Greater Belgium with less common claims in light green

Greater Belgium (French: Plus Grande Belgique, Dutch: Grotere België) is a Belgian irredentist concept which lays claim on territory nationalists deem as rightfully Belgian. It usually laid claim to: German territory historically belonging to the former Duchy of Limburg (Eupen-Malmedy), Dutch Limburg, Zeelandic Flanders, and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.[1][2] To a lesser degree, they also claimed the Dutch province of North Brabant[3] and the French Netherlands (Nord-Pas-de-Calais).[4] Shortly after the Belgian Revolution, some groups even proposed a Belgo-Rhine federation.[5] Nowadays, belief in Belgian irredentism is very uncommon and overshadowed by talk of partitioning Belgium or the incorporation of Flanders into the Netherlands (see Greater Netherlands).

History

Belgian Revolution

Belgium between 1830 and 1839

Main article: Belgian Revolution

When the Belgian state became de facto independent from the Netherlands in 1830, it initially also encompassed eastern Limburg (except for Dutch-occupied Maastricht) and eastern Luxembourg (except for Prussian-occupied Luxembourg City). The young state also claimed North Brabant and Zeelandic Flanders, but was unable to conquer this territory. In 1839, Belgium's borders were officially recognised, but it had to give up eastern Limburg and Luxembourg. Afterwards, some Belgians fought to retake these territories. Even King Leopold II made plans to invade the north.[6]

The Great War

After World War I, Belgian irredentism became relevant again as the claims were seen as reparation. The Belgians viewed the Netherlands' actions during this war as collaboration, and because of this, the Belgian state claimed Zeelandic Flanders and Dutch Limburg once again. After negotiations, Belgium only gained the German territory of Eupen-Malmedy through the Treaty of Versailles.[2] This could be seen as the first and only success the Belgian irredentists achieved on the European continent.

In 1919, Luxembourg held a referendum which could've led to a Belgian on the throne, but this was rejected by its population.[7] However, Belgium and Luxembourg did create an Economic Union shortly afterwards, which led to greater economic collaboration.

After World War II, Belgium again annexed a few German border regions, although it returned most of them in 1958, keeping only the towns of Losheimergraben (Büllingen) and Leykaul (Bütgenbach).[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Les rêves d'une Grande Belgique (1916-1921) | Connaître la Wallonie". connaitrelawallonie.wallonie.be. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  2. ^ a b Kossmann, E. H. (1970-11-02), "The Low Countries", The New Cambridge Modern History, Cambridge University Press, pp. 359–384, doi:10.1017/chol9780521076180.013, ISBN 978-1-139-05579-6, retrieved 2021-08-08
  3. ^ "Noord-Brabant en de Opstand van 1830". uitgeverij-zhc.nl. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  4. ^ DBNL. "De Franse Nederlanden / Les Pays-Bas Français. Jaargang 1979 · dbnl". DBNL (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  5. ^ DBNL. "Bijdragen en Mededelingen van het Historisch Genootschap. Deel 76 · dbnl". DBNL (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  6. ^ "Leopold II wilde Nederland binnenvallen". De Standaard Mobile (in Flemish). 23 June 2009. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  7. ^ Elections in Europe : a data handbook. Dieter Nohlen, Philip Stöver (1st ed.). Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos. 2010. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7. OCLC 617565273.((cite book)): CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. ^ "GR-Atlas - GA081 1956: Aachen-Bildchen ..." archive.is. 2013-02-21. Archived from the original on 2013-02-21. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
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