History With Hilbert's video: Why is Belgium so Divided

Belgium's history of linguistic division is as old as the country itself, the northern half being Dutch or Flemish speaking while the southern half is French or Walloon speaking. And we haven't even got into the German speakers living on Belgium's eastern fringes! The two larger language groups each attempt to rule their own independently having essentially segregated governments for Flanders and Wallonia, however the crisis of 2007 - 2011 showed that while the northern Flemings wanted more decentralisation and autonomy, the southern Walloons were dead set against it. Since then a split of Belgium along these lines has seemed inevitable, but this led me to question: how on earth did Belgium become so divided? The story will take us back to the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of France, William of Orange and the Eighty Years War, Napoleon, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Belgian Revolution and two World Wars so strap in because this is going to be a good one! Music Used: Sneaky Snitch - Kevin MacLeod Suonatore Di Liutto - Kevin MacLeod Constancy Part 3 - Kevin MacLeod Lightless Dawn - Kevin MacLeod Alternate History - Holfix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCVFU0CraFM Mystery - Holfix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_GORUTEthM Heroes - Co.AG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9yVZZIBqxI To the Ends - Kevin MacLeod Impact Alegratto - Kevin MacLeod "Impact Alegratto" - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License Up and Away - Holfix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YmM_... Special Entrances (in order): België - Het Goede Doel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTVnMO6cRfg Fijn Uitgedoste Barbaar - Stille Willem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FdEzwgOmtY Het Wilhelmus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwBrR_G70RE All images are from the Public Domain of Wikimedia Commons and Pixabay with the following exceptions: Flag of Rattachist Movement by Cedric de Launois: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode Related Videos of Mine: How to Pronounce Dutch Place Names: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYv6E... Let's Learn Some Basic Dutch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcSO-... How to Tell Apart Dutch, Frisian and Afrikaans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxyFy... The Netherlands, Holland, and the Low Countries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-VDm... The Dutch Tradition of Sinterklaas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTGhUXYpwVg&t=74s Why Zwarte Piet is NOT Racist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhepTDg5H7w&t=93s Explaining the Many Names of Germany: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GtWfXESskQ&t=257s What did Spain do in World War II? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzl2in6TUgs&t=54s History and Meaning Behind the French Flag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqs4LRn5_0w&t=166s A Tribute to the Dutch Republic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsVwh9HgK8c&t=10s Why did the Dutch Flag Change Three Times? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWFA0UTcwoA&t=13s Related Videos by Other Channels: Belgium - Geography Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TuMvWCbM-g Belgium for Dummies - Koen Van Roy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlwHotpl9DA Languages of Belgium - Langfocus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwjhfxFyhxk Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HistorywithHilbert Vid.me Channel: (RIP) https://vid.me/HistoricHilbert Twitter: https://twitter.com/HistorywHilbert Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/History-with... Send me an email if you'd be interested in doing a collaboration! historywithhilbert@gmail.com