Why is Belgium so Divided?

Belgium's history of linguistic division is as old as the country itself, the northern half being Dutch or Flemish speaking while the southern half is French or Walloon speaking. And we haven't even got into the German speakers living on Belgium's eastern fringes! The two larger language groups each attempt to rule their own independently having essentially segregated governments for Flanders and Wallonia, however the crisis of 2007 - 2011 showed that while the northern Flemings wanted more decentralisation and autonomy, the southern Walloons were dead set against it. Since then a split of Belgium along these lines has seemed inevitable, but this led me to question: how on earth did Belgium become so divided? The story will take us back to the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of France, William of Orange and the Eighty Years War, Napoleon, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Belgian Revolution and two World Wars so strap in because this is going to be a good one!
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[@forregom]

My teacher once said that Flanders and Wallonia are like a couple who want to break up, but they stay togheter for their child. (Brussels)

[@kathybui1918]

Hey my teacher said that too, it was 10 years ago in Antwerp.

[@superyamky]

@@kathybui1918 i live in antwerp lol

[@superyamky]

BRUH LOL XD For their own child Brussels

[@danutzzz2064]

good one

[@heftyordinanceindividual4015]

We stay together because we have nowhere lese to go, Wallonia anyways.

[@cameron1866]

'Im not advocating for the Netherlands to invade Belgium' *Doubt*

[@Lucanoptek]

*BUT-*

[@danielcivilis1729]

G E K O L O N I S E E R D

[@egnappahz]

I'm from Belgium, and please, let them invade it. It can only get better at this point.

[@lucagames3222]

they shouldnt we dont want their fucked up accent

[@lucagames3222]

egnappahz that is true everything is shit like the roads ever rode a dutch road? smooth right? well ur roads are like our cheese its full of holes

[@JereckNET]

One little thing that you have missed : In the 1830s, during the Belgian Revolution, there was a religious divide between the newly-born Belgium and the Netherlands. Belgium was catholic, while The Netherlands were Protestant. This religious unity was a large part of the decision to include Flanders in the new country, along with Wallonia. However, as religious practice has declined since the XIXth century, the uniting effect of having the same religion has also declined to the point of becoming irrelevant now.

[@PointnShootMovies]

That’s actually sorta a huge thing to leave out.

[@rosarypilled]

As a Catholic who lives in Flanders, ot kinda sucked that he left that out. We can't unite with Protestants! I would prefer Flemish independence.

[@hamzakucuk3449]

You know that in the Netherlands below the Rijn river its majority catholic right? It has worked out for 400 years, so why wouldn't it now?

[@matheuroux5134]

@@rosarypilled There are now more Catholics in Netherlands than Protestants, because the Protestants are more likely to become atheists

[@rosarypilled]

@@NicaraguanNacatamale and you wonder why we dislike you.....

[@dafyddthomas7689]

Difference between Flemish and Nederlandish: In you try speaking Flemish in Belgium they think "That's nice, the Foreigner is making an effort, I will speak slowly and clearly." In Nederland, they think "The only people who would ever speak Dutch is a Dutchman therefore I will speak very very quickly."

[@PbPomper]

That's how I always feel about the French :P I say "oui" and they go on like a TGV.

[@bandtrash4038]

@@PbPomper lmfaooo, as a half french person who speaks mostly English, this is exactly how I feel when I go to France to visit my family.

[@Cendar100]

I'm french speaker in the Flemish part of Belgium (so I learned Dutch) I was surprised that my Flemish was not understood in Netherland when I asked for a "belegede broodje met Gouda" (literally "Bread covered by Gouda cheese") I had to say "Sandwich met Rrouda" (they cannot make effort to understand the Flemish "G" or maybe "belegde brood" is obsolete) Indeed I think in Belgium we (French and Dutch speakers) can understand these two languages speaken by foreigners even if it is mispronounced or grammatically wrong. Is not because we are smarter, It's because Belgium is a fake country filled by foreigners like French, Dutch, Spannish, German, English, .. :) The Nationalists of this country are silly, the don't even know from where they come, in both side there where population migration between Flanders and Walloonia (Flemish politicians have a french name, Walloonian's politicians have Flemish name) In old french the word "Belge" was'nt for a Nationality but was a word to mean "bastard" (mixed tribes, Celtic/German) Belgium never existed and will exist forever !

[@jeffreywinkelman8671]

You're wrong, Flemish is dutch on crack and spoken by wine drinking women.

[@ethandonnay1136]

Yes because they are retarded

[@Rakehell007]

The best time Belgium had, was when it didn't have a government for 589 days in 2010 - 2011 :)

[@kensley94]

2010/11 best times

[@nielsardies2001]

It still worked 😁

[@nimpheuno]

you realy believe that? all new laws where put aside (they couldent pass becoulse there was noone who was eligeble to sign them )

[@flitsertheo]

We have about 6 governments (lost count ) in Belgium and the remaining ones just kept functioning. On the positive side, we broke a record and it will be a while before anyone does better.

[@gustvandenbroeck1162]

a goverment you mean those fools with a desk ( i am from Belgium )

[@PIVfdxx]

"Belgium is so divided" Switzerland: "Hold by beer and my rösti"

[@adamthetired9319]

Switzerland is mostly German (like 2 thirds), with the French and Italians dividing the rest almost evenly. So, having one dominant language makes Switzerland less divided than Belgium, which has the 50/50 situation.

[@markoj.7675]

Switzerland is like 65%German, 20% French and 8% Italian, rest are immigrants, while Belgium is like 55% dutch, 40% French and rest are immigrants.If you can see Switzerland is much less divided than Belgium.

[@Tiktik_Xanim]

Marko J. German 63 and French 22

[@markoj.7675]

@@Tiktik_Xanim Like that's a big diffrence

[@Tiktik_Xanim]

Marko J. JA lmfao

[@sabkobds]

Belgium is too simple for us... Greetings from Bosnia... :)

[@viktor1496]

You haven't even seen our government my friend ;) Your history might be more fucked up but your politics will never hold a candle to the bullshit we deal with hahaha

[@justarandombird]

@@viktor1496 lmao, i totally agree with you on thatone

[@runethieren8692]

ahahahhaha allright get off your high horse for a minute and pls search shit about out politics, because there is a saying that not even the belgian understand the politics... its so difficult its nothing compared to your politics

[@justarandombird]

@@runethieren8692 facts, another saying in belgium is like: if you think you understand our politics, then someone must've explained it wrong. (As a Belgian i can indeed confirm this )

[@sabkobds]

I still think Bosnian politics is more f*ck*d up... Not that I am proud of it... 😀

[@leroyeuvrard5243]

I was an American living in France. When I drove to Belgium, some one said to me "Vous êtes de septante." I wondered "How does he know that I have seven aunts?" Then I realized that he was referring to my license plate that indicated that I was from Department 70 in France.

[@melz6625]

ah I’m glad I’m not the only French learner having a good grasp on written French but being completely lost when I’m supposed to decifer spoken French because they never separate any words clearly.

[@Simon-A.-Tan]

Oh, yeah.... Our French speakers say "septante" and "nonante" in stead of "soixante-dix" and "quatre-vingt-dix" as they do in France. Pretty normal in my opinion. It's the French who are weirdo's. Can you imagine English natives talking about "sixty-ten" and "eighty-ten" in stead of "seventy" and "ninety"?

[@11Survivor]

@@Simon-A.-Tan as an alsatian french, the belgian method makes more sense ngl.

[@SuAva]

@@Simon-A.-Tan not even 'eighty-ten' but 'four-twenty-ten' because the 80 is already weirdly called 4x20.. :') French numbers are actual math problems. For 90 which is called '4-20-10' you literally have to do 4x20+10, like who does that lol (and the word 'neuf' for 9 comes in literally nowhere, unless you're saying 99 which is 'quatre-vingt-dix-neuf' or 4x20+10+9, lol! xD ).

[@juanme555]

@@SuAva Is four twenties, not four twenty times, therefore is 20x4+10 , but you're right is silly. They should just copy Swiss Numbers, the swiss have fully standardized Latin Numbers in Swiss French. "Huitante/Octante" 80 included.

[@Hugaufre]

Thank you for showing your interest in our little country but I am sorry to say that this video is, once again, full of mistakes and constitutes a dangerous rewrite of history. It is very sad to note that the history of Belgium is always so badly addressed by foreigners, especially on internet. You said in the video that it is the french speaking people of Belgium who made the Belgian revolution. It is absolutely false. The Belgian revolution was mainly made by inhabitants of Brussels, which at the time was largely Brabantian (a "dialect" of dutch). They were then joined by volunteers from all over Belgium. Historians agree today that more than 60% of the volunteers were Flemish speakers (see the studies of Jean Stengers and John W. Rooney Jr). The revolution was due to a combination of factors, the main one being the difference of religion (catholic in today's Belgium, protestant in today's Netherlands). You didn't even cite this element. There were plenty of other highly determinant factors: the under-representation of today's Belgians in the parliament (62% of the population and only 50% of the seats); an over-representation of Dutch people in the administration and important positions (4 times more); the public debt of the Netherlands (way higher than the one of the south) had to be supported by the south as well; the diminution in the freedom of the press and freedom of assembly, ... Language was indeed also a consideration since William I of the Netherlands had imposed the standard Dutch everywhere in the northern part of Belgium. The francophone Belgian elites were of course unhappy about this situation but the Flemish speakers as well since they didn't master this language they were now imposed to speak! This part of the video is thus false and really biased. You talked about the situation of the Flemish speakers in the trenches during the first world war and the fact that they were killed because they couldn't understand the instructions of the french-speaking officers. You said that whether this happened or not is not known for certain. Although the officers showed a great deal of condescension towards the non french-speaking soldiers (Flemish and Walloon), plenty of historians have however demonstrated decades ago that this affirmation is largely exaggerated. This is very serious because this idea has wrongfully fed for a long time the Flemish separatist movements. 1) It was not Walloon officers or officers from the south. In general, the officers came from the bourgeoisie, whether from the south or the north of the country (and the majority of them were from current Flanders and Brussels), a bourgeoisie that has always spoken French. 2) How did the Walloon soldiers understand the orders, as they didn't speak either French? 3) There were translators in the trenches and the NCOs were bilingual (since they came from the people but had to learn French to advance in rank) 4) At war, especially during the first world one, the orders are simple and learned quickly. The blows of a whistle, it is universal! How did soldiers in other armies who spoke only their dialect understand the orders in the standard language? You implied many times that the south of Belgium was simply French speaking. This is however only a very recent phenomenon that began after the first world war. At the time of the 1830 revolution, people from the south were speaking different dialects of Walloon and often couldn't understand French (Walloon is a different language from the same family as french but they are only poorly mutually intelligible). French was chosen as the official language of the new Belgian state because it was the lingua franca of the bourgeoisie and noble elites of the country (from the north and the south), but also because the standard Dutch was the language imposed by the enemy, finally because the Flemish-speaking region was composed of a multitude of local dialects that were often unintelligible to each other (therefore, without a unified language). The language conflict of Belgium is thus historically not a conflict between the south and the north but between the bourgeoisie and the people, between the powerful and those who have nothing. More generally, you fall into the classic affirmation by foreigners and Flemish separatists that Belgium is a forced wedding between the Flemish and the Walloons, an "artificial state" encompassing two different "nations". This is historically completely false as those two identities are really recent. In 1830 the Walloon and Flemish identities don't exist, as people simply identify themselves as being Belgians (See the works of Jean Stengers, Fred Stevens, Axel Tixhon, Jacques Logie, ...). I am sorry to have to write this long and annoying commentary but don't you understand that publishing a "historical" video on the internet, before the eyes of all, gives you a responsibility for the accuracy of its content? At the time of "fake news" and manipulation of the masses your responsibility as a content author is even greater and a simple research on internet could have saved you from saying a lot of false information. Thank you for your reading.

[@krixpop]

Exactly ! ! !

[@33pastas]

I live in Belgium, can see a multitude of dialects inside of flanders itself. Liked your insight alot.

[@TheSpongebob1919]

Hell yeah my nigga. You are goddamn right, since Jules Cesar the identity of Belgium exists, this little territory has always been a wierd melting pot of differents view of world/cultures, and it will always be. And in itself represents the identity of Belgium. I shall pee on whoever deny this and qualify my little kingdom as articial construct.

[@Drootex]

Dat is een lange tekst

[@33pastas]

@@Drootex kan je één boek lezen?

[@RHEADOR]

Omfg the part with willem van oranje was amazing ;)

[@historywithhilbert146]

I was hoping people would like it ;) I mean its a video about Belgium ffs - it needs memes!

[@anarchotoastbackup2083]

*Netherlands Intensifies*

[@TheBiggestTungsten]

I wish I knew what it was saying.

[@bewerkt]

i love it, its from one of my favorite dutch youtube channels (Studio Massa)

[@slupschuiters1774]

Lucky Cat Ik,

[@thedude7319]

And people wonder why I never address the "so explain something of your country"

[@chouc4s]

some adjustement from a walloon: -Before WW2, walloon was the only language spoken by poor walloon (and is very different to understand as french speaker) -Before WW2, French was spoken by rich people in Wallonia and flanders -After WW2, Flemish peoples diffended their language and culture against rich french speaker (Some were walloon some were Flemish) -After WW2, Walloon language disapeared and French was learned instead. Today nobody speaks walloon anymore aside of some grandparents but that's it -These days, there is a rivalry Flemish VS French which was initially Poor against Rich

[@DarkAngelEU]

And we only have this "rivalry" because nationalists abuse this history to portray the Walloon as rich toads, while we all know their economy is alot weaker than the Flemish. Now this problem disappeared, they're aiming at foreigners and muslims, just like extremists do anywhere else in the West.

[@sciolist3109]

legkip legkip not their fault that french was the language of social mobility in basically all of western europe at the time. however, as a linguist, it is pretty sad. old walloon was a dialect of the oïl languages spoken in old burgundy, the duchy of burgundy, and walloonia. now that im pondering about it, maybe if it [walloonian oïl] had stayed the predominant language of walloonia, belgium wouldnt be so divided, as oïl was basically french with a german influence. this mightve relinquished some of the bitterness between vlaanders and walloonia because they wouldve shared a deeper cultural root, sharing a cultural tie in the medieval duchy of burgundy (as the duchies in flanders were ruled by charles the bold of burgundy) but also a linguistic tie, as flemish and oïl are both languages both influenced by french and german (although respective influence reciprocated between the two). considering that catholic remains the national religion, it would be very easy for the walloonian and flemish populations to get along, especially with this adopted heritage as the successors of burgundy, which mightve even triggered an irredentist (possibly) national idea to be the successors of lotharingia, maybe even claiming the title of the successors of middle francia (as middle francia was historically a linguistically and culturally divided region) which might evolve into a phenomenon like in switzerland, where the historical pride and culture dominates linguistic barriers to create a strong sense of civic nationalism. it would be an awesome alternate history spinoff to discuss, but it would be quite unlikely, as the french language permeated as the language of nobility as far as into russia. the likelihood of walloonian oïl french being the dominant language against francien french is just really low unless there is enough literature and artists passionate enough to preserve the oïl walloonian language, where in our timeline, was humiliatingly scarce.

[@bruvyo8180]

The rivalry nowadays is still poor against rich, but now the roles have been reversed. The Flanders is a lot wealthier then Wallonia and they have to pay them a lot of money every year. Both sides also get the same amount of money and, for example, goods while the population of the Flanders are almost double the Wallonian population. Flemish children have to learn French from a very young age, it’s obligated in the Flanders to learn French. To make it work like one country you can start by learning both languages, as you are one country. But on the French side it’s not obligated and you can choose if you want to learn Flemish or not. Some things are just really unfair. That’s why a lot of Flemish people crave for independence.

[@chouc4s]

@@bruvyo8180 regarding the language, we have to choose between Dutch and English at 10 years old (5th of primary) then at 14 the non chosen one is added. So Dutch is at least a bit learned, but it is not a lot, I agree. Even for the People choosing Dutch first, it is quickly forgotten after school because we never ear or read Dutch ( only some Dutch is eard during the info), English on the other hand is everywhere.

[@al-hb9ox]

@legkip legkip Why sad? I'm from Wallonia and it's a good thing. Wallonia and the north of France are the beginning of French history and the French language. Clovis was born in Tournai (actual Wallonia), the first Frank's who create actual France are from Belgium (Franc Saliens) etc. Walloon is just a local language like Picard or Occitan in France, but we should be united under the French language

[@MaartenvanRossemLezingen]

I'm not from Belgium but one of my parents is and I go there a lot, I'm born and live in the Netherlands. If you're interested in Belgium, particularly the Dutch speaking side, you might find this comment interesting. As far as I understand (and I think I'm very knowledgable on the issue) the whole political situation is severely misunderstood by foreigners and Belgians aren't as divided as everyone thinks. On top of that, Dutch people (from the Netherlands) tend to be a bit "louder" on the topic online, because of their national pride, they'd like to see Flanders join the Netherlands just to see the Netherlands become a little bigger on the world map, so there is a lot of Dutch bias that's difficult to correct when talking to foreigners who've never been to or know anyone in Belgium. In short: a lot of the information about Belgium isn't actually Belgian, it's from Dutch people in Holland who naturally have their own bias and like any other foreigner talking about another country misunderstanding and lack of knowledge on the subject. It's like an average Australian thinking he can explain the entire UK in an absolutely factual and objective way because he's read half a wikipedia page and some youtube comments about it, you'd rather hear that information from a British person and even then the average British person probably doesn't fully understand the UK either. *TL;DR:* It's important to understand that just because the Flemish speak Dutch, doesn't mean they're culturally Dutch, Flemish people are as different from Dutch people culturally as any other foreigner, this is not a biased exageration, it's very important to know if you want to understand Belgium and Flemish people. Keep in mind the inter marriage rate between Dutch and Flemish people is smaller than the inter marriage rate between Walloons and Flemish people. Most Dutch and Flemish people don't fully know about the cultural gap, they just tend to look at the other side as weird without a real explanation for it, it's very hard to find a Dutch person with Flemish friends and vice versa, so there is just not a lot of connection or knowledge about eachother. Just to give you a taste, they don't consume eachother's media, a good example: apart from one hilarious exception Flemish comedians don't make it in Holland, and Dutch comedians don't make it in Flanders. The same goes for almost everything, cuisine, morals and values, social rules, etc. Even the language is different in that it's a variety of Dutch, not so much just a regional accent or dialect, you can compare it to British English vs American English. This comparison might be hard to understand for foreigners because the two countries are so close to eachother and don't have geographic barriers between them. This cultural divide is a result of lots of things, but the biggest one is probably the French cultural dominance that has lasted for a quite a while in Belgium (at least from its independence, but probably longer than that). If you'd compare it to the Anglophone world, you could compare the Flemish, who speak Dutch, to the Americans, who speak English (and yes, many Flemish people say they speak Flemish, rather than Dutch). Most people don't care about cultural geography so this won't become known to anyone who doesn't visit both countries regularly, which include many Dutch and Belgian people. Most Dutch people only know about the cultural differences of the other side that they've seen, and assume everyting else about the country is just the same, and vice versa, which doesn't help in forming a fully knowledgeable and unbiased picture of Belgium to explain to foreigners over the internet. Again, this is probably similar to Americans and English people, or even English and Irish people, or for instance Norwegians and Icelandic people or Greek and Cyprus Greek people (don't really know anything about those guys, but you get the point). Because the region is so small and isn't seperated by geographic barriers though, as far as I know the situation is a unique one in this world in that way, which I think makes it very interesting and some historians should get on that, but that's besides the point. Though a significant minority of Flemings want to leave or are okay with leaving Belgium, the vast majority of those don't want to join the Netherlands. It's impossible for a foreigner to fully understand, but it's one of the reasons Belgium does exist. I suspect in the future the record will be set more straight as Belgians will start getting annoyed at these stereotypes (like I do) that start to float around on the internet and will speak out, but this will probably take time. If you wanna help with that you can like this ridiculously long comment if you agree with me that this misrepresentation of Belgium is kind of annoying. By the way, I think there are plenty of way more intersting things about Belgium to talk about, one of those: Beer!

[@MsLia32]

The thing to remember about the Flemish is that they never had a country of their own. Most Belgians, except the new ones and the idiots that want to mimic the Americans, aren't very nationalistic at all. (That is why Belgian oil is sold on the Belgian market as "Italian oil", while In France toyota's are sold "fabrique on France"). That is also the reason Belgians were a lot faster in accepting German rule duing both world wars and we get modern politicians in Belgian with clear descendency of traitors from the VNV. In the end Flemish are simply Flemish, no matter what country they are put under. That is why Flemish didn't turn into Spanish, didn't turn into Austrians, didn't turn into French and didn't turn into Dutch.

[@loic533]

Maarten van Rossem Lezingen You are absolutely right. I am Belgian and I am annoyed by all those stereotypes... why do the foreigners all complicated? I love Belgium. I am a francophone but I love the Flemish’s. What’s the problem?

[@loic533]

MsLia32 but you forget a reason. Flemish are Belgian and they love Belgium. Only the foreigners want to divide Belgium... I hope one day we’ll can be happy together. But I think it begin because Belgian become patriotic now ❤️ and i see it

[@BxPanda7]

Your TLDR is literally twice as long as the rest of your comment lmfao

[@maarten9272]

@Beverley Hohn Chang Lol, we sure don't like non Europeans, but we are far from the worst.

[@kaiserwilhelm3933]

Holy Oranje-Nassau, het is Willem de Rapper.

[@iliashdz9106]

When your economics teacher tells you that you're unlucky to be born in the most politically complicated country that you know. You where born in the right country.

[@AsfandShahid]

were*

[@MarcelRecasens]

I'm sure there are plenty of more politically unstable countries in Africa or South America

[@anisanancy3858]

@@MarcelRecasens politically complicated isn’t the same as politically unstable

[@MarcelRecasens]

@@anisanancy3858 true

[@Triadii]

As wacky as it might be I actually like the cultural divide in Belgium. It is what makes the country unique.

[@oess855]

Just because it's unique doesn't mean it's good

[@BListHistory]

"We are DETERMINED to keep splitting up states until every one of our countries is the size of Luxemburg and no more than 4 speak the same language" -Europeans probably

[@historywithhilbert146]

City state stronk

[@SuperExodian]

i mean, that's often the case, isn't it. smaller states tend to prosper far more often than very large states. the only real problem with smaller states is smaller militaries, but, as long as you have a nuke or 2 as deterent, there's no real risk of invasion.

[@hornetgamer8980]

The irony being that the likes of Luxembourg and Monaco - or if we want to talk about more realistically sized nations but with strong subdivisions, Switzerland - are insanely rich. If you want to pop further east you can take the smaller gulf states, South Korea and Singapore, none of which are perfect and some of which have some very draconian laws, but relative to the rest of their regions they're countries whose people are doing very well for themselves. Whereas in the bigger countries like Britain, France, Germany, and dare I say it the US, (and if we want to pop further east let's throw Russia and China in there), they're incredibly powerful and in most instances wealthy countries, but with swathes of the country in pretty bad shape for the people who actually live there. There is arguably a size of country above which governing in the interests of all for the benefit of all becomes exponentially more difficult. Smaller is not automatically better. For all my examples above there are some extremely poverty-stricken small nations out there without the means to hope to change it, but if you can figure out how to carve out your niche in the world then size isn't a barrier to success.

[@darkmater4tm]

You have it completely backwards. States don't split so that there can be more languages. States split because they are ruling over dissimilar peoples. The natural way of things is for people to be both diverse and to have no clear borders. Any kind of uniformity or clear borders is the result of a state forcing everyone within its borders to convert to the culture of the capital (or exterminating the regional populations and replacing them with settlers from the capital).

[@renlysotherlover294]

B-List History hhahahahaa it really is one of the most ridiculous movements to arise in recent years. I’m glad Catalonia failed. I’m glad Scotland failed. I’m glad every time one of these silly movements fail including in my country the United States with the ridiculous california independence movements and in Texas.

[@Discontinuedalready7372]

_When France and Netherlands love each other very much_ *_BOOM!_* _We got Belgium. (Who has multiple personality disorder)_ _[[WARNING: French and Dutch nerds fighting in the replies]]_

[@tomvos5594]

@Nathan Verhoeven Not the point...

[@user-qs2nr3ee6l]

@@anaxco447 we are here to stay

[@jeffreywinkelman8671]

france and the netherlands don't love eachother, we hate eachother.

[@Tennoeno]

@@jeffreywinkelman8671 france doesn't even know your country exists you're too small

[@thomas-ir5ii]

@@Tennoeno smaller but still won wars against u with lesser men :)

[@ehanoldaccount5893]

"The French encouraged on Germanic lands" *Cough -A L S A C E L O R A I N E-

[@mtksbctk]

Le coq sticking it in the germania

[@jeantrublion4278]

*La marseillaise plays loudly*

[@stephenroney6490]

@@mtksbctk Did you just say your Cock sticking up Germans?

[@stephenroney6490]

What do you mean by encouraged? Do you mean encroached?

[@stephenroney6490]

Encouraged means telling folk to keep up the good work. Encroached means occupied.

[@Bb0909sh7]

As a Dutch person, I'm pretty sure about 90% of the Dutch population would love to have Flanders back.

[@floris9802]

@@AtrEdits we dont need hanicapt dutch people cuz that is pretty much what defines Belgium

[@bijtmntongaf]

Zuid-Nederland*

[@pqbdwmnu]

Floris Van der laan you spelled handicapped wrong, you’re disabled

[@floris9802]

@@pqbdwmnu thats the joke smartass

[@pqbdwmnu]

Floris Van der laan If your joke is so bad nobody can tell it’s a joke, you probably failed

[@agnieszkavanheirreweghe5837]

"Recently belgium had some issues" belgium has had issues from the day it was created.

[@bloodysteel2429]

agnieszka van heirreweghe its sad cus its true

[@maru-dy5ld]

Hou u mond trut niemand heeft u iets gevraagd

[@SG0041]

D F M ze mag toch haar mening geven e

[@maru-dy5ld]

Sabri Gaddari vind gij da goe of zo ons mooi België uitschelden

[@justsomebody7431]

Nope alleen vanaf het jaar 1912 maar nu gaat het al veel beter

[@kauemoura]

Belgium remains together by the sheer strength of its bureaucracy. :)

[@datarater]

I thought it was the monarchy and the football team which kept them together.

[@kauemoura]

Stephen Bishop nee, peut-être those from the Vlaanderen and Wallonie can't split because they can't parler each other's taal... So they all eat fries, waffles, and drink their beers whilst passive-agressivelly stare at their neighbours.

[@Surtak]

No there's a federal government. Something perhaps not strongly indicated in the video. The regional governments have a good degree of autonomy on a lot of issues, but the federal level is still strong.

[@Altrantis]

Having lived in Belgium for a year, coming from Latin America, I can attest that Belgium is, in fact, charicaturesquely bureaucratic. In fact, if I had to describe Belgium, I'd say they're: Patient, respectful, direct, stiff and bureaucratic.

[@anonUK]

"Red tape holds the nation together."

[@johanwittens7712]

Main reason for the early 19th century Wallonian riches and later decline was that wallonia was not just industrial, but almost entirely based on coal mining and steel production. In those days, coal and steel were the driving force of the industrial revolution and wealth creators. Flanders was poorer, but also had plenty of industry, mainly textiles. The city where i live for example Gent, had plenty of factories for textiles. But also, in flanders, the wealthy factory owners spoke french or were bilingual, because the wealthy in general mainly spoke french and the rich flemish factory owners copied them. French was the language of the wealthy bourgoisie up until WW1 - WW2. This already had roots in the 15th century, when flanders (and the netherlands) were the burgundian netherlands ruled by the burgundians and later the hapsburgs, who spoke french. French often was the language of the wealthy and ruling classes/government, even in flanders from the burgundian period on. After WW2, the economic focus in the western world shifted from coal and steel to oil. The coal mines in wallonia dried up and became to expensive to exploit, and the steel mills also gradually declined and took with them the wealth and jobs. Flanders however, because of the huge port at Antwerp and the smaller ports at Gent, Oostende and Zeebrugge, became ideally located for oil refining, chemical plants and pharmaceuticals,... all the post WW2 modern industries and wealth creators. That is the main reason the economic positions of Wallonia and Flanders shifted so drastically after WW2.

[@BK-mh7lu]

Johan Wittens kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGWxiXdjp7qXd5Y

[@theplayer2319]

Verviers had plenty of factories for textiles. My familly is from the province of Limburg, they moved to the province of Liège to find jobs.

[@johanwittens7712]

@@theplayer2319 yes true. There were definitely lots of factories in wallonia too. But the bulk of coal and steel production was located in wallonia. I think the only coal mines In Flanders were in Limburg, and that coal was only discovered in the early 20th century. And even then it was coal best suited for heavy industry, so it was almost all shipped to wallonia to Liege and the Borinage. Flanders had no heavy industry, only textiles and agriculture really. And that changed dramatically after WW2 with the petrochemical industry, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing industry starting in Flanders while the heavy industry in wallonia declined. And off course, I'm oversimplifying...

[@mad_fleming]

You are correct, just a minor nitpick. French speaking nobility in West and East-Flanders goes back way further than that. Possibly the 10th century even. As the County of Flanderd was de jure part of France.

[@Cendar100]

Hi, french speakers of Belgium pronounce the final "S" of cityies of "Anvers" or "Mons" but not for "Bruxelles", only the french from France say "Anver" (without S) or "BruXelles" (bruksel) "X" in city name is often pronounced "SS", so French-Speakers for "Bruxelles" pronounce "Brussel" like the Flemish In Belgium both Flemish and French speaker pronounce "W" the same as the English (Walloonian are not Valloonian ;) ) French from France pronounce "W" as "V" like the Germans

[@Suriner1]

Thank you for saying this. It annoyed me to no end to hear his pronounciations.

[@Suriner1]

@NarvaloTV All the French people from France I've talked to seemed to pronounce it wrong in the same way. Belgians are alright tho.

[@LeDingueDeJeuxVideos]

Correct, although I'm wierded out by what you say about the Frenchmen, I usually hea them prononce W just like we do

[@giogoro9811]

French speakers pronounce the W as a "W" we do not pronounce it like the germans at all

[@giogoro9811]

We only pronounce it as a "V" sound in the word "wagon" wich is the only exemple I have on the entire language

[@jonaw.2153]

Mooi gedaan Hilbert. +1 KZbinr pts. voor jou.

[@historywithhilbert146]

Dankjewel zeg!

[@swekker]

Allee welja das plezant (sorry io ben Nederlands)

[@callmeapple4013]

Lol

[@user-wl4sr4tl7f]

*Insert rightful Dutch Clay joke*

[@historywithhilbert146]

*Windmills intensifies*

[@boomburst8031]

1830 will commence again!!

[@truckerallikatuk]

Is not joke.

[@B100inCP]

But... it's not a joke...

[@arminbeintze2029]

Олег Оленев Germany is rightful part of Belgium

[@Krovald]

Top man. Ik kijk je video's nou een jaartje of zo. Echt leuk. Vrij diep en vol met relevante informatie, relatief tot hun lengte. Compact en toch niet te snel gesproken. Prettig stemgebruik; regelmatig wat bescheiden humor er in. Doe je goed!

[@meloniusplonius8971]

I love that every every video where Willem of Orange is mentioned, Stille Willem plays

[@TheEmpireDabsBack]

I can't believe it's taken me till now to actually realize those self centered Romans named the acts of love after themselves. Romantic. Romance. 🤔🙄

[@flemishbear9658]

holy sh*t me too because of ur comment.

[@deckie_]

Not really. The English did. The term "romance" refers to a cultural period, the Romance period. The beliefs held in this period originated in France mainly (although the Germans did have the Storm and Desire movement before that), and it was a response to the classical views of stoicism and neutrality. The French called it stuff more akin to sentimentalism, naturalism, realism (odly enough, very complicated term though). When these ideas came to over to the English, they called it French, or Romantic (romantic language). This is also where the term ''roman'' as the anticesis to ''novel'' comes from, this style of writing fiction was typically French / romantic.

[@leogreek3003]

In latin love is àmor and is not related with this

[@theplayer2319]

The expression french-kiss doesn't come from France either.

[@odinalstadheim9730]

You are making a lot of great content now, thank you for doing so

[@historywithhilbert146]

Gotta share the love for the festive season amirite? Thanks for all your support - makes it all worthwhile!

[@Sluretje]

Goed gedaan deze docu! Je belicht het ook vanaf meerdere kanten, en dat is erg goed! PROPS!

[@Jaimbro]

im surprised how accurate the memes you use are, since theyre national memes. Keep it up m88 enjoying it

[@Vulpiq]

Waarom zou hij geen Nederlandse memes begrijpen?

[@captainie1]

Thank you for a very clear, concise explanation. I genuinely learned a lot about a country that although I've not been to yet I look forward to visiting soon. Kind regards from Ireland.

[@megamelvin25969]

Am just here cause Belgium defeated Brazil today in football

[@megamelvin25969]

Now on my quest to know about Croatia.

[@simonclasse9435]

Are you Brazilian ?

[@megamelvin25969]

No just like soccer

[@abrahamvinod9804]

IT'S FOOTBALL

[@motanelustelistu]

Mel mel,and let me guess,this made the whole country feel pround and united,ei :P ?

[@cbabick]

I love this. Please make more videos on anything related; I studied linguistics, so that would be my preference, but I need to learn whatever you can share. People don't talk enough about Belgium.

[@sofiedemaeseneir3087]

Anyone from belguim?:( EDIT:thanks for all the likes yesterday i had 21 likes (Dankjewel voor de likes gisteren had ik nog maar 21 likes Edit 2:why are you Guys liking so much?

[@Privacy123]

I am!

[@_deanderin5145]

Thijs Lonneux me too

[@lachaise7096]

yep

[@nicofonce]

Present :)

[@nonamenoproblem8962]

Oui de Charleroi Ja, uit Charleroi

[@Phrenotopia]

Ever heard of "Plan N" proposed by Flemish law expert Matthias Storme? It was a proposal to solve a potential deadlock when Flanders would become independent, because in principle it would have to re-apply to the EU in order to become a member. Some French-speaking Belgians had threatened to undermine that process together with their allies (like France), so it would become really hard for the Flemish to re-join the EU. Mathias Storme postulated that Flanders could join the *kingdom* of the Netherlands on the same terms as the Dutch overseas territories, which in principle are automatically part of the EU. That way, Flanders would be independent, be only nominally part of the Netherlands (only for defense and foreign affairs) and remain EU-member. Great video BTW! They are getting better and better!

[@historywithhilbert146]

That's really interesting actually - I never really thought about that but I might include it in my video about possible scenarios for a Belgian split if that's the option that wins the poll. Thanks man!

[@Phrenotopia]

Hilbert, we should really have a talk about this, because I have been following this issue (the possible split of Belgium and reunification of Flanders with the Netherlands) for many years and could fill you in on it. I have many contacts and enlisted in several societies to these ends. :-)

[@WritingGeekNL]

Phrenomythic They can join the French Republic as well, never heard of French Guyana? Lol

[@Phrenotopia]

In a sense, they are already joined to France at the moment, that is the problem. LOL

[@myaccountgothackedgoogledo7571]

If you want to include it try to get into contact with him. He's very friendly and responds to a lot.

[@geeache1891]

The many comments show as well, as the video itself, why belgium is so divided ;)

[@skullbones7452]

lol

[@kekephk09]

a video full of mistakes*

[@jasondhuyvetters9200]

@@kekephk09 are you from belgium ?

[@gutentag617]

Because each side wanna be praised😂😂

[@imwinningthisone7613]

Barely any Belgians commented here, it's mostly Dutch people

[@sybdel1535]

Thanks for all people from Belgium who were very kind to me , my family and other Chechenian people , Wish you all good luck !

[@historynerd556]

I do love that he actually pronounces the Dutch names correctly.

[@saepe6772]

he is dutch.

[@crowhillian58]

As an Englishman I found the video interesting, giving me detail of a situation I knew very little about. I always find the comments very enlightening too, giving different perspectives and I congratulate you all on your perfect written English!! Thanks! Merci! Bedankt! Vielen Dank!

[@noavb7930]

crowhillian58 This video isn’t a good example of Belgium, this guy has more false information then right facts

[@imwinningthisone7613]

The guy that made the video is dutch, and that's the only language they can speak

[@imwinningthisone7613]

@@Biggie-Cheese9 His name, his accent and his references, combined with the amount of misinformation that he presents as "facts" lead me to believe he's Dutch. If he's British, that would make this channel even weirder, if he truly has no connection with the Netherlands, why is he so obsessed with it?

[@imwinningthisone7613]

@@Biggie-Cheese9 that comment didnt give any answers.

[@imwinningthisone7613]

@@Biggie-Cheese9 he didn't confirm it though. But if that is correct, then that confirms what i said 2 comments ago, he's just wannabe dutch.

[@Ezijo]

im from Belgium and it is great that someone from another country know us and talks about us goe gedaan jongeman

[@bookmouse2719]

Thank you for your explanation...I have an acquaintance that tried to explain the problem he had as a Dr. in that country and making sure he spoke the "correct" language for his patients .

[@LOEKASH]

I have no idea why this country still exists, but I'm glad that it does

[@NOVAFrederick]

Belgium? More like anti-maginot route

[@historywithhilbert146]

~ The nations of Europe minus the Netherlands, 1839

[@NOVAFrederick]

History With Hilbert Imagine if Belgium remained dutch, who knows we would've been at war with the Germans in WW1

[@hankcyrus9776]

NOVA maybe, but they did now that the shipments would stop.

[@flemishmilitant]

NOVA jew

[@NOVAFrederick]

flemish militant1302 el

[@emil3657]

as a dutchmen from Breda Noord-Brabant i welcome you with open arms flemish brothers. Antwerp is a beautiful city

[@GunterDierickx]

Greetings back from Southern-Brabant

[@thedankone1287]

Antwerpen is een parking

[@adrician]

@@thedankone1287 sws G Brussel for life

[@bibi4u200]

nice zoo you guys have there btw ^-^

[@1BIGREVOLUTION]

If your from Breda your Belgian, U talk with the soft G sound just like the rest of the southern regio of Netherland, only people from Belgium talk with soft G sound.. know your history.. Belg

[@ugothesheep]

Your map of the division of Belgium between France and the Holly Roman Empire is totally wrong as the main part of Wallonia was part of the "Principauté de Liège" itself part of the Holly Roman Empire. I'm in France and the nearest town in Belgium, Beaumont, was part of the Holly Roman Empire.

[@thibeau9949]

oow

[@hitca678]

also a part of Hainaut was a part of Flanders.

[@mad_fleming]

Also the original County of Flanders (West- and East-Flanders today) was part of France ironically.

[@martinejanssens1887]

Super interesting and well presented! Two thumbs up 👍

[@Nyerguds]

The thing about the world war 1 mess with commanders not giving orders in Flemish is _absolutely true,_ but it goes even further than that. My great-grandfather, being from a richer family, was a Flemish commanding officer during world war 1, and he was apparently _not allowed_ to give his troops orders in anything but French. He became a very driven flamingant because of it.

[@pollux141944]

Since all of us were not present it is difficult to know the anbiased truth. My grandfather fought the 4 years in the Yser trenches. He never ever mentioned this fact. A a kid I witnessed some of his meetings with some of his former comrades (since he lived with us) and never heard talking about this topic.

[@ericsalles3393]

Nyerguds also during world war 1 .apparently the French army didn't understand each ..as there are 30 odd different dialects and languages in France..so after the ear the French government tried to establish an official French..and forced French children to learn French of isle de France..Parisian French..a bit like Oxford English. my mother was not allowed to speak occitane at school ..just saying ..

[@matthiasroef]

They did. My grandfather told me a story about 2 brothers in his city who got put on trial and got executed for not understanding a charge command issued by a french speaking co. There’s a memorial for them

[@yvesremy7096]

Oh, that one again. Yes there were also Corsican soldiers executed for not understanding orders in French (and wondering why they got executed). And probably Alsatians got shot because they did not understand the German orders, etc. etc. The pain here is that flamingants want us to believe they were the only ones to suffer that fate. How about Walloon solders who could hardly understand French any better than Flemish ones? It's not French people sending Flemish to death - it's arrogant officers (often aristocrats) killing what they called "peasants". And a lot of French soldiers were also sent to death by their French officers, even though they clearly understood the orders; they knew it was suicide.

[@Valandix]

Yes that's true, and a Ietter from the FIemish soIdiers was sended to AIbert I; but come on that was a minority was compIaining about, back in the days, most of peopIe (Apart reaIIy poor peopIes) was capabIed to speak both Ianguages. And after the War, the King, and some sociaIist parties of VIaanderen and WaIIonie makes reform about the dominance of French. I'm waIIonian since my grand-grand-father moved to Moeskroen, stiII the major part of my famiIy are FIemish nationaIist, aII from Ypren or Coxyde. And stiII today at the "Commune à faciIité" (I don't know how to pronounce that in Dutch, but that's the communes near the Iinguistic borders), is pretty common to hear both Ianguages.

[@BLKPlutoh]

My God😱 so much more complicated than i realized. Borders are truly a present global discussion/concern. Thanks for this!

[@patratgames4712]

my great great grandfather died in ww1 because he didn't understand french

[@helenache851]

Ik ben van belgië en jou videos zijn top , maak veel want uw informatie is wel spanned

[@PhilZero]

Just wanted to say thanks for the videos. I’m from Canada, and I’ve always had a fascination with the Low Countries. Can’t wait to travel here again

[@jeanbethencourt1506]

Belgium exists today because Spain reconquered it from the Dutch republic, creating the modern border separating Belgium and the Netherlands.

[@gerhardswihla1099]

@Jean Bethencourt If you throw in the Spanish you should also say something about the House of Habsburg and Austria and that it wasn't only a question about language areas, also about territorial and religious matters.

[@wouterberings6535]

Not reconquered. The Dutch left. We just stayed.

[@lyninthelowlands]

Loved the video thanks for the info!

[@ImperialStreak]

Informative video! Btw, your pronunciations are on point.

[@kassiperpro1378]

2:08 LMAOOO i can't breathe XD XD Geweldig XD Leve willem se zwijger!

[@clemish7090]

LOL IK GA DOOD VAN HET LACHEN

[@noahtonnekreek719]

Het is van studio massa, ze hebben veel meer van deze shit

[@clemish7090]

Noah Tonnekreek echt waar? Trouwens ik ben vlaamder

[@noahtonnekreek719]

IWaterFlaME - IMasteRS jep, zoek maar op, het is geweldig

[@clemish7090]

Okee lmao

[@phil..rubi123]

5:00 Wasn’t the liberation also due to the fact that the south of the Netherlands (aka Belgium) was predominantly Catholic but the government in the north (in Amsterdam or Haag?) was Protestants? So it was also the classic religious divide. I’m I correct Hilbert?

[@olivierbataille1998]

Indeed but this was one of several reasons.

[@Deines7]

Nowadays religion not major player in the Netherlands or Flanders. Germany also half protestant and catholic.

[@LeDingueDeJeuxVideos]

Yep, and Belgium wasnt represented well enough to our liking in the government

[@j.p.vanbolhuis8678]

It was the perception that was put forward at the time, (and still is). Religion did play a role, and much of the unrest was formented by the bishops in "belgium" ( quotation marks because belgium did not exist at that moment. Not because it does not exist now :) ). In reality NL has never been a protestant majority country.....

[@arnaudselvais6897]

There is full of historical mistakes in this video. E.g. The independence of Belgium did not happen because of the langage but because the Walloon and the Flemish were Catholic whereas the Dutch were protestant. Not at all because a part of the population wanted to speak french. Indeed, French wasn't spoken by the belgian population at that time, it came way later in the country. #CheckYourFact

[@chloeparmentier644]

Yes, the walloon speak walloon, not french..

[@stevenelsermans7095]

@the Belgian I have never met a patriotic Belgian, not in Flanders anyway. If you think we are so united for our country you are quite delusional. Look at the state of our goverment, and the split between us has existed since 1830. Two peoples, two cultures

[@stijneke2911]

@the Belgian I heard that Dutchland is lovely this time of year, although FrankEmpire and Greekland also sound okay!

[@gerarddewolf201]

@@stevenelsermans7095 I'm from Flanders, and I'm patriotic. One of the mistakes in the video is, by the way, that Flanders and Wallonia would be different in language and culture. I can agree about the language part, but flemish people are culturally closer to Walloon than they are to Dutch people. To be honest, I prefer to live in a union with the Walloon to getting in bed with the Dutch :-) Vive la Belgique - Leve België - L'union fait la force - Eendracht maakt macht !

[@user-gn1yz9ul2k]

​@@gerarddewolf201 Taal en cultuur zijn altijd onafscheidelijk verbonden. Hoeveel walen zouden bekend zijn met de werken van bv. Guido Gezelle of Hendrik Conscience, welke Vlaamse films/series doen het even goed in Wallonië als in Vlaanderen en waarom stemmen Vlamingen overtuigend anders dan Walen? Onze Vlaams Germaanse achtergrond is een wereld van verschil met de Romaanse Walen zowel op vlak van cultureel en politiek alsook onze algemene mentaliteit. België is geen natiestaat maar bestaat uit 3 verschillende volkeren. Dit wil natuurlijk niet zeggen dat België geen bestaansrecht heeft, we hebben ondertussen een gezamenlijke geschiedenis opgebouwd die nooit zal verdwijnen. Het zal moeite kosten, zeker op politiek vlak, om onze verschillen niet te groot laten worden als we ons land willen behouden.

[@ilyaskir1601]

8:33 also the mines closed in Wallonië and they couldn’t do any economy whereas Flanders could do trade on sea

[@BK-mh7lu]

Ilyas Kir kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGWxiXdjp7qXd5Y

[@bigozimak]

My head hurts when I think of Belgium and Switzerland. How do they even function with two or three official languages?

[@Surtak]

You think that's special? A lot of countries have multiple official languages. Russia has six.

[@jgroenveld1268]

Switzerland does a better job than Belgium and political situation in Belgium between each language group is our biggest issue.

[@nietname2468]

Michael Aleksovski switzerland has 4 languages and generally the whole system of our state is built on a different idea.

[@Beggar42]

Federal and Brussels' laws are published with a Dutch and French version side by side. As in, two columns each taking up one side of the page. Since absolutely 100% accurate translations are nigh impossible, it's always the version of the law in the local language that applies. I.e. in Flanders, it's the Dutch version, in Wallonia, it's the French (and German in the case of Eupen and Sankt Vith). It helps that French is a mandatory subject in Flemish schools (primary and middle) and Dutch in the Walloon schools. When Belgians from different language groups need to communicate, there's usually a brief negotiation of sorts to see who speaks the other's language better and you continue in that language. What also often happens is that each side just speaks their own language, which the other side understands, thanks to the aforementioned education system. An interresting aside is that Belgium has extensive anti-discrimination laws, covering race, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation ... but curiously omitted is language. It IS legal to discriminate based on someone's native language. Make of that what you will.

[@jinxd511]

nah Russia have only 1. Russia. others are just for very little minorities and never in main big cities only in vilalges.

[@starcascooldemoulin131]

i actually learned more about my country in this video then i ever did at school

[@roodborstkalf9664]

School are primarily intended for integrating young people in society, and not so much for learning things. So if you want to learn something forget schools. For the moment you can learn anything you want on the internet. Not sure if this will last.

[@scottwhitley3392]

It’s funny, ever since Belgium got really good at football the country has united more

[@blitosz]

Tho the belgium national team has more connection to the French side of the country

[@TimberTiMbErlAkE]

@@blitosz Who are the Flemish players in that team? I guess KDB, Vermaalen, Mertens, Van....., Wistel .... many I suppose

[@konraddobson]

That's always the case, but only temporarily.

[@RVP4Crew]

Thx for the simplified and consequently not comprehensive view on my country. Broadstrokes, but generally accurate enough. Could you provide references for the claim that post-war investment focused more on the northern part of the country? I find this an interesting angle that I had not heard of before. Thx again for the effort and the playful rendition of a Groot-Nederlandse flag. Quite innovative.

[@lennertdejaegher8947]

inserts stille Willem

[@redgrassgirl]

So many videos 😍😍

[@historywithhilbert146]

It's the Christmas Special innit

[@redgrassgirl]

Daddy Christmas came early? ;)

[@theRealAric25]

I really appreciate the pronunciation. History is awesome!

[@Pieter_Lion]

I applaud your dutch pronounciation, its perfect, i couldnt tell if you’re actually from belgium or the UK

[@angelotjuhh8911]

Haahah me too

[@arock9174]

Could you make a video about the differences between German and Dutch language?

[@historywithhilbert146]

Coming up!

[@fraser4982]

they are about as similar as English and German they are all Germanic languages sharing same base structure but apart form that they are different i mean i could never understand a German

[@Diederikk]

Dutch people didn't consider their language a different language from High German until the end of the 17th century. And the languages were basically the same then. We used to call our language and ourselves 'Duytsch' until we became an independent state. Joost van den Vondel called himself a poet of the Duytsch language for example. There's poems complaining about the French influence in our beautiful 'Nederduits'. If it weren't for the Habsburgs marrying into Spain, we likely would've considered ourselves the same people as the Germans to this day. Which ethnically, we kind of are, but culturally for the most part not anymore. Also a pretty unpopular alternate history after the second world war. History is full of happenstance with huge significance for the future like that.

[@ryanjuguilon7783]

Had Charles V not inherited the crowns of Castille and Aragon the Netherlands would be the center of the Habsburg empire, not Austria. It was the richest portion of the Habsburg land, and being the central territory would not feel neglected as it was during Charles and Philips reign when it was ruled by a viceroy. With a smaller empire the Habsburg will not split their land. The younger branch will inherit Bohemia, the next most important part of HRE. Modern germany will include the low countries as well as Austria and Bohemia.

[@Rosi_in_space]

Belgium is divided because it is the swinging door of Europe...

[@FDNY101202]

UUF

[@rolandje]

Hilbert, where the duck are you from? Your accent and pronunciation is so on point, it is impossible for me to pinpoint where you are from. Please enlighten me!

[@computerfan1079]

Utrecht? In ieder geval niet uit het zuiden

[@Michformer]

And I thought Quebec and Cameroon had quirky linguistic schisms...

[@PiimS23]

Great video 4:50 till 5:00 sums up your question the best. Spoiler alert: *buffer state*

[@sweetsweetwafflecones2747]

Hiya Hilbert, great video! As a Walloon, just letting you know that there are almost no differences between “Walloon french” and “French french”. The difference is comparable to British English and American English. The only huge difference I can think of is that we have different words for 70 and 90. Keep making these they’re great!

[@sweetsweetwafflecones2747]

Also I’m 100% certain that Waterloo is Walloon, all the signs are in french, all the people speak french and I googled it too so...

[@mad_haunter]

This is not true at all, most french are totally unable to understand Walloon, there's similarities because French and Wallon have the same origin (Langue d'oil) but that's it

[@ivanmacgar6447]

​@@mad_haunteryeah, French and Walloon are different languages coming from the Langues d'Oïl branch of Galloromance languahes, but the truth is that he's refering to the French spoken in Wallonia/Belgium as opposed to the French spoken in France, not comparing French and Walloon.

[@xavialguer1769]

Awesome video!

[@Dybbouk]

Well done! Great doc!

[@TheCedixd]

Quiet sad, tou didn't talk much about Eastbelgium. Our part is often forgotten by the Belgian, so please internet, don't forget us :)

[@nielshosdez4435]

Its wonderfull OstBelgiën😘

[@mad_fleming]

Finding an OstBelgien is like finding a unicorn :D. What do you guys think about the ehrm struggles between Flanders and the French-speaking?

[@superbibibobo]

At around 8:00, when you talk about the fact that Flemish didn't understand the orders they were given, bear in mind that the Walloons were speaking walloon, and didn't understood french either. Only the richer parts of society spoke french, and that goes for both part of Belgium.

[@roadstersmart]

Bullshit only a rare part of Walloons speak walloon, french in Wallonie is similar of french in France, accent is different, some expressions are different but the langage is the same

[@fabriceaxisa]

in 1914, walloon lower class were speaking walloon, flemish lower class were speaking flemish, and belgium upper class were speaking french. And as a french I can tell you that when people are spaking walloon , I don't understand a word. Walloon is a latin language, and is a close to french than Italian is close to french.

[@Valandix]

The predominance of French comes at 1930 with some educationaI reforms in WaIIonia, but during WW1 "The patois" stiII the domestic Ianguage of the Iower cIass, and stiII in WaIIonia we don't foIIow the French Academy's ruIe of the Ianguage. The french in waIIonia is going to be more and more divergent Iike the French Quebecois.

[@fetilu0975]

It is even more absurd to have 1 national language when half the population uses another root language

[@ShedowGame]

5:50 as a french who has close relations to waloons, the language is the exact same, they just have a kinda different accent but not strong at all like the quebec one, and there are some words and expression that we dont use in france

[@christopherdieudonne]

Great video However, you never mentioned why Brussels is French speaking but it's located in the Flemish part of the country. Is that information in another video you've made?

[@Fenris77]

French have this tendency to oppress other linguistic groups and cultures.

[@Fenris77]

True the English have been and in some minor way still opresses the Welsh and the Northern Irish (The REAL Irish not the Anglo-Scottish settlers). But France even went as far as forbidding especially the Betons from speaking and reading their own language plus the fact that while english speakers may often be arrogant they do have the ability to learn other languages and showing at least a modicum of respect most french today won't even learn any other language than french. The French opression of Breton and Flanders has been a remaining problem even today. Of course not to forget how Russia keep oppressing other cultures and linguistic groups within their precieved sphere.

[@Fenris77]

I meant that the flemmish (I think the language is called that as well) have been under the boot so to speak. I started learning english very early thanks to watching movies in english with swedish text of course and then basically started learning just like that (I would have learned french but sadly in my childhood I only truly liked one french made movie and that was the "Black Tulip"). How about the Elsas/Lothringe german in the border between France and Germany? The Breton was punished rather harsh after WW2 and historicaly the pre revolutionary France had an ancient marriage alliance with Bretagne which was broken when the royal family was murdered/executed and the republicans was the ones that started the true oppression there. But UK their history with their celtic peoples started when the Saxons became more powerful though except for a few areas like Ulster they worked more sinister tricks in "making the world England" by placing settlers all over the place and then it was the english church especially after the brake with Rome (Bibles was written in English after that which simply made it worse). The Scottish (An entire nation of big mouths) basically screwed themselves in the language department centuries before the conquest/Union.

[@melvinobianyor4919]

The spanish aswell

[@Fenris77]

Well, the nobility spoke french in England after Hastings at least the Normand nobility just like in Sweden the "official" language was northern german and remained even long after the Hansa was defeated.

[@mircomartinez2666]

@Super Doggo Huh? Most Alsatians and Lorrainians are ethnic German though. Best example for this would be Griezmann, at least until his father married his Portoguese mother or Sébastien Loeb.

[@planets9102]

Both Dutch and and French are spoken in Brussels

[@cas.l9615]

Sweaty anime nerd But most French

[@Vincrand]

I've been to Brussel a couple of times, good trying to get around with only Dutch. There is a vast majority French speaking. On top of this the French speaking don't have to learn Flemish/Dutch, but the Flemish do have to learn French.

[@arnaudselvais6897]

Haha lol, first langage in brussels, french, second langage, Arabian, third langage, English. Then indeed a bit of Dutch, mostly worker of the day.

[@arnaudselvais6897]

@@Vincrand that's not true, both communities have to learn the other langage at school.

[@Vincrand]

@@arnaudselvais6897 Since when? 2005-2010 it wasn't the case. If I remember correctly it is/was due to a trade deal. Also I've been t Brussels 4 times, Liège 3 times and have been on a holiday in the Ardennes. In non of these place could a native French speaker understand my Dutch (including the tourism sector). I'm Dutch, went to school in Flanders and French is the only class I failed (I'm borderline dyslextic and yes this has been tested). So I prefer to avoid speaking French.

[@danutzzz2064]

As an expat living in Netherlands this clip helps :) Good job!

[@lutzvonpeter9170]

Excellent again. How can someone not living in Belgium sum up this twisted mess so succinctly? I am impressed.

[@GoodVideos4]

Another country in Europe so divided - Switzerland. Have a video like this about Switzerland.

[@joshou3759]

#BELGIANLIVESMATTER

[@MrEvanfriend]

Belgian beers matter.

[@koenbobeldijk]

Joshou late comment but i spotted the ISP fan

[@nlbro2483]

Joshou i would belgium was part of the netherlands

[@josephancion2190]

Nidhogg Well, the french aren't bothered by the crime they're committing while smoking weed, they smoke more of it than The Netherlands.

[@asmartboi9485]

Ahem: Belgium is germanic France: wait up i need to do some tinkering.

[@11Survivor]

Anything germanic: *exists* France: France: France: _And I took that personally_

[@havedalDK]

Your pronunciation of "Belgien" was eargasm. Spot on.

[@ECrespo175]

Shout out to all the Flemish people in Belgium. You guys are awesome and I felt I can always communicate with a Flemish person in English without any problem. I've been to Brussels 6 times and always had problems in restaurants. It was very different when I went to Antwerp, Brugge, Ghent and Leuven. My Flemish friends always made sure the Brussels waiter spoke to them in Flemish, they always told me that by law they're suppose to speak both languages dont know how accurate that is.

[@Cervando]

Very little mention of the religious differences which played a bigger part historically than language.

[@ratelslangen]

Everything south of the rivers is catholic so its odd they didnt split.

[@superduperfreakyDj]

Uhm everyone in Belgium is catholic mate, always has been.

[@Cervando]

Ducky McDuckface That was my point. The main reason that Belgium separated was because of religious differences over the mainly Protestant Netherlands.

[@fraser4982]

ducky i think that is wrong i am pretty sure that the Flemish are protestants

[@superduperfreakyDj]

reaperz no mate, I am flemish and everyone is catholic. Well most of us are not religious but it's a catholic country

[@silentgamer779]

hil btw ben je nederlands? ik hoor aan je manier van spreken.maak ook video van die crash tijd geleden op die brug waar alle auto's op mekaar stonden in brand etc

[@o_d1559]

what are the coats of arms at 1:36? I do not recognize the middle one and the right one is the Bohemian lion?

[@JoannaHenwood]

HI, thank you for this, it's very interesting and helped me better understand the region. From an English perspective, I wonder why the Flemish speaking provinces didn't merge with the Netherlands, the German ones with Germany and the French ones with France in 1830? It seems the obvious solution. That said, Burgundy in France has a very Germanic cultural feel, despite being French-speaking, as does Strasbourg & Alsace. I find these border regions fascinating! :)

[@mkb6418]

Let it split already. Brussels can become a special district as capital of EU.

[@Cheezymuffin.]

No, it will lay in the netherlands and we will get to make the rules

[@lavadax2]

Birgilios Marmaroglou I like that :)

[@Cheezymuffin.]

@The Flying Dutchman no, the entire EU must become dutch clay.

[@titiusvicinius7041]

@@Cheezymuffin. We'll see, *France get annexion war goals against netherlands*

[@Cheezymuffin.]

@@titiusvicinius7041 *gains militairy axess in france and executes order 66*

[@Zarhynif]

5:48 trust me on this one, if some one would talk to you in a heavy accent then you wont be able to understand a word, im flemish and ppl in the neatherlands had no clue wtf i was saying so...

[@Lackari]

AnverS, the S isn't silent and wallon is really diferent than french, i myself can't understand wallon it's litteraly giberish for french speaker.

[@dontlaughtoomuch11]

Then you're not a french speaker!

[@anthonypaulin1853]

@@dontlaughtoomuch11 you're an idiot. Wallon is totally different. Speaking french with an accent doesn't mean your understand wallon.... And I'm wallon pia d'mes couilles ti.

[@---xc4yx]

@@dontlaughtoomuch11 Wallon is a patois thats being less and less spoken every year. But we all speak french tho

[@dontlaughtoomuch11]

@@---xc4yx Omg stay in France then, if you think so! I can understand them perfectly and I speak french.

[@dontlaughtoomuch11]

@@anthonypaulin1853 "Totally different" ==>in what universe, I understand them perfectly and I speak french, there are more dialects and local customary expressions but to call it giberish...

[@jgroenveld1268]

I’m rather impressed by your Pronunciation of the Flemish province names.

[@freekmulder3662]

He is Dutch so that might explain a bit

[@GeekInBelgium]

Not impressed by the "W" in "Wallonia" pronounced like a "V", like most French, but not like any Belgian, even the French speaking part ^^"

[@teufelhunden8308]

ehh it sounds forced

[@Beksgaard]

Slight danish protest: You make it look like Danmark was part of the Holy Roman Empire. We never were!

[@bobguy3939]

I knew non of that, thank you for the info.

[@randomperson2606]

Still shook that History with Hilbert has a KZbin channel and isn’t just a fb meme page