>>4895> can you tell something about Belgian history and modern relationship with other countries?
Belgian history is kind of short, this country is less than 200 years old -- but of course the history of the region precedes the independence. The southern Netherlands (Belgium) used to be one (well, not quite - they were still divided in several smaller feudal territories) and the northern Netherlands grew apart because of the Habsburg continuing occupation of the south, while the north gained independence. The south remained catholic, first governed by the Spanish Habsburgers, then governed by the Austrian Habsburgers, while in the north protestantism (and with it proto-capitalism) flourished. The south of the modern Netherlands (so not Belgium) is also catholic and has a lot in common with Belgium (same religion, same village-minded people, similar physique and same popularity of beer). During the Austrian rule of the southern Netherlands (Belgium), the "Brabant revolution" occurred. The people were fed up with the Austrian emperor Joseph II and thought he meddled too much with local affairs. So they revolted and founded a republic: the so called "United States of Belgium". However, this revolution was a failure, as in October of the same year the Austrians already recovered their control of the southern Netherlands.
After the French revolution, and the following French expansion, France annexed the southern Netherlands (Belgium). When France was defeated by the other powers of Europe, they had to give up the southern Netherlands (Belgium). The great superpowers (Great Britain, Prussia, Austria and Russia) decided to give (most of) the southern Netherlands to the north, to create a buffer state to help keep France in check and away from Prussia.
However, the south was sort of oppressed by the north (the south was much more heavily taxed than the north), and there were religious and cultural differences. This led to the Belgian revolution of 1830. This revolution was succesful, because of the backing it received from France, and Great Britain acting as a negotiator, the Netherlands eventually had to recognize Belgiums independence.
Nowadays, there's tension between the north and the south of Belgium -- because of differences in language and politics, mainly. There is a Flemish nationalist movement, that wants to split the country in half. I'll refer to a post I made on .gs/zoo/
http://britfa.gs/zoo/res/8439.html#8444> modern relationship with other countries?
Belgium has no enemies, as far as I know. We get along with our neighbouring countries, and we as a small country haven't pissed anyone off enough for them to hate us -- except for the D.R. Congo, which used to be a Belgian colony, and which was severely exploited.
