Book contents
- A Concise History of Belgium
- Cambridge Concise Histories
- A Concise History of Belgium
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Introduction
- 1 Earliest Times
- 2 The Era of the Frankish Kingdoms
- 3 The Origins of the Medieval Principalities
- 4 Unifying the Netherlands: The Burgundy–Habsburg Period (1384–1555)
- 5 The Spanish Netherlands (1555–1700/1713)
- 6 The Austrian Netherlands (c.1700–1780)
- 7 The Formation of a New Nation-State (1780s–1830)
- 8 The Consolidation of a Bourgeois Regime (1831–1880s)
- 9 The Belgian Nation-State at Its Height (1880s–1945)
- 10 The Metamorphoses of a Nation-State (from 1945 to the Present Day)
- General Conclusion
- Appendix: List of Rulers, Sovereigns and Heads of State (1419–Present) and of Governors General (1507–1794) of the Southern Low Countries and Belgium
- Further Reading
- Index
9 - The Belgian Nation-State at Its Height (1880s–1945)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 March 2023
- A Concise History of Belgium
- Cambridge Concise Histories
- A Concise History of Belgium
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Introduction
- 1 Earliest Times
- 2 The Era of the Frankish Kingdoms
- 3 The Origins of the Medieval Principalities
- 4 Unifying the Netherlands: The Burgundy–Habsburg Period (1384–1555)
- 5 The Spanish Netherlands (1555–1700/1713)
- 6 The Austrian Netherlands (c.1700–1780)
- 7 The Formation of a New Nation-State (1780s–1830)
- 8 The Consolidation of a Bourgeois Regime (1831–1880s)
- 9 The Belgian Nation-State at Its Height (1880s–1945)
- 10 The Metamorphoses of a Nation-State (from 1945 to the Present Day)
- General Conclusion
- Appendix: List of Rulers, Sovereigns and Heads of State (1419–Present) and of Governors General (1507–1794) of the Southern Low Countries and Belgium
- Further Reading
- Index
Summary
While he lived in Brussels between 1864 and 1866, the French poet Charles Baudelaire wrote a pamphlet later known as Pauvre Belgique! (“Poor Belgium!”). In this unfinished work, he expressed his aversion for the country and its inhabitants. He presented Belgium as a pretentious “homunculus” – an artificially created small human being – that was “the outcome of an alchemical operation of diplomacy.” According to him, the Belgians were lazy, avaricious, stupid, and conformist – somewhere “between the ape and the mollusc.” This rather harsh judgment may have sprung from his personal frustrations; at that time, he was confronted with financial, personal, and health problems. Nevertheless, the idea that Belgium was an artificial creation was by no means a Baudelairian idiosyncrasy. As we saw earlier, other prominent European personalities – including leading politicians – shared this view.
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- A Concise History of Belgium , pp. 280 - 310Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023