Word: walloon
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...normal size. But of greater concern to the Belgians than the meager harvest or the tempestuous weather was a new law that goes into effect this week, creating a formal language barrier across the land. Dutch will be the official tongue in the Flemish north, French in the Walloon-dominated south, with pockets of both peoples stranded on the wrong side. Months of demonstrations culminated last week when hundreds of Flemings clashed with Walloons at Ostend...
...Charleroi, the Walloon banners screamed "No to a Flemish dictatorship!" An orator in Flanders shouted, "We reject all further compromises!" The angry shouts over much of Belgium last week were the latest outbursts in the ancient hostility between the nation's 5,250,000 Flemings in the north who speak a language related to Dutch, and the 4,000,000 French-speaking Walloons in the south. Since Belgium seceded from The Netherlands 133 years ago, the numerically superior Flemings have always resented the traditional economic and social superiority of the Walloons. "We're the only country in Europe...
...compromise was a failure, and last week demonstrations broke out in Brussels and Louvain, both of which are north of the line and both of which have always been accorded a measure of bilingual status. At Louvain University, Walloon professors and students went out on strike, boycotting lectures and classes in protest over the proposed bilingual split of the traditionally French-speaking university. In an attempt to solve the explosive situation, Premier Lefevre called for a two-week "language armistice" while his government tried to work out another compromise. But with Parliament split along language lines, there was little hope...
...about for new faces," said Lefevre. Hope was that the next government would conveniently forget to implement the Loi Unique, thus permit Socialists and Catholics to patch over the ugly cleavages opened during the past five weeks. If there was any consolation, it was that the smoldering antagonisms between Walloon and Fleming, Catholic and anti-Catholic, royalist and republican, had spent themselves in inconclusive exhaustion...
Victory would not necessarily be lasting. Whatever his fellow - Socialists in Parliament might do. Andre Renard was prepared to fight on. In his Walloon stronghold of Namur. 400 Socialist political leaders passed a resolution demanding that the Walloons should be free to break away and "choose their own means of social and economic expansion." At week's end Renard still commanded his loyal crowds, still recklessly kept his country balancing on the edge of anarchy...