Word: walloons
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Although the issue is much deeper, the symbol of the Flemish-Walloon struggle for power is language. Seven years ago the country was divided into Walloon and Flemish-speaking districts, with French being official, however, in Eupen and Malmedy, the districts won from Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. Last year the Army was divided into Flemish and Walloon regiments. Many Parliamentary debates are now held in Flemish...
...Flemings, however, far from being satisfied, are still irked by several important Walloon "islands"' within Flemish territory. Last year a gang of Flemish patriots invaded one island-Enghien-and started to paint out French signs. They were driven off by Walloons who threw pails of water at them. Most notable island, however, is Brussels, the capital, once a Flemish city but now French. The Flemings now threaten to "retake" Brussels and flamandize...
...late King Albert was pro-French to the core, but his son, the present young and earnest King Leopold III, has consistently appeased the Flemings. Against this rising Flemish tide the Walloons have become desperate. On the battlefield of Waterloo recently leading Walloon orators significantly spoke of ties with France, just as the Flemish Nationalists look toward The Netherlands. Never before in Belgium's history has the unity of the country been so threatened...
Against this background of struggle month ago a mediocre physician, Adrian Martens, who had been sentenced to death in 1918 (and later reprieved) for plotting Flemish autonomy with Germany, was appointed a charter member of the newly created Flemish Academy of Science. The Walloons were furious and the Cabinet of Premier Paul Henri Spaak fell on that issue. It was suspected that King Leopold had backed the appointment. After that Belgian statesmen struggled to form Cabinets, failed in dizzy succession. Soon the suspicion was rife that the King had dictatorial ambitions. Last week a shortlived Cabinet-that of Walloon Premier...
...Belgian Cabinets these days are as flimsy as playing-card castles. Month ago King Leopold III accepted Premier Paul Henri Spaak's resignation in the Flemish v. Walloon crisis caused by patriotic War veterans (TIME, Feb. 20). He asked Walloon Catholic Henri Jaspar, who had been Premier from 1926 to 1930, to form a new Cabinet. After two days of fruitless interviews, Jaspar gave up; 36 hours later he died of a stomach ulcer about which he had told no one. Former Cabinet Minister Hubert Pierlot, also a Walloon-Catholic, tried next. He built up a Cabinet of Catholics...