After the 2nd World War

The events of the occupation during the 2nd World War further sharpened distinctions and increased the distance between Flemish and Walloon.

Despite there having been a Wallonian fascist movement, which collaborated with Hitler (Léon Degrelle’s Rexist party), Flemish collaboration with the Nazis was nonetheless perceived after the war as having been more profound. Influential circles within the Flemish Movement cooperated closely with the German occupier.

1950: The question of the King’s loyalty revealed significant differences between the sensibilities of the Flemish and Walloons with regard to dealing with recent wartime history and the role played by the sovereign. At best the Walloons accused King Leopold III of an ambiguous attitude towards Nazi Germany, at the worst of disloyalty. The most important charges against him were:

• His policy of neutrality in the face of German aggression only served to encourage Hitler’s decision to invade Belgium;
• He did not leave for London to lead the Belgian government in exile;
• He did nothing to prevent the deportation of Belgian workers to forced labour in Germany.

A commission of enquiry eventually rejected these and other accusations against the King. In a referendum held in 1950

• 42% of Walloons, but
• 72% of Flemings and thus
• 57,7% of the total Belgian population voted for the return of the King to the throne.

However, when the government went ahead with the re-instalment of Leopold III to the throne, a general strike was called in Wallonia. Belgium teetered on the brink of civil war. The King wisely renounced the throne, abdicating in favour of his son Baudouin I.

The 1950s witnessed a drastic decline in Wallonia’s traditionally strong heavy industries, rendering many firms economically unviable and leading to mass lay-offs. Simultaneously Flanders was experiencing an economic boom thanks to lower average wages and higher rates of investment in industrial infrastructure, such as the ports of Antwerp, Gent and Zeebrugge.

The growing economic crisis and the “winters of discontent” of 1961-1962 radically exposed the economic divisions that were tearing the country apart:

• At the end of the 1960s a so-called “unified law” was intended to raise taxes and drastically diminish government spending.
• The socialist trades unions called for strikes in Wallonia. The striking workers not only demanded the abrogation of the law, but also called for the autonomy of Wallonia in matters of economic policy.
• The strikes got out of control, violent elements went on the rampage, even resulting in loss of life.