Welcome to The Flemish Republic
Why the Belgian federation should be dissolved and Flanders should become an independent state. |
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 Frequently asked questions
Why isn’t Belgium fully bilingual?
During the period of the French occupation (before the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815) the Flemish middle class began to speak French. The brief reunification with the Netherlands (1815-1830) could not undo this. In 1830 Belgium was created in order to make a Francophone vassal state, which would be oriented completely towards France. Belgium was then governed by the Walloon minority and the French-speaking Flemish elite. The majority of people in Flanders had no political power at all. It was only with great difficulty that the ‘Flemish Movement’ succeeded in saving Flanders’ Dutch language and culture.
Flemish proposals to make Belgium completely bilingual were rejected by the Walloons. Most French speakers thought that they, as speakers of a ‘universal language’ had no need to learn Dutch. Unfortunately, many French-speakers still think this. To this day, many Francophones look down on Flanders and Flemish people with a contempt that sometimes hints at racism.
Several federal ministers and some members of the Belgian royal family either do not speak Dutch or only speak it very poorly. In Flemish schools, French is obligatory as a second language, with English and German taught as third and fourth languages. In Wallonia, on the other hand, many students choose to study English instead of Dutch as a second language. This means that Walloons are generally unfamiliar with Dutch culture.
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