The scholar debate has no clear beginning, but it defined the political evolution of Belgium during the XX th century.

During the postwar period, the need to educate society resulted in the creation of more schools. However, these schools were predominantly Catholic. The Liberals, who supported the creation of more public schools, challenged the Catholic government of the time (which governed from 1884 to 1950).

This tension started what are commonly called ‘Guerre Scolaires’, or School Wars. The dispute between whether schools should be of  Catholic or Public nature agitated the Belgian public. The First School War lasted from 1879 to 1884, while the Second School War lasted from 1950 to 1959.

In 1954, this problem heightened. The Belgian government was now composed mainly of Socialists and Liberals. This government tried to establish a law (the ‘Loi collard’) which put the Catholic Church at an economic disadvantage through the reduction of State aid to Catholic schools, and the construction of more public schools.     

The Catholic population showed their discontent through two civil demonstrations ( one in 1955 and another in 1958) of large attendance.

The conflict was solved with the ‘Pacte Scolaire’ of 1958. In hindsight, we can conclude that this Pact benefited the Catholics, who nowadays have a greater share of students in their schools. It also  recognized both education systems in an official  government  document.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. Benz, W., Graml, H., Henke, K.-D., Loth, W., Raulff, H., Robel, G., & Woller, H. (1986). Los Estados del Benelux. In W. Benz, H. Graml, K.-D. Henke, W. Loth, H. Raulff, G. Robel, & H. Woller, Historia Universal Siglo XX: el siglo XX; II. Europa después de la segunda guerra mundial 1945-1982. Tomo 1 (pp. 150-154). España: Siglo XXI de España Editores, S.A.

2. Varin, Caroline, ‘Education in a federal system: A case-study of Belgium’ 17 April 2006. CUREJ: College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal, University of Pennsylvania, http://repository.upenn.edu/curej/24.

As of today, Belgium is ‘a federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy’. For that reason, Belgian monarchy and succession was very relevant throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. (Doucy, et al., 2018)

Among all of the reigns, the most notable was Leopold III’s. It gave way to a conflict among Belgian society, which had political and economic consequences due to its magnitude, and which concluded in the sudden abdication of the King. 

In order to explain it properly, we have to take a proper look at the political tendencies underlying  in the different regions of Belgium. The two most important ideological tendencies during these period were the inclinations of Flanders and Wallonia.

The Flemish, while considered as socially inferior to some Walloons, were more inclined to monarchy than them. That is why, when the conflict arose, they sided with Leopold III, even if in the end, they started parting from this idea.

The Walloons, though economically better off, and therefore regarded as a higher social class in ample terms,  however, opposed to Leopold III as soon as the conflict took place. This is because Walloons have had less links with Belgian monarchy, sharing roots with their French neighbors, were monarchy was unsuccessful and a Republic was established after the French Revolution.

The dispute arose within the context of the german occupation in the Second World War. Leopold argued that Belgium had to remain in a neutral position during World War Two. because the State had always been known for its position of neutrality during conflicts.

For this reason, the government started suspecting that he sympathized with Hitler’s Germany. The government wanted him to allow France and other Allies to pass through Belgian territory and to allow Belgium to aid other Allies, since it was under german occupation. However, he refused and the government believed that this went against Belgium’s Constitution.

His popularity among Belgian society started to fall, specially after his marriage with Lilian Baels (very shortly after the death of the beloved Queen Astrid or Astrid of Sweden) which was looked down upon by Flemish society. Nonetheless, he started gaining respect during his period of German captivity  and his posterior exile in Sweden.

               (Biografías y Vidas)    (Public domain)      (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2017)

From left to right: King Leopold III; Astrid of Sweden; Princess Lilian Baels.

After World War Two, a referendum took place in 1950 in order to decide whether the King came back or not. It concluded with the return of Leopold III. This was thanks to the support of Flanders’ population, which remained loyal.

However, the conflict was left unresolved. Tension started to increase; Belgians went out to the streets, and in order to end with this situation, the King abdicated in 1951, leaving the throne to his son Baudouin.

IMAGES:

1. Biografías y Vidas. (n.d.). Leopoldo III. Retrieved from Biografías y Vidas: https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/l/leopoldo_iii.htm
2. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2017, July 27). Lilian, Princess of Réthy. Retrieved from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilian,_Princess_of_R%C3%A9thy#/media/File:Lilian_baels.png

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. Benz, W., Graml, H., Henke, K.-D., Loth, W., Raulff, H., Robel, G., & Woller, H. (1986). Los Estados del Benelux. In W. Benz, H. Graml, K.-D. Henke, W. Loth, H. Raulff, G. Robel, & H. Woller, Historia Universal Siglo XX: el siglo XX; II. Europa después de la segunda guerra mundial 1945-1982. Tomo 1 (pp. 150-154). España: Siglo XXI de España Editores, S.A.

CITED WORKS:

1. Doucy, A. J., Van der Wee, H. F., Lamberts, E. L., Van Molle, L., Murphy, A. B., & Materné, J. M. (2018, December 3). Belgium. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/place/Belgium

WEBGRAPHY:

1. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2018, December 1). Royal Question. Retrieved from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Question

2. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2018, December 1). Leopold III of Belgium. Retrieved from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_III_of_Belgium