian History
05:18 | European Divides
06:06 | Outro

[@hoogyoutube]

The title is click bait; I do not think Belgium is not a nation, and I’m not at all qualified to make that judgment: Source Document, Corrections, Notes: You can find the script and sources here: www.romuluseurope.eu/youtube/belgium-is-no-nation/ Please, if you disagree with this video strongly, send me an article that I can post on our website: www.romuluseurope.eu Corrections: I said "divided by virtue of language and culture alone" while referencing the split between political parties in Belgium as though that's, like, shocking. This was kind of stupid because I mean, come on, culture and language pretty much is the entire story when it comes to political divides. I said New Lueven is built 15km away, but that's wrong. It's built around 30km away. I said PS is almost exclusively Wallonian; no, that's wrong, PS is exclusively Wallonian. Notes: Let me know what you think about the pacing and whether you think it's too fast. My target demographic, if I'm doing my job right, is a group of people that have English as their second language. It is incredibly important for me that they can follow, so let me know if it was too fast. Also, I did not touch enough upon German intervention in World War 2, which deserves a video in itself. Subtitles will be up within the day. Also, thumbnails and titles are entirely based on generating clicks and are nothing more. I’m sorry about that, but I recommend looking up something called ‘legitbait’ to understand my thought process.

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

Thanks for the clearfcations as for the pacing I did not notice it which is great! And I'm autisic native engilsh speaker by the way.

[@EricZucchini]

I really liked the pacing, kept me focused through the entire thing, although I tend to like faster paced things, and I've been hearing-fluent in English for a while now. And 100% agree with you on the legitbait thing, gotta get dat attention.

[@thatoneguy7191]

Good video but some corrections to your corrections: The adjective for Wallonia isn't Wallonian, but Walloon. And it's spelled Leuven, not Lueven. Really enjoyed the video though, well done!

[@minimoishagla]

Hey man, being a French speaking Belgian from Brussels myself and being familiar with the system, I have to admit that I had a hard time following everything. Despite the fact that I LOVED the editing, it was really super fluid, I found that it lost some structure, I would have had a hard time understanding the layering of powers if I didn't already know them. I think that the pace was a bit too fast for non-native speakers. Apart from that, I just watched your other videos and it's absolutely great! I can't wait to see your next videos.

[@Youthure]

What a lot of foreign observers fail to realize, is that the Flemish nationalist/separatist parties are not the biggest because of their separatism, but despite of it. Electoral calculations have made N-VA and Vlaams Belang campaign on social economic platforms instead of independence. While their party members remain overwhelmingly pro-independence, this is not necessarily true for their voters.

[@juicy_potato5901]

As a Belgian, I would describe the Flemish/Waloon history as if Disney wanted to remake the English/Irish troubles. Same struggles, just with less violence and more chocolate.

[@kennethadler7380]

De Engelse en Ieren hebben well een gedeelte taal België heeft geen taal waalen hebben meer gemeen met de Franse zoals vlaammingen hebben meer gemeen met de Nederlanders er zijn meer Belgen die Engels spreken dan de taal van de anderen regio's

[@juicy_potato5901]

@@kennethadler7380 De Ieren spraken vroeger Iers of 'Gaelic', wat een keltische taal is. De Engelse hadden Gaelic vroeger verboden (rond 1400), daarom dat de dag van vandaag zeer weinig mensen nog Gaelic spreken en dat het grote mededeel van de Ierse bevolking Engels gebruikt als 1ste taal.

[@vinniechan]

Interesting take

[@EmilNicolaiePerhinschi]

well, in Romania we have to be grateful that you arranged to have those tensions, and the troubles with the Netherlands too a few good people left from around there in the 1830s (they did not want to say exactly from where exactly and why they left, kept going on about their French Huguenot ancestors) and ended in Romania, their children did good work here

[@fusionreactor7179]

Nah the power dynamic isn’t there. The anglos viewed Ireland as a colony slightly above their global colonies for most of history. The Anglos attempted to exterminate the Irish and settle their island for centuries culmimating in the 1:2 population ratio between Ireland and England being broken with the English manufactured Potato famine where the richest government on the planet refused to feed the Irish and even went on to block foreign aid to Ireland. The operation was succesful and the result was that Ireland has barely 10% as many people as England does today. The famine allowed Anglos to enslave Ireland for another 70 years and made sure it would be permanently nerfed as a nation.

[@krealyesitisbeta5642]

All divided into sections, like a Belgian waffle.

[@oddan8162]

Hahahaha

[@timoptr7672]

Yeah but waffle from Liège or Brussels ?

[@apitbullfromthecaribbean3655]

Belgian wife

[@marvin19966]

@@apitbullfromthecaribbean3655 how much

[@apitbullfromthecaribbean3655]

@@marvin19966 3

[@numericbin9983]

Our country is impossibly complicated. Realistically, it can't continue like that for long without major structural reforms. On the other hand, the population is going along just fine, the beer seems to do its job in bringing us together

[@murdoch201]

Beer doesn't bring us together, it's keeping us together. It's all that is...

[@KevCky]

People keep saying that it cant keep going on like this. I’d argue we’re doing just fine. There’s plenty of things we’re handling much better than for example NL and FR despite our complexity. People like to complain and zoom in on the negatives and often lose track of the broader picture.

[@murdoch201]

@@KevCky You complain people zoom in too much and lose track of the broader picture, yet you speak of "plenty of things we're handling much better than NL and FR". I say Belgium is generally not doing fine. And both states could do a lot better (especially Flanders) if they weren't held back by this horrible construction called "Belgium".

[@sugiii9616]

JAA DRINKEN SAMEN MIJN VRIEND! BUVONS ENSEMBLE MON POTE! ET UNE PINTJE POUR LE MANNEKE

[@ythunderboy8694]

@@murdoch201 cope seethe mald

[@sniffthecactusduh]

I think you painted a pretty bleak picture of the country that threw parties after breaking the world record for longest government-less nation. Belgium might be complicated, but it is also stable and prosperous. In my experience, the people who think we will fall apart soon are the ones who haven’t lived here. I’m happy to live in Belgium!

[@AudieHolland]

In my opinion, it depends on if you look at it from a formal point of view: organizational structure etc. From that point of view, Belgium is an impossible country. However, from the street level view, Belgium is quite a pleasant country with great historical tourist attractions and of course your excellent food and drink culture. What would Belgium be like, if the EU did not exist? That's what I'd like to know.

[@dylan2478]

@@AudieHolland I honestly think it would have split up already, since the eu needs Belgium to be a country Brussels is still one of the biggest obstacles of Flemish independence, both Flanders and Wallonië would want Brussel . Without the eu institutions (and nato ones) Brussels is basically worthless and the road to a decent splitup is more open. But then again, we don’t know if Flemish support for independence would be high enough, since it’s not high enough now either

[@AudieHolland]

@@dylan2478 I'm not an expert on Italy, but could Belgium be kind of like Italy? Governments come and go, politicians fill their pockets while mostly incompetent. And the population pretty much doesn't care. Roads are still maintained (kind of, like Belgium and Italy today), taxes are kind of collected and police kind of do their job, unless the criminals are from the elite.

[@dylan2478]

@@AudieHolland yes a bit

[@minoarno7415]

As a belgian (from Flanders) I work in Walloonia and even though the language barrier is a little bit of a hurdle it's fine once you do it enough. That being said the Walloonian and Flemish people don't hate each othe more like brotherly love. We will tease each other about language and such but at the end of the day we wish them the best.

[@KOTAAOMEE]

Honestly as a wallon, I feel that if we didn't have the language barrier everything would be much simpler, I just have no idea why learning both french and flemish isn't mandatory in school. But again, Divide ut regnes as they say...

[@matsleys3270]

It is mandatory in flanders, just not in wallonia

[@David22092001]

@@matsleys3270 which isnt saying much, its not like that many in flanders can actually hold a conversation in french

[@gentleshark972]

@@David22092001 however on average far more people know french in flanders then dutch in wallonia. Also because people have more use out of french then dutch.

[@didi81_]

Learning French has always been mandatory in Flemish schools , starting from age 10 and I think it's even earlier now

[@samvangelder4201]

Oui c'est vrai, mais en Flandre on apprends le Français des de 10 ans. je pense pas qu'on a choisis ça, c'etait comme ça est on n'as jamais arretez de le fair. Moi je suis Flamand (et mon 'spelling' en Français est kind of bad :-) ). I think the government of Wallonia or the Frenchspeaking community now has it (mandatory Dutch as second language starting from a certain age, maybe 12yr, now has as a suggestion of law or maybe referendum or something), but hasn't been voted on yet. I remember reading about that anyway quite recently.

[@bluedevil3765]

Interesting video, but there are a few errors in it: 1) There is a national party: the extreme left party PVDA/PTB. 2) Flanders was not 'historically poor'. For centuries it was one of the richest and most urbanized regions in Europe. In the 19th century, however, Flanders went through a period of economic decline and famine. 3) Before WW1, a "Flemish independence movement" simply did not exist. The Flemish movement of the 19th century was exclusively aimed at equal treatment of the Dutch language in Belgium. Only under the influence of the German "Flamenpolitik" in both world wars did part of the Flemish movement become radically anti-Belgium.

[@murdoch201]

1) He mentions that at 1:25 ("one exception"). Should note that this communist party is far from united (as the name already suggests). They run different campaigns in each part of the country. This 'national' party also has no representatives in the federal parliament from Flanders. But by campaigning to be 'a national party', they do take extra Flemish tax money. Reds will be reds. 2) Flanders was indeed not poor, but wasn't allowed to grow either. Walloons systematically kept infrastructure to the minimum, leading to limited growth. Even then money was already transferred from Flanders to Wallonia. The only infrastructure that was actively developed in Flanders were ports, as coals had to be exported over water and Wallonia wasn't connected to the sea. 3) That's incorrect. Though not everyone in the Flemish movement supported the creation of a Flemish independent republic in the beginning, the 'Meetingpartij' is one of the most famous examples of Flemish opposition against the existance of Belgium and it's government. The party, founded in 1862 by liberals and catholics, was unhappy with the creation of Belgium in 1830 and fortification of Antwerp. The party was against the royals (much like most of the Flemish movement today). Several figures threatened with 'separation', open to interpretation. The party was succesful, dominated political landscape in Antwerp and beyond, even had some success in Brugge. Most of it's early years the movement was primarily busy with identity and recognition, that's true. Though Flamenpolitik indeed increased anti-Belgian feelings, it's only a small part of it. The Germans did not 'create' it.

[@bluedevil3765]

​@@murdoch201 1) That's untrue. Of the 12 representatives of PVDA/PTB in the chamber of representatives three were elected in Flemish electoral districts and another one lives in Genk and was elected in Liège (two others are Flemish living and elected in Brussels/Wallonia). Also, PVDA/PTB has a single management, a single headquarters, a single program, a single research department, one bookkeeping, etc. So yes, I would argue it's a national party. 2) The Belgian government investing much less in Flanders than in Wallonia in the 19th century was just a matter of profit. Belgian parliament only represented the 1-2% richest Belgians at the time and they invested in the most profitable industries which were at that time the coal mines and steel industry located in Wallonia. Flemish poverty in the 19th century was mostly due to famines caused by the European potato failure, epidemics and the cottage industry not being able to compete with textile factories elsewhere. 3) What I meant is that a "flemish independence movement" or Flemish nationalism as a political current did not play a role before German Flamenpolitik in the first world war. It is only during and after Flamenpolitik that we see the Flemish movement splitting up in an anti-Belgian and loyalist wing. The meetingpartij was anti-militaristic and anti-Leopold 1 but did not strive towards Flemish autonomy.

[@murdoch201]

@@bluedevil3765 1) You're right, as of 2019 they do, I should've stated this more clear. In 2014, they only had members of PTB in the federal parliament, and still took Flemish taxpayers money for PVDA, though no one from PVDA was elected. Despite being completely seperate, the party indeed shares a headquarter in Brussels and finances. But that's all there is. On social media they run different accounts, tweeting different statements in different languages. Most of their prominent members either choose to be member of PVDA or PTB. The only exception to that is Hedebouw, who seems to run for both. 2) In those days money transfers were already established from north to south, so it's not just a matter of profit. Flanders lacked public infrastructure like roads and sewage systems. You're right about those other factors aswell, but it indicates the lack of solidarity some belgicists claim to be present at that time. 3) The meetingpartij was founded by liberals, catholics and the Flemish-nationalist Nederduitsche Bond ("Dutchgermanic Alliance"). Recognition and defence of Flemish language and Flemish people was their primary foundation. Yes, they were also antimilitaristic and also demanded expansion of voting rights. 'Dutchification' of the council of Antwerp was also one of their objectives. The party demanded 'decentralisation', and wanted more autonomy for Antwerp. As Flemish borders were not defined yet, one could definitely say it's the ancestor of the "Flemish independence movement", and demanding Flemish autonomy.

[@ViktorLox]

@@murdoch201 I'm only replying to the first point: The reason PTB-PVDA received money for their campaign on the flemish side during the last elections was solely because they have been recognized, by the governement, as a national party shortly before. The social media accounts and pages are indeed split but this doesn't really prove the existence any split in the party. The purpose of these accounts is communication, and obviously communication wouldn't be as effective if not split by language. A lot of our federak governement branches, national corporations and organizations have a french and dutch channel for communication. I don't know of any main campaigns that are being run on either the walloon or flemish side and not the other. On top of that, the party has only one communication team, so although the accounts and pages are split the communication really isn't. Party membership isn't split either. If you're a member of PVDA, you're a member of PTB as well, because once again they are one party. I have no idea what 'prominent members' you're talking about, I don't know anyone that would call themself member of one and not the other. The party leadership, which consists of a lot of these prominent members, concerns itself over the whole party, there is no seperate leadership for PTB and PVDA, because it's just one party. I've been a member for years and wether I say I'm a member of PTB or a memeber of PVDA is *only* based on what language I'm speaking, The name PVDA is just the 'translation' of the name PTB. The PTB-PVDA is also the only party that's campaigning for the abolishment of Belgium's six parliaments, and for them to be unified in a national one. David Pestiau, the vice-presedent, has recently published a manifesto called We Are One in which he calls for a unified Belgium as well.

[@murdoch201]

​@@ViktorLox First of all, Belgium is a federation, so it would be a federal party (if even). Also, the federal parliament exists out of Flemish seats and Walloon (or "Frenchspeaking") seats. They're appointed to Flemish or Walloon constituencies (or the Brussels constituency). PVDA, which was listed as a party on the Flemish constituencies, unfortunately didn't make it (5% electoral threshold). Not in any Flemish constituency. There was no one elected for the Flemish seats. Yet the elected PTB demanded that any vote for the PVDA-list would be counted on top of the PTB list, so they could get more money. What's next? PTB admitting lists in Sweden? "Oh look, we got some votes but didn't make the threshold. Anyways, let's call ourselves a supranationalist EU-party, demand those votes to be counted in Belgium aswell, so we get even more money!" It's even more hilarious as PTB and PVDA constantly complain about the high subsidaries of other parties. They're not afraid of populism and hypocrisy. The communication channels of PTB and PVDA are not only split, they tend to advertise and communicate different things aswell. Why? Because they know Belgium is not a 'united' country, but exists of 2 different communities with different language, culture, traditions, history, ... They deny it, but secretly admit it. It honestly makes me laugh. The comments of their followers sometimes prove it even more. When PTB tweets a video of a speech, claiming for more refugees, hearts and support everywhere. When PVDA does? Top comment: "Yeah I fully support PVDA but I don't really agree with that". Result -> Split campaign. But oh so "united". Prominent member: Check Axel Bernard's Twitter for example. Does that give you an idea that there exists something like an associated PVDA? He's clearly member of the PTB, communicates only in French and has nothing to do with Flanders. The only reason the extreme conservatists of PVDA and PTB are demanding a Belgium of the early 20th century is because almost no one else is. They're not the only party btw, there's BUB aswell, also "national" (hello, 21th century, Belgium is a federation now). Nobody votes for it because belgicism is honestly ridiclous and they know it. We're probably more European or French and Dutch, than anything like a "Belgian".

[@malandro02ful]

I'd love to see a comparison between Belgium and Switzerland on how this two countries deal with their diversity of languages

[@EviLpr0duction]

tbh it's pretty easy and split up besides Brussels (for Belgium) which is like in the middle of our country so has a lot of both Dutch and French speakers. Nowadays you could say that a big portion off the Flemish population also speaks English as their 3rd language while the French part of our country has a lot less English speakers or less fluent anyway (probably has to do with it being easier to learn for Flemish speakers than it is for the French people) I've always lived around Brussels so we grew up with both and I do have 1 parent that speaks French while my dad speaks Dutch haha. But yeah, usually you'd mostly see 1 language in each part except when you'd get closer to our border in the middle of the country. (German part is so small that it's not really worth mentioning tbh)

[@jrojassengard2586]

Simple.. Flanders speams Dutch but also learns French and vice versa. Brussels speaks both. Oh and there's a part that speaks German apparently

[@NateVDZ]

@@jrojassengard2586 Except for the fact that Walloons are not willing to learn or speak Dutch

[@blanco7726]

@@jrojassengard2586 some of them speak German, but every person I met from that region speaks it like shit. Dont forget they are in the French speaking part, which as we know learning anglo-german languages is not exactly their forte. I’ve been told they learned German at school and some schools are in German, but again doesn’t stop those that I’ve met from speaking absolutely disgusting German.

[@Nate.Wilson]

We have what we call a Röstigraben here in Switzerland. Complete cultural divide during votations like raising the retirement age of women.

[@ParmaShadow]

The only time we ever feel a sense of national 'pride' and identity in being Belgian is when the World Cup or the Euros are on. Otherwise, most people just revert to their linguistic community identities.

[@patrickmccutcheon9361]

As a foreigner living in Belgium, I admire the way your team plays and wish you would finally win a tournament. It is over due!

[@julienbguyon8956]

As a French Canadian, I feel the same way, albeit, most Canadians, especially English speaking ones do not feel that way and are pretty patriotic. It's pretty cool that we'll now get to play you guys in Qatar!

[@irissupercoolsy]

BEER *kuch kuch* BEER

[@littleprincess8526]

Speak for yourself. I feel far more connected with Walloons than with the under educated pussy waving Flemish garbage.

[@7FlyingPenguin]

Do you think the divide between French and Dutch speakers has hindered Belgium's World Cup performances? Just interested as a non-Belgian.

[@mrobama1897]

Feel like this channel is going to explode in popularity soon - very high production value and interesting topics

[@frogmanthelibertarian1482]

Agree

[@tjendenys5028]

That Mr blobby picture gave me the shits

[@cakeisyummy5755]

@@tjendenys5028 Mr. Blobby did a Jobby on the Motor way, Ay!

[@georgeshock855]

Even though it's not directly stated it feels overly nationalistic. Even in a country with a struggling national identity. I want to like this channel but I feel it doesn't present facts whole heartedly or evenly and wants to skew the audience to a more conservative view

[@Saturnius]

@@georgeshock855 can you point to a video that supports your argument? Because I'm not convinced if this one is the one you're talking about.

[@wannes8241]

As a belgian, Imma tell you that people often seem to overestimate the 'difficulties' in balancing and the problems etc. Our history has been a rollercoaster one might say, but nowadays most people get along just fine.

[@bramdevos5847]

Wait until we turn into Greece at the northsea xd

[@TheBastardo007]

They say already 191 years that ' soon ' we will split. But here we are, still together. Belgium is like a dysfunctional family, where the mother 'Flanders' had to emancipate herself from her husband "Wallonia". "Wallonia" on the other hand lost all his money on a bad investment and is now depending on the ones oh soo poor mother "Flanders" who was able to grow and prosper with her successful business. They almost had a divorce, but in the end they decided to stay together for the children ' Brussels and the German Community'. The house called 'Belgium' has been divided up, they all are living apart together. Mother Flanders is constantly robbing it in the face to her old dominating husband, 'Wallonia 'that she is running the show now and often is a bit ' bitchy' to him. She had some love affairs with her neighbor and cousin 'the Netherlands' but in the end it did not felt right. Wallonia on the other hand is trying to get back on his feet, he is driving now a taxi at night. He has finally accepted his faith, he is poor but happy. The kids, Brussels and the German part are doing pretty well actually and are becoming young adults now. Maybe when the midlife crisis of both has come to an end, maybe the love will prosper ones again.... or maybe not. But remember that a divorce always makes everybody poor.

[@Wardergrip]

Damn, this is waaaay to accurate

[@belgaelr2380]

@Margot.Hennuyere during the industrial revolution

[@murdoch201]

Nonsense. Mother Flanders is definitely not "running the show" or "being a bitch", as the federal government almost never has a Flemish majority (despite being the major population). In fact, she complains about having husband Wallonia bossing around and her having to take care of all the work. On top of that, mother Flanders brings in 86% of the entire income (exports), while husband Wallonia and son Brussels take care of the rest. Mother Flanders is a bit tired of husband Wallonia who is lazy af, pointing out their son Brussels even brings in more money than husband Wallonia. Her husband disagrees, calling her selfish and racist. Demanding more and more money to support his luxurious lifestyle and sitting on his ass all day, mother Flanders is left with very little money (highest taxes in the world). Mother Flanders sees her electricity bills explode, as husband Wallonia spends some of his time out of the house protesting for higher taxes on that ''planet-destroying b*tch" her income, if he isn't busy dealing weapons on the streets to terrorists (FN Herstal) so he has a little extra cash. When he gets home, he tells his son Brussels what a terrible mother he has, to pick his side should it ever come to a divorce (Frenchification)... Mother Flanders is growing sick of it, and is leaning more and more to a divorce... It is prognosed that in 2024 that feeling will win from her horrible marriage. With 86% of the income and a halt to all the abuse and hard labour at home, her future is looking bright. Very bright indeed. The future of her husband however...

[@Pi......]

@@murdoch201 please support your claim with the most recent statistics. A link to the website of your favorite political party will not suffice.

[@murdoch201]

​@@Pi...... Leterme I: Flemish minority (2008) Van Rompuy I: Flemish minority (2008-2009) Leterme II: Flemish minority (2009-2011) Di Rupo I: Flemish minority (2011-2014) Michel I: Walloon minority (2014-2018) Michel II: Flemish minority (2018-2019) Wilmès I: Flemish minority (2019-2020) Wilmès II: Flemish minority (2020) De Croo I: Flemish minority (2020-2024) Source: Wikipedia. Now topic starter @Patrick buchler or @Pi, please support your claim with the most recent statistics. A link to the website of your favorite political party will not suffice.

[@ezrafriesner8370]

I partly grew up in Belgium, and honestly I’m not sure most Belgians mind enough for anything big to happen, as long as things work people don’t really care

[@meneither3834]

Funny how that doesn't apply to Switzerland despite it being somehow even more divided.

[@Duck-wc9de]

I gess it doens, but the swiss system is the best... also, switzerland has no issues coming from Socialism like belgium and southern europe have. Blessed

[@cakeisyummy5755]

@@Duck-wc9de Social Democracy, not Socialism.

[@arzugultekinguler4736]

@@cakeisyummy5755 it is

[@scorpio6071]

Because Switzerland is 1.) over 700 years old and is one of the oldest non-monarchial nations in Europe 2.) its current federalist structure gives municipalities and cantons (states) much more autonomy than anywhere else in Europe 3.) its a (semi) direct democracy which means its much more democratically legitimate. Also many major political reforms require super majorities, which means if there is a reform, it might take a while, but its based on a broad consensus of all citizens living in the country

[@finn950]

because Switzerland isnt really devided. we arent french, german and Italian, were all just swiss. nothing else.

[@tyberfen5009]

I think Belgium is a microcosm of what Challenges a united or federalized europe would have to face. Correct me if I'm wrong, but at least those tensions seem to stay peacefull (unlike certain other parts in europe)

[@jonatanvermeersch9546]

That is true, as a Belgian, I have never even heard of fistfights along drunk Dutch and Wallon speaking men

[@nosferatustg7675]

@Mike J you say that until problems begin The US is a single country with mostly unified nationality and yet there is a clear divide in there Europe's time will come sooner or later

[@neovenom9833]

@@secretname4190 I don't know, the last couple of years people have been realizing politician basically screw everyone over. the flood disaster in Walloon last summer showed that very well. bureaucrats fucked up making the disaster at least twice as bad. But they have investigated themselves and found they did nothing wrong. I leave the final judgment to the people who lost everything in that disaster.

[@desironloic9721]

That’s because the « divide » is mostly fabricated by politicians. The people get along quite well.

[@William_CD]

@@nosferatustg7675 One single mentally-ill guy with a gun can drive our nation crazy, won’t happen as fast in Belgium I think.

[@tanguylaloy8155]

It is also interesting to look at belgium trough the prism of common values belgians have. It seems that there's a general unicity of the values carried by belgian people, wether they are flemish or waloonians ; values that they don't sare with dutch people nor with french people. The common values of the belgian people can make them a little bit more united than they seem

[@austinmoore1405]

What are some of these values??

[@jurvaneijndhoven8167]

and those are?

[@cakeisyummy5755]

@@secretname4190 Existence.

[@YoshiDragon163]

I'm French living in Belgium, i have trouble to understand how this country is not collapsing on itself. Not that I hope it will, I'm just witnessing the culture clash of this country everyday

[@Nigrantis]

@@austinmoore1405 Unfrinedly neighbourhood relationships (Wallonia and France / Flanders and Netherlands)

[@roseforeuropa]

Very interesting minimalist style setup. Your style actually really stands out from other channels. The subject content is creative and unique. I think you will do well. Channels that I find such as this usually end up doing really well within a couple years.

[@marza339]

This channel is going to be massive, you and Kamome both. I'm glad I can be here to see it in its infancy

[@ashstaredviper]

As an Indian I had to do study about the Belgian government when learning civics. It really bought a lot of things into perspective within our own country and our 22+ of languages.

[@nanopulga098]

Really interesting video and informative! Also, I can't express with words sufficiently how much I absolutely adore a KZbin channel talking about European nations, the European Union and as Europe as a whole. Please continue with the videos, even if they take time, your content is excellent. Oh and P.S., I appreciate you have improved from the previous video and applied what you said in the comments that you learnt from seeing what people thought about it, that's good to see, especially the pacing, I like it on this one way more.

[@hoogyoutube]

Appreciate this, but I also want give a warning that the next video’s pacing will be slower to just see how well that does in contrast to this one. Still figuring a lot of stuff out, so keep me posted what you think

[@TheGreatArlei]

@@hoogyoutube I agree with everything that nanopulga said. Love this type of content, it feels new and refreshing and I mean it. If I may give you a bit of feedback: some of the animations you used in the video don't provide any kind of feedback for the viewer nor do they enhance the great script you have in any shape or form. I love the minimalistic style really but I think the graphics should aid the storytelling or enhance the experience in some way instead of pointlessly filling a dark background.

[@gentleshark972]

@@hoogyoutube interesting thing you forgot, however then we´re reaching into deeper politics. The 2 nationalist parties are also the only openly ethicly right parties (CD&V is only midly conservative) and are mostly popular because of their anti-immigration ideals. Surveys currently show that people honestly dont really care for an independent flanders.

[@robertneven7563]

@@hoogyoutube ik denk dat de maker van deze video een ollander is??????????????????,,,

[@blobvisfan666]

Fittingly enough I got an add for the NVA before watching this lol. Anyways, awesome video! Simple, gives the required info to understand the topic, uses interesting visuals and doesn't beat things down relentlessly when they're considered 'bad', instead focusing on the good parts aswell (this may not really apply here but this is more aimed towards your general syle). Shoutout to all my homies in the Walloons aswell!

[@effcee]

100k in no time, great work!!

[@vinniechan]

Interesting topic Belgium has always been fascinating and at times puzzling to me I remember seeing Belgian party because they broke the record for longest period without a government

[@redroyce4590]

541 days and they are probably going to beat it again in a few years.

[@ragnis3033]

@@redroyce4590 we actually broke it last year, 600 something days :)

[@Nautiliam]

Actually we didn't have a Federal Government, but we had Regional Governments so we didn't really "feel" it

[@Juanthar]

@@ragnis3033 653 days, it's shameful :.C

[@giovannidelucia5736]

@@Juanthar Wait, two years without a proper government? Are you serious?

[@basblob]

Just discovered your channel and I love the chill style! Really interesting topics too, hope to see more ☺️

[@carsonerror3467]

Honestly, you deserve way many more views and subscribers. Your videos are impecable and precisely informative.

[@greekswaglord-dathistoryla201]

I wouldn't neccesarily compare Wallonia to southern Europe, it's more comparable to the rust belt areas located in Europe and specifically the US, although not to the latter's extent per say.

[@antoniochiodi4183]

Yeah, there is little in common between Wallonia and Southern Europe. France in itself isn’t exactly Southern… it is culturally/socially a mix of Mediterranean/Southern/Romano-Helleno-Oriental, Celtic/Western and Germanic/Northern European, getting gradually more Germanic the more North you go, more Romano-Heleno-Oriental the more South you go, and more Celtic in Brittany and in areas of higher altitude ( Massif Central, and even more in the Pyrenees, and more so in the Alps ).

[@funDAYsmiling]

And just over the border in Normandy, where friend of mine live, it’s more like England than France lol. Either way, the Walloons and the Flemish are by far one of the wealthiest populations on the planet and I think may be even officially part of that Low Country geographic area that actually is the wealthiest region in the world. It’s wealthier even than the average U.S., although we live in bigger houses because we have more room.

[@antoniochiodi4183]

@@funDAYsmiling Yeah, Normandy is probably the most Germanic region of France alongside Calais and Alsace-Lorraine

[@antoniochiodi4183]

@@funDAYsmiling Well, the area is per capita the wealthiest on Earth, but it also has some of the highest taxes on Earth, plus the fact that they have very little room ( like you mentioned ) and resources left means that everything there, from housing to clothes to food and water to manufactured goods, is very expensive.

[@antoniochiodi4183]

@@funDAYsmiling Bottomline is Belgium is still viable as a tri-National State because its people have very comfortable lives. But as soon as its economy starts stagnating or declining, meaning wages stagnate or go down too + unemployment rises + government has less money to spend on welfare and public infrastructure, and as such, people still have to deal with enormous taxes and abusive prices for everything but no longer have the money to do so, than expect massive unrests and instability ( and likely also war, eventually ) to ravage the area. That’s why Belgium is desperately and recklessly importing more and more immigrants every year and also is desperate to maintain all the resource rich, economically poor East European countries with small populations inside of EU. However, this system that Brussels has set up isn’t sustainable…. Eastern Europe will eventually run out of cheap resources to supply Belgium too, and likely before than they will already either have left EU, or at least reach a level of economic strength, general quality of life and infrastructural development in that they don’t have to sell cheap resources to Northwestern Europe ( namely Germany, Low Countries, France, UK, Ireland and Alpine States, and to a lesser degree Italy, Iceland and Iberia ) for a living anymore, and they won’t depend on their donation money in the form of investments and loans to survive anymore, meaning they will be able to set whatever price they want in their resources. And even though constantly, eternally importing immigrants from Africa and the Middle East and etc could theoretically allow Belgium to not have to worry about its aging population indefinitely, it will certainly not make the problem of the lack of room/land go away… quite the contrary, it will make it worse. So sooner or later, Belgium will meet its doom

[@flux202]

I've been really interested in Belgium lately. Glad this exist.

[@FragLord]

One of the founding founders had this to say: In 1838, another co-founder, senator Alexandre Gendebien, even declared that the Flemish were "one of the more inferior races on the Earth, just like the negroes". Another founder had this to say: Belgium's co-founder, Charles Rogier, wrote in 1832 to Jean-Joseph Raikem, the minister of justice: The first principles of a good administration are based upon the exclusive use of one language, and it is evident that the only language of the Belgians should be French. In order to achieve this result, it is necessary that all civil and military functions are entrusted to Walloons and Luxemburgers; this way, the Flemish, temporarily deprived of the advantages of these offices, will be constrained to learn French, and we will hence destroy bit by bit the Germanic element in Belgium.[ After that the Flemish were squeezed for every penny and most of the money was invested in the French part of Belgium. In 1834, all people even remotely suspected of being "Flemish minded" or calling for the reunification of the Netherlands were prosecuted and their houses looted and burnt. Flanders, until then a very prosperous European region, was not considered worthwhile for investment and scholarship. A study in 1918 demonstrated that in the first 88 years of its existence, 80% of the Belgian GDP was invested in Wallonia. This led to a widespread poverty in Flanders, forcing roughly 300.000 Flemish to emigrate to Wallonia to start working there in the heavy industry. The Flemings had to wait until 1919-after many Flemish soldiers died in the trenches of World War I-to have their language officially recognized and until 1930 before the first Flemish university was reopened. The first translation of the Belgian constitution in Dutch was not published until 1967.

[@Screamingrift]

Really love what you are trying to do with these videos. I am an animator as well and love think pieces. Some of your graphics despite looking good don’t really help to support what you are speaking about. Love the visual style and wish you the best of luck with this channel.

[@mattc9998]

Your comment about random houses in the middle of nowhere makes so much sense now. As someone who regularly drives through Flanders, I've often found myself driving late at night and noticing completely isolated houses shining in the dark, barely set back from rural roads. They're often quite old but clearly modern and quite expensive on the inside, which is especially easy to tell with the seemingly common pattern of fitting them with large, costly, single-pane windows, allowing outsiders to see their pricey kitchens and décor. They're often about 10-15 minutes outside of small villages and towns, and while you'd assume they might be farmhouses, they never really give that impression. They don't look set up to be agricultural estates. It's like someone took a suburban house, albeit a very old one, and just transported it into countryside. While this isn't too uncommon in my native UK, there has always been something about it that has made me curious, and now I know why.

[@pauls.2451]

people who've never come to Belgium like making informative videos using info they read on wikipedia or in books written by pale political scientists who stay in an office at the ULB/VUB, but the population and mentalities aren't as divided as it may seem from simply looking at stats or dry political analyses. I'm a walloon but went to boarding school in Flanders for a while. Even though in budgeting there are endless disagreements between our politicians, in terms of culture I feel Flemings are much closer to us than anyone else, and I didn't even know other countries considered us to be particularly divided until I went abroad for my masters degree. This will likely change though as walloons no longer have to learn flemish in school which I find absurd, and will limit the number of wallons who will work in Flanders. also, commenting so the algorithm boosts your channel

[@hoogyoutube]

Hey, just wanted to also let you know that the script for this video was made in cooperation with a Flemming, and it was based off of this article: www.romuluseurope.eu/articles/belgiumndivisions/. If you would be interested, I’d highly encourage you to write an article on your perspective as a Walloon for Romulus, completely up to you of course, but I know it’s something I and others would read.

[@juicy_potato5901]

Yea, as as someone from flanders I see a decline in both Wallonian and Flemish education. I would personally like a see a full educational reform simular to the Finnish system (since they are currently rising to the top of the world in terms of education). I also think English can be very usefull in connecting more easely with each other. I can understand and speak basic french, I had to study it for 8 years. But the average Fleming can express themselfs better in English.

[@jannes3290]

I completely agree with you, outside countries like to exaggerate our so called divide. We have more in common with each other than Flanders has with the Netherlands and Wallonia has with France.

[@redroyce4590]

Just want to add that Flemish people still have to learn French in school (Walloons don't) but most of them suck at it and dislike or hate it because of that. They are much better at talking English than French. At least for the younger generation (younger than 30 years). As for Walloons they seem to learn English easier too and dislike learning Flemish. So most of the time if i need to talk to a person from Wallonia who is from the younger generation we just end up talking English. Yeah the quality of our education both Flemish & Wallonian has been falling sharply last few years. I hope that they will do a reform and give it more budget though Belgium is pretty deep in debt already.

[@overdose8329]

@@juicy_potato5901 why become another state that loses its national language(s) and therefore culture to English? That’s a horrible idea

[@arielschant9841]

Very interesting video! In the last part the example of Northern-Southern Belgium compared to Northern-Southern Europe is fitting, although people from Latin countries wouldn’t say “Roman culture” opposed to “Germanic or Slavic cultures”, but “Latin culture”. The adjective Roman, depending on the context, either means “from the modern city of Rome” (like myself) or “pertaining to the historical Roman civilisation” (normally with the specifier “ancient” preceding it). When you speak about our modern languages instead, the terms “Romance languages” and “Latin/Neolatin languages” are interchangeable, while “Roman languages” does not really exist. Thank you for your great content!

[@israel.s.garcia]

What if I say romance culture?

[@someguysomeone3543]

But he compared it to germanic so it would be rather italic.

[@arielschant9841]

@@someguysomeone3543 No, nobody would say Italic to talk about any feature of our common Latin culture in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Romania and the other Latin countries… Italic can be used in archaeology or in a purely linguistic way to talk about the old languages of the Italian peninsula in classic and pre-classic times (like ancient Latin, Etruscan, Oscan, Messapian etc.), but you wouldn’t hear anyone say “Spain is an Italic country”, they would rather say “Spain is a Latin country”. 😄

[@arielschant9841]

@@israel.s.garcia I guess people would maybe understand you but really i’ve never heard or read “Romance” used outside of language topics. In fact the part of America colonised by Latin culture is called Latin America also in English, and not Romance America; you could say Romance-speaking America, but who actually says that? 😁

[@someguysomeone3543]

@@arielschant9841 They speak a italic language so... Plus Latin also came from the apennine peninsula(or the Italian Peninsula as most people call it). Also it's the same with how Scandinavians speak germanic language and that isn't used for languages spoken in Germany.

[@WasatchWind]

Congrats on 10k!

[@antoniochiodi4183]

Excellent video ! Do a video on Spain’s Separatist Crisis in Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia, or about Bosnia-Herzegovina’s absolutely disfunctional ethnically divided State.

[@kostam.1113]

Bosnia is similar to Belgium

[@antoniochiodi4183]

@@kostam.1113 Yes, but it is far more disfunctional, grim, violent and segregationist. Belgium is Disneyland compared to the gigantic gulag that Bosnia is. And unlike in Belgium, the conflict in Bosnia might actually result in terrorism and war ( again )

[@kostam.1113]

@@antoniochiodi4183 It's a real miracle that country like Belgium exists for almost 200 years As for Bosnia it was never meant to exist as a country and it even bigger miracle that it lasted for 25 years so far

[@Klingoncodfan]

A political crisis by definition cant last decades. Catalan independentist movement is just a long and boring discussion in order to bargain more power and money to their local elites. Today in Spain 99% of the people dont give a damm anymore about that.

[@antoniochiodi4183]

@@Klingoncodfan Uh no, that’s not true. Most Catalans do give quite a big damn about that

[@jstr8780]

« Wallonia, like Southern European countries, is more reliant on industry than northern Europe » Seriously?! The Netherlands and Germany are way more industrialised than say Spain, Portugal or Greece. We aren’t in the 1980’s anymore, we’re everyone thought the less dépendant on industry you are the better. Nowadays everyone recognizes a solid industrial base is absolutely necessary (it explains why countries such as US, UK and France have huge commercial deficit, because they closed down so much of there industry, unlike Japan, Korea, Taiwan or Germany)

[@jdlc903]

Yeah weird mistake in an otherwise great video.Europe industrial Powerhouse is the north European of Germany. And I don't associate Southern Europe with manufacturing or industry

[@smoothjazz2143]

he's seems to be refering to industry as % of overall economy. Not in absolute numbers.

[@RuhaanT]

This channel is gonna blow up! The video quality is just so good

[@kingdarboja7903]

Impressed by the quality of animations and specially the logos, outstanding channel I found today :)

[@williamdion1236]

Great video, learned a lot

[@claertmichael3500]

As a Belgian myself, I must say that this analysis is pretty accurate (I'm sending my daughter to a Flemish speaking school in Flanders while I live in Brussels, you even got that right !)

[@belgicain5283]

nah it's not

[@matthings4133]

@@belgicain5283 great to see some belgian patriotism but he does have a point

[@belgicain5283]

@@matthings4133 He said this analyses was accurate. And nope, it's not. It'd be better if he talked about our common History. Because our past cannot be changed, unlike political and economic differences, which can evolve. Apart from that, the only difference is the language. But language is not the only constituent of a Nation (All the English-speaking countries do not form one nation. Not every Hispanic countries is a nation, not every Germanic countries is a nation, not every French-speaking countries is a nation, etc)

[@LucienOmalley]

@@belgicain5283 Belgium is not a nation ... better face the truth then hiding behind fairytales about our « wonderful common history ». That the dukes of Burgundy assembled a large administrative package does not make the package a nation. Get used too it. And I'm Belgian too.

[@belgicain5283]

@@LucienOmalley Spend your time reading history books instead of commenting on youtube. You want to create something that has never existed before. Your friends have created a common Flemish identity, whereas a Flemish person (from the county of flanders and not from present flanders) did not share any more with a Limburgian than a Namurian before the creation of Belgium. Since the Burgundian Low Countries the majority of flanders and wallonia have always been in the same state. If you think that so many centuries have no influence and do not allow to define Belgium as a Nation (not to mention the religion which was very important at that time), there would hardly be any nation

[@lildreng]

Gorgeous production, from the thumbnail to the outro.

[@saladspinner3200]

This is a very well made video, the contents and subjects presented are factual and thoroughly researched and up to date, and the presentation of them is extremely comprehensible. (I know I sound like a teacher grading a class-presentation :D ).

[@akaneve1063]

comment for algorithm, nice work man

[@julesb6816]

From my experience, the cultural difference between the Netherlands and Flanders is larger than the difference between Wallonia and Flanders. The low countries were united under the Duchy of Burgundy somewhere in the 1400s. The Netherlands adopted Protestantism and rebelled against Spanish rule in the 1600s. Since then Belgium and the Netherlands were split with a few short exceptions. The division between Flanders and Wallonia is based on Ideologie and Language, not on Culture. In Wallonia people generally vote for more Left-leaning parties and They don't really have a real right-wing. In Flanders, people vote For right-wing parties that do not have a French-speaking equivalent These parties are also pro-independence. Another thing is that the dialects that you find in modern-day Flanders are a lot different from standard Dutch. Dutch got adopted as the standard language in the modern-day Flanders by the Flemish movement long after the Belgian revolution. For example, my Home City of Aalst is named "Oilsjt" in the local dialect which also includes a lot of French vocabulary. I do not think that someone from Amsterdam would be able to understand that. Wallonia also had its distinct dialect which I think is more uniform but it is basically extinct. The name Flanders comes from the Dutchy of Flanders witch is are basically the modern-day provides of East- and West-Flanders who make up the eastern part of modern-day Flanders (But also a small part of France and the City of Tournai in Wallonia).

[@TSGC16]

Amsterdammer here. We all grew up with K3, Piet Piraat, Kabouter Plop, Samson & Gert etc. We all have basic understanding of Flemish Dutch. + in the south of the Netherlands people pretty much understand you guys 100%. I can understand a Flemish person way more than someone from Friesland in the north of the country. Everytime i went to a camping vacation in Belgium and talked to a Fleming i feel like im talking to a Dutch person. I really think you're exeggerating how different we are.

[@julesb6816]

@@TSGC16 These tv programs are in standard Dutch with a Flemish accent and maybe a couple of different words. That is what most people speak now and not what I was talking about. Like I said the Flemish movement introduced standard dutch as the semi-official language in Northern Belgium during the late 1800's. You are definitely not going to find those in kids' shows. In my city, it is sort of being kept alive by our carnival tradition but in other places, it is slowly dying.

[@TSGC16]

@@julesb6816 Ah i see

[@TSGC16]

@@julesb6816 "Plat-Vlaams" is what you are talking about?

[@julesb6816]

@@TSGC16 Yes, but it isn't one dialect.

[@RoderickEvers]

Your voice and the music work miracles. Deeply impressed! Keep it up!

[@ranko.5930]

There are allot of video's like these, but this is probably the first one that does it properly. And even in way less time than other video's.

[@sdprz7893]

Congrats on 10k mate

[@hoogyoutube]

Been there since the start :) Thanks man

[@sdprz7893]

@@hoogyoutube Glad you remembered me buddy :)

[@obentophaut8693]

Great Stuff, really dig the visual approach.

[@maxmuys]

Very informative video!! this channel is going to be big!

[@jezusbloodie]

Animation is amazing. Perfect explainer video

[@WorldNews92]

The irony about Farage saying that about Belgium is the exactly same thing applies to Britain: we're a nation but also a nation of nations and also a Union of nations depending on which person you ask and when you ask them.

[@littleprincess8526]

Garbage doesn't even finished his secundary school. The fool with no degree, I am glad that we don't have to see that clown in the EU anymore.

[@FragLord]

One of the founding founders had this to say: In 1838, another co-founder, senator Alexandre Gendebien, even declared that the Flemish were "one of the more inferior races on the Earth, just like the negroes". Another founder had this to say: Belgium's co-founder, Charles Rogier, wrote in 1832 to Jean-Joseph Raikem, the minister of justice: The first principles of a good administration are based upon the exclusive use of one language, and it is evident that the only language of the Belgians should be French. In order to achieve this result, it is necessary that all civil and military functions are entrusted to Walloons and Luxemburgers; this way, the Flemish, temporarily deprived of the advantages of these offices, will be constrained to learn French, and we will hence destroy bit by bit the Germanic element in Belgium.[ After that the Flemish were squeezed for every penny and most of the money was invested in the French part of Belgium. In 1834, all people even remotely suspected of being "Flemish minded" or calling for the reunification of the Netherlands were prosecuted and their houses looted and burnt. Flanders, until then a very prosperous European region, was not considered worthwhile for investment and scholarship. A study in 1918 demonstrated that in the first 88 years of its existence, 80% of the Belgian GDP was invested in Wallonia. This led to a widespread poverty in Flanders, forcing roughly 300.000 Flemish to emigrate to Wallonia to start working there in the heavy industry. The Flemings had to wait until 1919-after many Flemish soldiers died in the trenches of World War I-to have their language officially recognized and until 1930 before the first Flemish university was reopened. The first translation of the Belgian constitution in Dutch was not published until 1967.

[@onewisefrog5785]

so glad you're channel exploded and in one year when you have like 50-100k i will be an og

[@philipfontaine740]

Good piece, balanced views and strong insights. Better than most international journalists report when asked about Belgium...

[@Wardergrip]

I appreciate a fellow dutchie every once in a while, definitely if they make a video about Belgium

[@MrVitoriooo]

I didn't know he was Dutch until he said Gent

[@masdenka6957]

interesting video but like almost all videos about Belgium caricatural and exaggerated. To begin with the root of the problem is not the culture (and most of the real differences are limited to the media which creates a disconnection for sure but not really the division) but how Belgium was created? how an elite (french speaking even in flanders) divided the people and how the Belgian politicians got locked in quarrels that nobody cares about. Then what is the "Latin" or "Germanic" culture? Does it mean that a Walloon would have a more common culturally with an Italian or a Spaniard or a Flemish with a protestant (culturally) speaker of a Germanic language ? The economic aspect is indeed a problem but not many regions have succeeded in their post-industrial transition. Therefore "a southern economy" to talk about a region that is in a similar situation as northern England or the rustbelt in the US seems to be inconsistent, especially since the declining mining and metallurgical industry is a rather northwestern European phenomenon. So is Limburg (Belgium) really in its place in Flanders or Walloon Brabant in Wallonia? etc. Either there are many things that are wrong in Belgium, many in Wallonia and Brussels, nothing new, but this video, although dealing with the subject with some unusual perspective. (like catholic vs socialist) still gives the stereotypes of Belgium being a country where two peoples who do not share anything ...

[@FragLord]

One of the founding founders had this to say: In 1838, another co-founder, senator Alexandre Gendebien, even declared that the Flemish were "one of the more inferior races on the Earth, just like the negroes". Another founder had this to say: Belgium's co-founder, Charles Rogier, wrote in 1832 to Jean-Joseph Raikem, the minister of justice: The first principles of a good administration are based upon the exclusive use of one language, and it is evident that the only language of the Belgians should be French. In order to achieve this result, it is necessary that all civil and military functions are entrusted to Walloons and Luxemburgers; this way, the Flemish, temporarily deprived of the advantages of these offices, will be constrained to learn French, and we will hence destroy bit by bit the Germanic element in Belgium.[ After that the Flemish were squeezed for every penny and most of the money was invested in the French part of Belgium. In 1834, all people even remotely suspected of being "Flemish minded" or calling for the reunification of the Netherlands were prosecuted and their houses looted and burnt. Flanders, until then a very prosperous European region, was not considered worthwhile for investment and scholarship. A study in 1918 demonstrated that in the first 88 years of its existence, 80% of the Belgian GDP was invested in Wallonia. This led to a widespread poverty in Flanders, forcing roughly 300.000 Flemish to emigrate to Wallonia to start working there in the heavy industry. The Flemings had to wait until 1919-after many Flemish soldiers died in the trenches of World War I-to have their language officially recognized and until 1930 before the first Flemish university was reopened. The first translation of the Belgian constitution in Dutch was not published until 1967.

[@EricZucchini]

holy crap the animations. really well done!

[@64bit-]

this video quality is insane channel deserves more subscribers

[@MrLoicProd]

As A Belgian Walloon i really hope we would be more united i love my country

[@MrLoicProd]

Een beetje but i had to give up on it bc i wanted to many options in 4th grade (science 8 hours and it formation 5 hours) but the shame is that dutch/flemish is not mandatory in Walloon plublic schools (it just didnt bothered me bc the teacher was the shitiest person i've ever met)

[@murdoch201]

Right. I hope it splits.

[@jackf1841]

@@MrLoicProd Your reaction (story) is the perfect example of Walloon hypocrisy: they all refuse to learn Dutch (and all have an excuse why they didn't), but they want a more "united" Belgium, a "country they love". Do they ever realize the hypocrisy themselves I wonder? This is the exact reason why Belgium will split. It's just a matter of time.

[@ninabaekelmans1038]

@@jackf1841 what about bilingual people like me? We are always forgotten I don't want my country to split I can't accept change we are already small please don't make us smaller

[@jackf1841]

@@ninabaekelmans1038 Always this calimero-complex. Flanders has 6.5 million inhabitants, this is MORE than countries as Denmark, Norway, Finland and Ireland! So Flanders has more 'weight' than these countries. Let it sink in. Flanders could be one of the most prosperous and wealthy countries in Europe, in stead of being part of a failed, dysfunctional and bankrupt state called Belgium, the laughing stock of Western Europe. Easy choice!

[@georgios_5342]

Very interesting! I knew that for a long time, the only official language in Belgium was French and the only Belgian colony, the D.R.Congo, former Zaire, inherited that language. But I was under the impression that France supported the Belgian French community. It really came as a shock to me that it's the less developed region.

[@oOZdemOo]

Why would France support a region in another developped country (outside of the EU framework)? We have our own problems.

[@EuroWarsOrg]

Socialists always destroy development and turn the place into a basket case..

[@KainDestinedAscension]

@@EuroWarsOrg what do socialists have to do with this?

[@jamesstarseeker]

@@KainDestinedAscension Because the french region is runned by a socialist party for a long time now

[@KainDestinedAscension]

@@jamesstarseeker alright, but that may not be the fault of socialists, it's because the country is highly unstable and has poor material conditions, that's not an environment for socialists

[@007bogossemre007]

Hey namesake, nice video ! Very well explained and laid out, Belgium is indeed very complex historically and currently... Groetjes from België :)

[@page2828]

Good work as always!

[@chess5269]

nice work man

[@neovenom9833]

Belgium is a country rewritten for maximum efficiency. That "efficiency" is; to waste the most amount of money on politicians per capita. We have 6 ministers of health, and none are able to do a decent job, let that sink in.

[@LucienOmalley]

I think it's 9 health ministers. Have to check ...

[@cakeisyummy5755]

Beauraucracy is the Corner stone of Democracy. Or so they say.

[@neovenom9833]

@@LucienOmalley update, apparently it's 8. and god forbid the number of idiots responsible for the energy supply of the country.

[@polkanietzsche5016]

Argentina: ok im gonna pretend i didn't hear that.

[@artemiz4740]

I love your videos keep doing what you're doing. you doing a great job you have a lot of potential on KZbin.

[@ericyang9404]

YOU'RE GOING UP DUDE HOW DO YOU ONLY HAVE 11K SUBS

[@timpauwels3734]

A historical language detail: the 19th century elite in both Flanders and Wallonia showed their status by speaking Standard French and were disdainful of both Flemish and Wallon languages, spoken by “common folk” in the regions. The Flemish nationalists twist this history by equating francophone industrial barrons to the Wallon people. Similarly, the imposition of standard Dutch was resisted in Flanders in the years leading up to the revolution. Nowadays however, the Wallon language is almost dead dialects and accents are still seen as something to “unlearn” in Flemish schools. It’s classism with standard languages from neighbouring countries.

[@gorkzop]

Well the Flemish nationalists twist the whole History anyway by even not acknowledging that Antwerp (and Brussels, Leuven) is Brabants and not even Flemish. These days "Dutch speaking belgian" equals Flemish. But historically this is untrue as can be..especially since the county of Flanders was French controlled, and Brabant(antwerp) and Limburg was part of the HRE.

[@FragLord]

One of the founding founders had this to say: In 1838, another co-founder, senator Alexandre Gendebien, even declared that the Flemish were "one of the more inferior races on the Earth, just like the negroes". Another founder had this to say: Belgium's co-founder, Charles Rogier, wrote in 1832 to Jean-Joseph Raikem, the minister of justice: The first principles of a good administration are based upon the exclusive use of one language, and it is evident that the only language of the Belgians should be French. In order to achieve this result, it is necessary that all civil and military functions are entrusted to Walloons and Luxemburgers; this way, the Flemish, temporarily deprived of the advantages of these offices, will be constrained to learn French, and we will hence destroy bit by bit the Germanic element in Belgium.[ After that the Flemish were squeezed for every penny and most of the money was invested in the French part of Belgium. In 1834, all people even remotely suspected of being "Flemish minded" or calling for the reunification of the Netherlands were prosecuted and their houses looted and burnt. Flanders, until then a very prosperous European region, was not considered worthwhile for investment and scholarship. A study in 1918 demonstrated that in the first 88 years of its existence, 80% of the Belgian GDP was invested in Wallonia. This led to a widespread poverty in Flanders, forcing roughly 300.000 Flemish to emigrate to Wallonia to start working there in the heavy industry. The Flemings had to wait until 1919-after many Flemish soldiers died in the trenches of World War I-to have their language officially recognized and until 1930 before the first Flemish university was reopened. The first translation of the Belgian constitution in Dutch was not published until 1967.

[@Mladjasmilic]

In Bosnia there are 3 official languages, but everyone speaks the same language.

[@cakeisyummy5755]

Correct.

[@patrickmccutcheon9361]

The same language being English?

[@Theorimlig]

@@patrickmccutcheon9361 No, Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian are basically the same language.

[@smoothjazz2143]

@@Theorimlig Not "basically" they are literally the same language, it's not like spanish/catalan, they are the same dialect* of the same language. *this will trigger Crostians, who are eager to remind you that their dialect is from a town placed a whopping 10km away from the serbian one.

[@louisvf]

I think when making a video like this, it would also be good to first elaborate on, "what constitutes a Nation", and go from there.. Keep it up.

[@kauemoura]

These transitions are so smoooooth.

[@AlanGabrielCornejolopez]

As the last video about european demographics, this is one of the same great quality. Excellent video.

[@MrFlexNC]

As a Belgian I can say our country is only united during the world cup of football

[@jannes3290]

Spreek voor uzelf.

[@user-cs7kj3wd9k]

C pas tt à fait vrai

[@freewal]

I’m not Belgian but when I go to Belgium, I don’t it pretty United culturally even between the two sides.

[@murdoch201]

This is so true.

[@didi81_]

True

[@DigitalGamerBE]

I was quite afraid of what could be said in the video but it's right and simple to understand! congrats! it's not easy to explain the mess here 🤣 but I'd like to add some things: The state reforms that happened had a flaw. They were made to calm down the communities disputes but not to make the state more effective. Consequently, problems emerged and during the pandemic in particular. There's a new reform coming up that try to focus on effectiveness rather than naggings around languages but we'll see how it will do... Anyone could say "split Belgium and it will be better" but I'm not that convinced it will be the perfect solution. Many people forget our motto "unity make strength" but in many situations it's a better solution to give a hand than slapping your neighbour in the face. Moreover there is a kind of "nation". There is a substantial common culture in Belgium between Walloons and Flemish people. But if you focus too much on differences then I could argue that France shouldn't exists since it has many cultures in it. And since thousands of years we, the Belgians, existed almost as one. It's only in the recent years that the language began to be the centre of political disputes. And I insist on "political disputes" because the population doesn't give a shit about splitting Belgium. Even universities' studies show that it's not the main preoccupation of the population. Moreover, separatism isn't mainstream between the electors of the biggest Flemish political parties that advertise separatisms. People vote for these parties for other reasons but parties constantly focus on communities dispute... I have been looking at my country's history and political complexity since many year and it's both frustrating and fascinating but I constantly get the same conclusion: If people here knew a bit much about our history just like French people know their history, if Belgians were more comprehensive rather than judging on things they know little about like the culture of the "other side", if Walloons and Flemish weren't acting like entitled persons, they would see that Belgium is a rich country with a rich history and that Belgium has as much legitimacy to exist than other countries and that we could, as a whole, be an example of cooperation for the rest of the world... If you read the whole text then thank you very much for your attention 😂 It's a subject i hold dearly to my heart, both in its greatness and in its appalling problems 🤣Thank you for your video and have a nice day to anyone reading 🙃

[@meneither3834]

What's ironic with Farage making that analogy is that Belgium was effectively created by Great Britain.

[@cakeisyummy5755]

It was created by the Catholic Church.

[@davgg9621]

Belgium was created by Belgians. We have our independce day. Great Britain was the first Country to aknowledge our independce. But Great Britain didn't have anything to do with the Belgian revolts against the Dutch.

[@meneither3834]

@@davgg9621 Yeah but Britain had things to do with Wallonia not getting annexed into France.

[@gabykoynkuli5704]

@@meneither3834 France doesn´t want annex only Wallonia but Brussels too and It wasn´t all of Wallonia

[@bluedevil3765]

Belgium wasn't created by Great Britain. It revolted independently against the Netherlands, but as a small, weak country, it was dependent on international recognition by the great powers such as Great Britain for its survival. Belgium was obliged by GB to accept Leopold I as king and to remain eternally neutral.

[@agentkerbal9840]

Great video !

[@pralyuris5936]

Simply great 👍

[@vinzenzschaller9146]

What Software is used to produce your videos. I‘d like try that for some project of my own. Anyone any clue? Thx

[@chrischangfong3873]

I want you guys to know that I was here before you exploded on KZbin. Remember me. Great work on your content guys, keep going! I'm rooting for you everyday.

[@ShinSheel]

I don't know much about Belgium, but I appreciate how they worked hard to balance stuff. In most of the world if one community wins they just cement their domination

[@s_vb2220]

oh that used to be the case (as mentioned in the video) but i am gratefull that that got sorted out for the most part in the last 60ish years.

[@johnpijano4786]

Comment for the algoithem.| Keep it up

[@emielverwaeren6550]

great video really gave my some new insights. And as belgium person it's great to see the facts

[@jannes3290]

Voor feiten zal je jammergenoeg meer genuanceerd en kritisch moeten zijn. Deze video geeft een interpretatie van buitenaf. Er zijn heel wat goede boeken ter beschikking om ons land beter te begrijpen. Zulke videos zijn een goede instap, maar zeker geen absolute waarheid.

[@emielverwaeren6550]

@@jannes3290 dat begrijp ik zeker, maar het is van belang dat men een blik van een buitenstaander kent. Zo kan men feiten laten heersen, en de emoties van een situatie opzij zetten

[@jannes3290]

@@emielverwaeren6550 Zeker en vast, het id belangrijk om op de hoogte te zijn van de buitenstaande blik, maar het is even belangrijk om kritisch te zijn, voor zowel het interne als externe individu. In dit geval is dit niet gebeurt en wordt een eenzijdig beeld gegeven.

[@cakeisyummy5755]

*as a BELGIAN Not "Belgium Person.".

[@emielverwaeren6550]

@@cakeisyummy5755 I'm 14 i'm sorry

[@jonathanemslander6896]

Kan @Romulus Nederlands of Vlaams spreken? De uitspraak van “Gent” was heel goed!

[@nicolasmarazuela1010]

As a half German my heart says that Belgium is just the road to France, but as a half Spain I know that Belgium is a real place, as Spain fought hard to keep it.

[@lch7732]

Belgium is an illegal break-away state of the Netherlands.

[@x-a-]

As a French I must say you were all under my command..once.

[@gorkzop]

They didn't fought for Belgium at the time. But for the richest part of the lowlands...especially Brabant. And especially Antwerp.

[@zackamor8043]

The fact that so many countries/empires wanted to take control over all the Belgian territories/fiefdoms that used to exist since the 13th century till 19th century, just proves that those territories were very valuable.

[@littleprincess8526]

For us Belgians Hitler Germany is just a road to go to stunning places like Croatia or Austria and the rest of Europe will say the same. 🤣🤣

[@relo999]

As a Dutchman, I can't express how beautiful this video title is and how happy it makes me. Sadly it's clickbait...

[@hoogyoutube]

sorry

[@relo999]

@@hoogyoutube Great video though ;)

[@deutschthomas2751]

The WWI has other great impacts to BE besides mentioned in the video:firstly it brings German community to BE as it is actually consists of regions taken from DE(they belonged to DE before WWI) as a part of Treaty of Versailles, but DE requires BE to respect the German nature of the people there and establish a new community, and this leads to another less important, but more interesting thing: Treaty of Versailles also gives BE the Vennbahn Railway as a whole which carries a lot of LU coal and iron at that time, but this causes some regions at the west of the railway and still belongs to DE exclaves that are only some meters away to DE main part(The industrial operation of Vennbahn ends in 1989 and the track was removed in 2008, nowadays a cycleway)

[@Mopmipmup]

i saw the same video 15 years ago, really original

[@samvangelder4201]

As a Belgian from Flanders, Belgium is a wealthy liberal social democracy, part of EU, NATO, 'western europes flawed democracies' etc and one of the countries that score very high on all kinds of human development, happiness, GDP indexes. I wouldn't at first glance say that it suffer that much from having a complex political system. And on that level I see no difference what so ever between the different parts. But it's probably true that it could be doing a lot better even still, if only if things were different. Ofc it is a very weird country with a political system that has grown in complexity instead of becoming less complex. Mostly because the state system is has been devolving since about 1980 and is always half finished. And the driving force behind that is that there are differences in language and political preference north and south. On paper (and on youtube :-) ) it doesn't seem that difficult to draw out a better functioning political and state. University courses and professors actually have loads off ideas on that, and once you've read some of them they sound very logical. For instance one of the weirdest things right now is not the amount of governments, but the lack of hierarchy among them. The Belgian federal government isn't the boss of the Flemish, Walloon or Brussels governments. Like let's say in Germany or US. Which has the effect that a state government can just about veto or block any political progress, or they get into the habit of openly attacking federal policy (most of the time agreed to by people from there own parties, just working on a different level) and get rewarded in election polls for doing so. So right now this ofc doesn't work because politicians lack incentives to agree. So it needs to improve, pretty please. Probably we'll see some kind of evolution after 2024 elections or even later. A normal evolution would be finally making Belgium an actual federation of 4 pure states (Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels, Germanic-Wallonia), with the federal government is the highest one. Much like Germany, and kind of like US. I would think that would work much more efficiently then the current system or option. But knowing Belgium, we'll probably end up with some halfassed different option that doesn't improve much. As to WHY does Belgium exist. That's similar to why a lot of smaller countries exist: our big neighbours kind off decided to let us exist :-).

[@Wolf_Larsen]

To me, Belgium exists because the Dutch messed up the unification way back when and nowadays because not even the French would want the festering tumor that is Wallonia.

[@MarcusManzi]

Wealthy? Lmao

[@glycerin3179]

As a Belgian in Wallonia, i feel like we re kind of disconnected with Flemish people due to the language barrier but i also dont feel even slightly stranger to them. Despite our differences, we are a nation and diversity is our wealth

[@cakeisyummy5755]

You know how to speak English, Dutch is the closest Major Germanic Language to English, learning Dutch wouldn't be too hard for you, would it?

[@simonmasset2238]

@@cakeisyummy5755 Flemmings don't really speak Dutch actually, besides Dutch is more close to German (though less well organized) than English, English is probably more close to French than Dutch funny enough because of all the interaction and influence over the ages Not to forget than learning the more or less Dutch of Flemmings as no value besides itself and more or less being able to understand people in the Netherlands, that's why young people are not drawn to it, though personally i like it because their Cinema culture is one of a kind and cannot be fully Felt if you don't know it... But most of people don't care about it and it's just normal logically speaking

[@glycerin3179]

@@cakeisyummy5755 yes it would

[@cakeisyummy5755]

@@glycerin3179 Ok!

[@cakeisyummy5755]

@@simonmasset2238 Oh, Ok!

[@loganperry5669]

Your animations are beautiful but are at times kind of abstract and difficult to understand. When you were talking about the Belgian political parties, I couldn't figure out how the animation related to what you were saying.

[@Ber-cd7gg]

What a great video thanks man :)

[@emelinehuhu2814]

An interesting video that I could agree with. That just made me think : I was born in Brussels but raised in Wallonia. I think I'm Walloon because I don't feel Flemish nor "Brusselian", but Walloon hardly means anything to me. What am I ? Belgian ? European ? Maybe Belgium is peculiar, but I'm not sure it's that much of a bad thing. So much conflicts and wars take roots in a strong nationalist identity which we don't have, and I doubt anyone here would say it's been an issue for them.

[@enterfil]

Quick question from an outsider. Who do you think feels more oppressed within Belgium, the Walloon’s or the Flemish? Who feels more need to secede? I know that politics in Belgium tend to be more French dominated especially historically if I’m not mistaken, but Flanders is wealthier and more influential. Let me know!

[@owennilens8892]

How are trade unions, farmers organizations and health insurance more state run in Wallonia? We literally have the same trade unions laws and pretty much the same trade unions, the same health insurance system, and as for farmers organizations, the FWA is no more state regulated than the Boerenbond. If anything the FWA is way more independent as they don't have any political ties the way the Boerenbond is tied to the CD&V, who is often in government and often in charge of agriculture. Most of this video was correct but that part was a big miss...

[@Ubeogesh]

looks like this channel is about to explode i think I remember PolyMatter being this small, which these videos remind me off

[@simonwagneur]

Comment for referencing. Amazingly qualitative video.

[@ec2505a]

As a Belgian, people should just learn both languages properly, and we should end this imagined divide. It's ridiculous to want to split the country.

[@lch7732]

SPILT THE COUNTRY!!!!!

[@lander681]

Can you say why it's ridiculous? Us being together is ridiculous.

[@johnwhorfin3815]

"The only western European nation with an exceptionally high suicide rate is Belgium, which ranks at number eleven with 18.3 suicides per 100k. However, it is worth noting that Belgium has some of the world's most liberal laws on doctor-assisted suicide, also known as euthanasia, which is likely to be a factor in its statistics."

[@timpauwels3734]

Another point on healthcare: unlike suggested in the video, it is the same throughout Belgium. Belgium has a weird system of politically divided health insurance: Health insurance entities are called “Mutualities”. Most mutualities are associated with political factions (not necessarily parties!*). The Christian Mutuality is associated with the Christian Democrats (former Catholic Peoples Party). Then there is the Socialist Mutuality and the Liberal Mutuality (with obvious associations). There is also a neutral mutuality. While this was once tied to your voting tendencies, most people now have health insurance from the same mutuality as their parents. This can create the impression that “healthcare is catholic” in Flanders because in the times of our grandparents the catholic party dominated the rural Flanders. There is one excellent to this hereditary health insurance loyalty: if you work for a political party, you must join their associated mutuality. Newer parties such as the far right Flemish nationalists and the Green Party (strange bedfellows!) therefore both use the Neutral Mutuality. The first mutuality was started when the Catholic party set up an insurance system for its members. * I know at least the Liberal mutuality has is not strictly associated with the Liberal party. The 3 labour unions (Christian, Socialist and Liberal) are associated in a similar way to the mutualities (and not always with the political party).

[@jolan94]

One of the best vids about belgium i've seen so far. good work! Full of facts. :)

[@lmaocetung]

Belgium is not a nation, but Canada or the USA are??

[@Lumpology]

heck throw the UK in there as well.

[@lmaocetung]

@@Lumpology yes

[@papaicebreakerii8180]

Well… yeah

[@freewal]

UK is absolutely not a nation. Scotland is a nation. England is a nation. But UK is not.

[@lmaocetung]

@@freewal was I talking about the UK?

[@cesbacur9973]

That's a good analysis. But there is one problem: the historical part. We return to 1830 but the history of the nation, not only the country, is more long than what we think. By the way, we make the mistake to simplify wallonian as french people and flemish as deutsch people and Brussels like a two language area. Before the revolution, there was more nation with differences and some points in common. Wallon and Flemish are languages different of French and Deutsch. Brussels has is own language. We were reunited through centuries by two things. The first is alliance and someone by wedding between leaders, the second is a common goal: independence against powerfull country. We share our ancient language, traditions, laws and culture. That became more true after the first revolution we made and finally create a country wit the second in 1830. Actually, Belgium is a nation but not for all belgians. The only people who could really say they are not belgian are German people cause we won their territories after the First World War. But they didn't do it after an hundred years. The problem now is that one side of the country is badly leading and an other side has a fear of French and a will of revenge for the time the first side was more rich and their side was poor. But the majority of the people was poor, only a few people were rich.

[@chattenmetchad]

Hi, thank you for this amazing video. I however can’t find the source of your claim at: 4:15. May I receive a link to the source?

[@hoogyoutube]

biblio.ugent.be/publication/957666/file/957698.pdf

[@chattenmetchad]

Hartelijk dank! / Much obliged!

[@cakeisyummy5755]

@@hoogyoutube Could you link ALL of your Sources in the Description for us? It would make everything much more Simple for the Viewer. While also telling us which parts of the Video used which Source?

[@albaraqahtani]

When i read the title, first thing that came up to my mind is what nigel farage said to the european parliament during brexit.

[@KrysFG]

I think the fact that Brussels is the capital and base of so many global and European organisations that pretty much control the world should also be factored, we can’t really afford problems in this regard so everyone just keeps to the status quo