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Country : Belgium Official name: Royaume de Belgique (French), Koninkrijk België (Dutch), Königreich Belgien (German) (Kingdom of Belgium) |
Historical profile
In the eighth and ninth centuries, the area which is now Belgium was part of the Charlemagne empire. It achieved independence by the tenth century. Flemish towns, with their large textile industries, enjoyed great financial and political power.
1322 The area fell under French control again.
1419 The accession of Philip of Burgundy ended a period of instability.
1477 The Low Countries (Belgium and the Netherlands) passed to the Habsburgs of Spain on the death of Philip's son, Charles the Bold.
1500–55 Under the reign of Emperor Charles V, Antwerp was a leading commercial centre and financial centre.
1555–98 Reign of Philip II, King of Spain. The Belgians and the Dutch reacted against the tyranny of Philip II. There was trouble between the protestants and the catholics.
1580s The northern Netherlands managed to secede. King Philip reconquered the south, where catholicism was imposed. The leading traders and intellectuals migrated to the north.
1598–1621 Under Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabella (daughter of Philip II), the southern Netherlands (Belgium excluding Liège) became semi-autonomous.
1648 The Peace of Westphalia confirmed this position.
1700–13 The War of the Spanish Succession resulted in the southern Netherlands passing to the Austrian Habsburgs. Liège remained independent within the Holy Roman Empire.
1790 The United States of Belgium was established after a local revolution inspired by the French revolution.
1792 French troops conquered the southern Netherlands and Liège.
1793 The Austrians reoccupied the territory.
1794 The southern Netherlands and Liège were invaded by the French and the newly integrated territories were annexed to France. When Napoleon came to power, Belgium became part of the French empire.
1814–15 After the defeat of Napoleon, the allies met at the Congress of Vienna and decided to unite the northern and southern Netherlands and the princedom of Liège under the rule of King William I. The catholic church refused to accept a protestant King. William tried to impose Dutch in Flanders. The young Walloon and Flemish upper classes, which spoke French, were afraid that their careers would be affected.
1828 The Catholics and young Liberals formed an association called Unionism and drew up a programme of demands.
1830 Revolution erupted in Brussels and the south broke away from the north and formed an independent Belgian state.
1831–65 Leopold I of Saxe-Coburg became the first King of the Belgians.
1865–1909 His son Leopold II succeeded him. He backed expeditions to Africa. In 1908, Congo was transferred to the Belgian state.
1909–34 King Albert I reigned.
1914 Following the outbreak of the First World War, Germany invaded Belgium and the country became a battlefield until the end of the war in 1918.
1918–39 Inter-war years saw rapid industrialisation, developing colonial wealth in Africa and the forging of regional links, leading to the Belgo-Luxembourg Economic Union (BLEU).
1940–45 Belgium was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany.
1947 Belgium formed a customs union with Luxembourg and the Netherlands, known as Benelux.
1951 King Leopold III, who had been on the throne since 1934, abdicated in favour of his son, Baudouin (Boudewijn) I.
1958 Belgium was a founder member of the forerunner of the EU, the European Economic Community (EEC), with Brussels becoming the favoured location for the organisation.
1960 Belgium withdrew rapidly from the Belgian Congo.
1970s There was a succession of unstable coalition governments.
1979–92 Christian Democrat Wilfried Martens was appointed prime minister twice during this period, with Mark Eyskens serving for some months in 1981.
1992 Jean-Luc Dehaene was appointed prime minister.
1993 King Baudouin I died and was succeeded by his brother, Albert II. Belgium became a federal state.
1999 Belgium was one of the first 11 countries to adopt the euro. Guy Verhofstadt was appointed prime minister.
2001 A government reform package was approved, which provided more money for schools in the French-speaking communities of the south and more political influence for the Dutch-speaking Flemish around Brussels even though they are a minority.
2002 The euro officially went into circulation, replacing the Belgian franc as Belgium's national currency.
2003 The May parliamentary elections were won by the Vlaamse Liberalen en Demokraten (VLD) (Flemish Liberal and Democrats), led by Guy Verhofstadt, who formed a coalition government in July, which included the Socialistische Partij Anders-Spirit (SPA-Spirit) (Socialist Party- Spirit), Parti Socialiste (PS) (Socialist Party) and Mouvement Réformateur (MR) (Reform Movement.
2004 A new government was sworn in on 20 July.
2005 After failing to resolve a dispute between French and Dutch speakers over the re-drawing of the country's biggest electoral district, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt's liberal-socialist coalition government comfortably won a parliamentary vote-of-confidence on 13 May.
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