BELGIUM (Fr. Belgique ; Flem. Belgie) , an independent constitutional State occupying an important economic position in north-west Europe. Its neutrality was guaranteed by the treaties of 1831 and 1839, but was abolished by the Treaty of Versailles (1919), when Belgium was given full freedom in directing her foreign policy. It was formerly part of the Low Countries (q.v.). The name Belgium came into general use only with the founda tion of the modern kingdom in 1830, but its derivation from ancient times is evident. The first Belgic tribes, considered to have been Celtic, reached the area from the region between Elbe and Rhine about the 4th century B.C. ; but at the time of the Roman conquest they were considerably mixed with Germanic elements. From the Roman use of Gallia Belgica, the adjective came to distinguish the inhabitants of the south Netherlands.
During the crusades and throughout the middle ages the term Belgicae Principes frequently occurs, and when in 1790 the Bra bancons rose against Austria, their leaders proposed to give the country the name of "Etats-Belgiques unis." In 1814, too, on the expulsion of the French, the creation of an independent State under that name was suggested. It was not until 183o, on the collapse of the united kingdom of the Netherlands, that the pro posal was given effect. The lack of linguistic unity in Belgium reflects the complex origins of the people. Flemish, a Germanic tongue, is spoken in the two Flanders (West and East), in the provinces of Antwerp and Limburg and in the northern half of Brabant, i.e., in the area corresponding to the territory invaded by the Franks in the 4th century A.D. French and its "Wallon" patois are spoken throughout the south of the country. Dating from the Roman occupation, this language has maintained itself here owing to the broken and forested nature of the country.
From 183o until shortly before the war of 1914, French was the sole official language of the country. At the present time the two languages have equal rights. Belgium lies between 49° 3o' and 51 ° 3o' N., and 2° 32' and 6° 24' E., and is bounded by Hol land on the north and north-east, by Prussia and the grand duchy of Luxembourg on the east and south-east, by France on the south and west, and by the North sea on the north-west. Its frontiers measure 1444.5km., divided as follows : Holland (449.5 ) Prussia (161.5) ; Luxembourg (148.0) ; France (620•0) ; North sea Geology.—Belgium lies upon the northern side of an ancient mountain chain which has long been worn down to a low level and the remnants of which rise to the surface in the Ardennes, and extend eastward into Germany, forming the Eifel and Westerwald, the Hunsriick and the Taunus. Westward the chain lies buried beneath the mesozoic and tertiary beds of Belgium and the north of France, but it reappears in the west of England and Ireland. It is known as the "Hercynian chain," and is composed entirely of palaeozoic rocks. Upon its northern margin lie the nearly undis turbed cretaceous and tertiary beds which cover the greater part of Belgium. The latest beds involved in this mountain folding belong to the coal measures, and the final elevation must have taken place towards the close of the Carboniferous period. The fact that in Belgium jurassic beds are found upon the southern and not upon the northern margin indicates that in this region the chain was still a ridge in Jurassic times. In the Ardennes the rocks which constitute the ancient mountain chain belong chiefly to the Devonian system, but Cambrian beds rise through the Devonian strata, forming the masses of Rocroi, Serpont, Stavelot, etc. These outcrops correspond to transverse folds. The Ordo vician and Silurian are absent here, and the Devonian rests un conf ormably upon the Cambrian ; but along the northern margin of the palaeozoic area, Ordovician and Silurian rocks appear, and beds of similar age are also exposed further north in consequence of successive denudations which have worn down the Hercynian folds and swept away the tertiary deposits. Carboniferous beds occur in the north of the palaeozoic area. Near Dinant they are folded amongst the Devonian beds in secondary synclines, but the most important band runs along the northern border of the Ardennes. Here are the coalfields of Liege, Charleroi and Mons, in a long narrow trough which is separated from the older rocks of the Ardennes by a great reversed fault, the faille du midi. Tangential movements along a thrust plane inclined to the south have resulted in the northward thrust of a large portion of the Devonian beds of the Ardennes, which thus rest on younger formations, notably on the coal beds in the middle of the trough. Borings at Pepinster have reached coal at a depth of 70o metres. The coal beds to the north of the great fault have therefore a different structure from those to the south.
Another consequence of tectonic movements was the transverse anticlinal dome of Samson, which, in lifting the lower beds, brings the carboniferous limestone to the surface, interrupting between Namur and Andenne the coal deposits of central Belgium.
Soundings carried out in the Campine (north-east Belgium), a few years before 1914, revealed the existence, at a depth of several hundred metres, of coal deposits thought to be of very great im portance. During the World War the pits of Winterslag produced the first coal, extracted from a depth of between 45o and Boo metres. Except along the southern border of the Ardennes, and at one or two points in the middle of the palaeozoic massif, triassic and jurassic beds are unknown in Belgium, and the palaeozoic rocks are directly and unconformably overlaid by cretaceous and tertiary deposits. The cretaceous beds are not extensive, but the wealden deposits of Bernissart, with their numerous remains of iguanodon, and the chalk of the district about the Dutch frontier near Maastricht, with its very late cretaceous fauna, are of special interest.
Exclusive of the Ardennes the greater part of Belgium is coy ered by tertiary deposits. The eocene, consisting chiefly of sands and marls, occupies the whole of the west of the country. The oligocene forms a band stretching from Antwerp to Maastricht, and this is followed towards the north by a discontinuous strip of miocene and a fairly extensive area of pliocene. The tertiary de posits are similar in general character to those of the north of France and the south of England. Coal and iron are by far the most important mineral productions of Belgium. Zinc, lead and copper are also extensively worked in the palaeozoic rocks of the Ardennes.
(I) The Northern Plain. From the sea-coast to the parallel of Brussels and Louvain the average height of the land does not ex ceed 20 metres. It consists of a plain of erosion swept by water courses which run from south-east to north-west. The rivers wind in large curves, several of which have been cut off, at a level higher than that of the surrounding country. A few lines stand out in relief : such as the hills of Flanders, south of Ypres and Courtrai, owing their conservation to a capping of marly pliocene sandstone which has retarded the effects of erosion. One of the knolls is Mont Kemmel (151 metres) which acquired fame through attacks by the German armies in 1918. Other hills in clude the plateau of Waes, a remnant of the tertiary surface on the left bank of the Schelde, the Campine, a fragment of the alluvial cone of the Meuse on the left bank of this river, and finally, scattered throughout the eastern area, the relics of sandy hills which represent quaternary dunes of Continental origin.
The high plateau begins at a height of 200 metres on the right bank of the Meuse and rises gradually to 500 metres about the headwaters of the Ourthe and the Lesse. Thence it slopes south wards to regain a height of from 200 to 30o metres at the frontier. The Ardennes plateau is thus an immense roof-like structure, with its slopes regularly inclined to north and south. Along the crest rise several isolated domes of greater altitude, aligned from south-west to north-east, notably : the massif of Libramont Saint-Hubert (587 metres), Baraque Fraiture (651 metres), Ba raque Michel (675 metres), and the plateau of Botrange (692 metres). These residual cores have escaped the general denuda tion of the rest of the plateau ; their conservation is due not to the resistance of the outcrops (in fact composed of easily-decom posed Cambrian schists) but to the tectonic arrangement of the region. The great Armorico-Variscan folds are affected by trans verse folds which have exposed the deeper layers of rock. These schists have suffered little erosion because of the resistant crust of phyllites and quartzo-phyllites of Silurian and Gedinnian (Lower Devonian) date which has long covered them. A compact impermeable clay results from the decomposition of the Cambrian schists. Since, moreover, the absence of slope impedes the run ning-off of rainwater, the flat surfaces develop large pools of stag nant water which give rise to the peat-bogs called "Hautes Fagnes." The high plateau does not present a uniform aspect in all parts. Varying tectonic influences and different soils have given several "natural regions" of marked individuality. The chief are, from north to south : the Condroz, the Famenne, the Ardennes and Belgian Lorraine.
The Condroz is characterized by features such as occur typi cally in the Appalachians or the Jura, with ridges of grits alternat ing with valleys carved out of the limestone. Phenomena of karst (causse) type—depressions, grottoes, subterranean streams—are well developed.
The Meuse, which winds in a deep slot across the limestone scarps, has given this region many picturesque sites, and the tourist industry is well developed. The Famenne, an extended de pression lying west-east among Devonian schists, is an area of natural woodlands, largely cleared and transformed into meadow land. The Ardennes plateau constitutes the oldest surface of the country, with streams flowing in wide open valleys having very little slope. The climate is fairly rigorous and natural resources poor, and population is here sparsest. Next to the south comes Belgian Lorraine, a land of alternating layers of soft and resistant secondary rocks, with a relief of cuestas, for the most part much weathered.
The tourist industry in the lower parts of Belgium, where the scenery is for the most part monotonous, takes a different turn, for here are the old cities with their relics of mediaeval greatness : Bruges, Antwerp, Louvain, Brussels, Ghent, Coutrai, Tournai, Oudenarde and Liege. Ypres and Furnes, almost entirely de stroyed during the World War of 1914-18, have been rebuilt in mediaeval style.
The hydrographic system is very well developed, and is main tained throughout the year by the abundant rains. The general direction of flow, following the slope of the plateau, is towards the north; and the Meuse, as far as Namur, the Houyoux and the Ourthe all flow northwards until they reach the west to east corri dor of the Sambre-Meuse. This feature appears to be the result of successive "captures" of consequent streams made by subse quent valleys. The tributaries of the Schelde : Lys, Dendre, Senne, Dyle, Gette and the Schelde itself from Tournai to Ghent, also flow in northwards following the slope of the low plateau. All these rivers, like those of the Ardennes, are superimposed, i.e., they lay originally on a different surface from that in which their beds are now cut.
The lower courses of the rivers have very little slope, and con sequently disastrous floods were formerly common. Artificial regu lation has been introduced in many cases, but the rivers break their banks occasionally. Regulation of the watercourses fre quently went hand in hand with their canalization. Belgium possesses about i;000km. of natural navigable water, i.e., over half the total length of the navigable system. There are, in addi tion, five canals with a total length of 155km., and 74okm. of canals "a petite section," for the use of barges. In proportion to area, Belgium stands next to Holland among European countries for the density of its navigable water system. Commerce derives a great advantage from this fact, for. the rates of transport are cheaper than for rail-traffic.
The shallowness of the North sea (the five-fathom line runs at a distance of iokm. from the coast) and the complete absence of coastal indentations are unfavourable to the establishment of good seaports. Moreover, the existence of sandbanks near the shore seriously impedes navigation. The port of Antwerp com pensates, in part, for the disadvantages of the coast; but sore limitations are imposed by the fact that the approach to the port is through foreign territory.
In 1937 there were 4,130,925 males and 4,230,295 females. The annual rate of increase has varied as follows: 1876, 1.05 % ; 1890, •99% ; 1900, 1 .03 % ; 1910, 1 .09% ; 1920, ; •84% ; •45%• In 1831 the population of Belgium was 3,785,814; and in In 1937, 14,199 emigrants left Belgium, chiefly for other Euro pean countries; and 22,185 immigrants entered. Over 2 50,00o Bel gians live in France, 30,00o in Holland, and 16.00o in the Belgian Congo. The number of foreigners resident in Belgium has greatly increased since the War, and in 1938 was as follows: French, 71,3 2 2 ; Dutch 68,014; Polish 61,809; Italian 3 ; German 14,472; British 9,161. Total, all nationalities, 339,799 (1920; Until after the World War, French was the official language al though the number of Belgians speaking only Flemish has always exceeded the number of those speaking only French. Census fig ures show that French is slowly gaining ground in spite of the recognition of Flemish as a second official language; and, as is to be expected, the number of people speaking both has grown from 400,000 in 188o to over 1 million in 1930. The number of people speaking German only has greatly declined since the War, despite the addition of the formerly German cantons of Eupen and Mal medy. Recent events have shown that the Flemish question is of fundamental importance in the national existence of Belgium.
Belgium is a densely populated land. In the middle ages, cul tivable spaces failed to suffice the constantly increasing popula tion ; cultivation spread at the expense of wooded areas. Whole forests have thus been cleared, such as the great coalfield forest which extended from the sources of the Senne and the Dyle to Brussels and Louvain, and of which the forest of Soignes is a remnant.
Along the coast, a strip of land was reclaimed from the sea by means of dykes, and these polders still form one of the most fertile regions in the country. In the eastern districts, the sandy, waste landes have been fertilized, and have yielded harvests for many centuries. These great enterprises are in large measure due to the monks who erected monasteries from the I2th century onwards.
In West Flanders, the small rural houses are freely dissemi nated. Farther east and in central Belgium they cluster along the roads or on the rivers, or are grouped into hamlets. In the pastoral "Fagnes" the agglomerated type similarly predominates. Finally, in Hesbaye and the Condroz, regions of large farming, and in the Ardennes, with less favourable climate and more varied surface, the habitations are concentrated into compact nuclei.
The occupation of the inhabitants, pastoral, agricultural, semi agricultural, semi-industrial, accounts for these regional varieties.
The large farms include interesting types, notably the Flemish farms with numerous buildings quite separate from each other. Nearly all the farms of the polders are surrounded by a wide, deep moat, filled with water. In south Belgium the farms are built in a large closed quadrilateral or cense. The dwelling-house and farm buildings surround an interior court. In the villages of the Hesbaye, four or five such farms cluster around a common pool. Intermediary in type is a class of farm in which the build ings are separate from each other but united by walls or which create a closed court similar in type to that of the cease. The small dwellings of the rural labourer have regional dis tinctiveness from their building materials. Thatch and white ; washed clay were in general use, until the i9th century, in every part where hard stone was lacking : i.e., over all the northern part of the country and, in the south, in the Famenne, with Devonian schists, and on the outcrops of Cambrian schists. The relation of the dwelling to the milieu is most striking on the high plateau, where stone houses alternate with dwellings of earth.
Primary education is given by communal schools and by un official schools which may, or may not, be adopted by the com mune. In 1937 there were 8.657 primary schools with 960,191 pupils apart from unofficial schools. The school population is declining with the decline of the birth-rate. The normal duration of primary school life is eight years and the work is in four grades: lower, intermediate, higher and pre-professional. Pri mary schools are subject to inspectors who are either cantonal or principal (over a number of cantons). Bishops appoint in spectors for religious instruction in communal or subsidized schools. Some of the unofficial schools are maintained by the Church and the bishops appoint inspectors for these. These are administered with primary education schools for children maintained by the State and various schools for adults. The "Ecoles Normales" have charge of the preparation of teachers through a five years' course, the two first years being purely preparatory. One may not enter an Ecole Normale before the age of fourteen. It is possible, however, to become a recog nized teacher without passing through this training by successful performances of tests administered by a special jury. In 1937 there were 87 ecoles normales, official or approved, and they had 13,711 pupils.
Intermediate education comprises official schools, 17 communal or unofficial schools, 26 athenaea, 18 communal or unofficial colleges. The first are officially inspected, the others have special inspec tors. The Namur cadet school serves the sons of officers. Intermediate "sections normales" prepare pupils for the qualify ing examination for teachers in the lower sections of the intermediate schools.
Higher education is given in universities, official at Ghent and Liege, unofficial at Brussels and Louvain; there are also other institutions. Each university has faculties of letters and philo sophy, science, law and medicine and also a faculty of technology; Louvain has a faculty of theology. In there were 10,775 students (Ghent. 1,324; Liege, 2,145 ; Brussels, 3,036; Louvain, 4, 2 7 0) . Each university has a commercial school and special com mercial schools of this grade have been created at Antwerp, Liege, and Mons. Mons also has an engineering school, Verviers one of textile engineering, Gembloux, Ghent and Louvain (the university) have schools of agricultural engineering. Curegham has a veteri nary school and Brussels has a preparatory school for officers, and an "Ecole de guerre," which trains the general staff of the army. There are schools of navigation at Antwerp, Nieuport and Ostend. In 1923 the Colonial School and the School of Tropical Medicine at Antwerp were constituted a Colonial University; and in 193o Ghent University became Flemish. Industrial schools are increasing in number every year, and there are special schools of architecture, painting and music. The Royal Academy of Fine Arts at Antwerp, the royal conservatories at Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Liege and Louvain. are the chief of numerous institutions for the arts.
The Royal Academy of Belgium was founded in 1769 and re vived in 1818 and the prizes awarded through it for literature and science are keenly contested.
Administration and Justice.—Executive authority vested in the king is delegated to his ministers whom he appoints and dis misses, the practice being that he follows the parliamentary ma jority in making, and changing, the executive. The kingdom has nine provinces each with arrondissements subdivided into com munes. Only the province and the commune are recognized of ficially; they have maintained some measure of autonomy and have their own budgets, under royal control. Each province has a governor appointed by the king and a provincial council popu larly elected. The commune has its popularly elected council under a bourgemestre, appointed by the king usually from the majority party on the council.
The Cour de Cassation at Brussels has a first president, sec tional president and 15 councillors divided into two sections for civil and for criminal cases respectively. This court is not called upon to judge facts save in a case involving a minister of State, such cases being reserved to it. Its duty is to annul judgments of other courts and tribunals if procedure has not been proper or if they contain a contravention of the text of the law. It con firms judgments that are found correct on these grounds and may act on appeal by a party to the judgment or on its own initiative. There are appeal courts at Brussels, Ghent and Liege, with civil and criminal sections in each.
Civil tribunals of first instance and correctional tribunals in the capitals of arrondissements judge cases of a certain impor tance. Criminal, political and press cases are judged by the assize courts partly composed of professional judges and partly of citizens without legal training. The tribunals in the capitals of judicial arrondissements hear appeals from the civil and police tribunals of the communes. The two sections in the communes, save at Brussels and Antwerp, have the same personnel. There are 23o judicial communes, including those of Eupen, Malmedy and St. Vith recently added. The number of magistrates has recently been reduced on grounds of economy and some com munal tribunals have been found unnecessary. Capital punish ment is legal but is never carried out. The number of prisons needed is diminishing.
Since 1921 the senate includes (1) members elected by uni versal suffrage of all adult citizens over 21 with six months' resi dence in the commune in which they vote; (2) members elected by provincial councils; (3) members elected by the senate itself. To be a member of either chamber one must be a citizen with political and civil rights, resident in Belgium. The age limit for membership of the chamber of representatives is 25, for member ship of the senate 4o. Senators directly elected must have some diploma or must practise one or other of a number of intellectual functions named in the constitution. The senate is renewed com pletely every four years and senators receive no honorarium, hut have an allowance of approximately f 190 (28,00o francs) for ex penses. The king's sons, or, if there are none, the heir presump tive and the princes of his branch, become senators at the age of 18. The members of the chamber of representatives are elected for four years and have an allowance of about f 280 (42,000 francs) and free travel on State railways. Voting is obligatory and secret. The electors have to choose between lists put forward by political parties and may not vote for persons from two lists. Seats are divided among the candidates on the various lists according to the votes cast for these different lists. Complications in the sys tem allow a small group to add together votes received in various districts. In this way Flemish Nationalists obtained 17, the Communists 9 and the Rexistes 4 seats in a chamber with three principal parties (1939) : Catholics (73), Socialists (64), Lib erals (33)• Post-War Situation.—War expenditure was incurred without legislature control, and no account had been drawn up by the end of 1927. During the occupation the Germans levied war contributions on Belgium amounting to 2,620,000,00o gold fr.; in addition they exacted 68,000,000fr. from the communes. Belgian indebtedness to the Allies amounted to 5,600,00o,000 gold marks. This was placed to German account by the Treaty of Versaille, but the United States were not signatories of the treaty. The Treaty of Versaille further allotted to Belgium a priority of two milliard gold marks on Repatriation account.
Upon the German evacuation the Belgian Government decided to redeem the marks in circulation on the basis of 1.25fr., as German currency had been imposed upon the people. A sum of 7,592,00o,000fr. was required to effect this redemption and this was the beginning of Belgian inflation. The government never printed notes, save in the crisis of 1926, to cover the Budget deficit; it even repaid 600,000,000fr. of the advances received from the National bank for the exchange of marks. The Allies did not agree to place to German account the cost incurred for the redemption of German marks circulated during the occupa tion, but Belgium did not lose all hope of, at any rate, a partial indemnification for her losses.
In 1919 the fiscal system, which had been in force for a cen tury, was recast. The previous direct taxes were replaced by an income-tax modelled on the English income-tax. It comprises three direct taxes—the tax on land, the tax on investments and the tax on salaries and earnings—together with a supertax.
After the war Belgian finance passed through a period of exceptional gravity, lasting throughout 1919 and 192o. Then a vigorous effort towards improvement was made, ending in 1925 with what might be described as complete recovery. In 1926 a new crisis occurred.
The situation in 1919 was due to the German invasion and to necessary expenditure on making good the destruction caused by the War. The material restoration of the country was prac tically completed by 1924; up to June 3o of that year the State had spent about 21,000,000,000fr. on damage done by Germany, not counting the cost of buying in the marks.
In view of the incompleteness of the public accounts, the best means of judging Belgian finance since the Armistice is to follow the progress of the public debt, external debt being calculated at the same rate of exchange. The figures for the financial years, beginning in September of each year are as follow : Increase (Milliard frs.) 1919-2o . 5.5 1920-21 . . . . . . . . . . . 6.o 1921-22 . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 1922-23 1 0 1923-24 . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2 1924-25 . . . . . . . . . . . 1.o These figures exclude the American debt, reinstated in the Bel gian National Debt in accordance with the agreement of 1925.
The increase of 1,200,00o,000fr. between 1923 and 1925 is balanced by the increase in State assets. Important new works were constructed on the railways and in the Port of Antwerp.
The budgetary situation was good in 1925. The corrected Budget (excluding State monopolies) was as follows : Ordinary Budget deficit 70,000,00o fr.
The general Budget after paying off 3 50,00o,000f r. of the public debt, closed with a surplus of 168,000,000f r.
On Aug. 18, 1925, Belgium concluded with the United States an agreement on the American debt. This is to be repaid by the year 1987, by means of annuities reaching the sum of $12,700,000 from 1936 onwards. The War debt is not subject to interest, while the debt incurred since the War bears a rate of interest calculated at 1.35% up to 1934, and at 31% in subsequent years.
By an agreement made with Great Britain, Dec. 31, 1925, the total debt of Belgium and of the Belgian Congo to that country (112,600,00o) is to be paid within 3o years, the interest being 5%. The weak point of the financial situation in 1925 was the floating debt, which was composed of 5,500,000,00o francs of Treasury bonds at six months, to which might be added 1,800, 000,000 bonds at five years, falling due Dec. 1, 1926. The elec tions of April 5, 1925, which were a victory for the Socialists, shook public confidence ; immediately capital began to flow out, Treasury bonds were withdrawn, and the franc fell.
In view of this situation, M. Janssen, the Minister of Finance in Poullet's "Democrat" cabinet, attempted to stabilize the Bel gian franc. He drew up a plan, and from Oct. 1925 to March 1926 kept the rate of the pound sterling on Brussels provision ally at I o7f r., by means of temporary foreign credits, pending a loan of 150,000,00o dollars. Unfortunately confidence was not restored and capital continued to withdraw. M. Janssen was obliged to utilize £25,000,000 in keeping the franc at the level determined on; at the same time, the floating debt was being gradually called in. The foreign bankers, dissatisfied with the state of opinion in Belgium, and loth to float a loan on the New York market, withdrew their offers. On March 15, 1926, the franc was left to its own devices. A panic followed ; in April it became necessary to print further notes to meet the demands for repayment of Treasury bonds. The franc fell steadily. M. Jans sen resigned, and on May 20, 1926, the Jaspar-Franqui ministry was formed, which immediately imposed new taxation, the yield of which was earmarked for a sinking fund. When the pound sterling reached a rate of 24ofr. (July 12), the Government brought forward an Act granting the King "emergency powers" for six months to grapple with the crisis. On July 31 the com pulsory consolidation of the floating debt and the exchange of Treasury bonds against railway shares was decreed.
On Oct. 25, 1926, the Government ordered the second stabili zation at a rate of 175 to the pound sterling, or one-seventh of par. The operation was perfectly successful ; there was a steady influx of gold into Belgium.
The national wealth of Belgium amounted in 1927 to 280, 000,000,000fr. (£1,600,000,00o), and the income to 42,000, 000,000fr. (£240,000,000). State and local taxation absorbs 20% of the national income, or 15% if that part which is set aside for redemption of the public debt be deducted.
In 1868 the active army was divided from the reserve. In 1870 a Militia Act was substituted for all previous legislation affect ing military service. From 1896 voluntary military service was established, and in 1902 certain privileges were granted to add to the attractions of the army. In 1909 the principle of compulsory service for one son in each family was adopted, service with the active army being reduced to 15 to 24 months, according to the arm of the service. The peace strength of the army was 42,800. In an Army Act was passed to increase the military strength of Belgium, and in 1913 compulsory service was made universal, with certain exemptions, the object being to produce a field army of 150,00o, 130,000 garrison troops and a reserve of 6o,000. The World War broke out before these reforms could take effect, and found the Belgian army unprepared.
Nevertheless Belgium did her best, with the reserves available, to maintain the neutrality enforced upon her by treaty obliga tions, placing one division facing Germany, one facing France, one facing England, one holding Antwerp, and one, with a cavalry division, in reserve. The heroic but inadequate defence of Belgium and the portion of Belgian territory that remained against the German invasion of 1914 belongs to the story of the World War (q.v.). (See also ANTWERP, SIEGE OF; BELGIUM, INVASION OF; YSER, BATTLE OF THE.) At its conclusion, certain territories were ceded by Germany, and the independence of Belgium was again recognized in the Versailles Treaty of 1919.
Present-day Army; Recruitment and Service.—Every Belgian is now liable to military service, exemptions only being granted for physical disability. The ranks of the army are filled by an annual contingent of conscripts, supplemented by voluntary enlistments and by re-enlistments. Obligation for military service begins in the year of the loth birthday. This may be anticipated by a year, and certain arrangements are made for suspension of service. Service is for 15 years in the regular army and its re serve, followed by io years in the territorial army-25 years in all. The regular army is divided into a first-line, comprising the regular units on a peace footing, and a second-line, including re serve units. There is a second reserve, common to both armies, and also auxiliary troops. In the event of war or of threatened invasion, the territorial army can be embodied in the regular army, but married men with four children are exempt from this obligation.
Service with the colours for training lasts for io months ex cepting in anti-aircraft artillery and engineers (12 months) and in cavalry, artillery and horse transport (13 months). Militiamen, fit only for auxiliary service, serve for 12 months. After serving with the colours, the men proceed on permanent furlough, but the Government has the power to recall one or more contingents to the colours. Parliament must be notified of such action. The men on furlough can be called out annually for inspection, and, under normal conditions, conscripts of both armies are recalled twice for periods of six weeks on each occasion. Voluntary enlist ment is permitted from the age of 16 years, for periods varying from two to four years, followed by voluntary re-engagement for a period of six months after service with the colours, or, alter natively, for longer periods up to a total of four years.
The service includes a headquarters staff, three air regiments and a depot. One regiment contains four groups of three or four flights, the other three groups of three flights, with a "park flight" in each group. There are 22 aeroplane flights and four balloon flights in all.
There is also a Department of Civil Aviation, which since Feb. 1925 has been attached to the Ministry of Railways. The arrange ments for the military air-service are still provisional and experi mental.
Belgium is more highly industrialized than any country on the continent of Europe with the exception of Saxony. In the second half of the 19th century, i.e., between the two great censuses of 5846 and 1900, the industry of the country underwent a funda mental change through the immense increases which took place in the numbers of the working class, and, more especially in the amount of motive power employed. Leaving the transport indus tries out of account, the total steam power increased more than tenfold in this period, namely from 40,000 to 430,000 horse power.
Moreover, the industrialization of Belgium has not taken place at the expense of her agriculture, as has been the case in some other countries. Belgian economy has a dual basis, and the close connection between agriculture and industry is one of the features of the country.
Working hours and transport are in many instances so arranged that the factory hand can engage in cultivation.
Since 1910 Belgian industry has continued to advance. The World War and military occupation adversely affected production for some time, but it is now recognized that industry as a whole gained by the destruction of plant, which was replaced by new and improved kinds. It is significant that between 1910 and 1926 the quantity of power used in the coal, metallurgical, glass, textile and electrical industries more than doubled : while the increase in the aggregate motive power of industry during the same period is estimated at 65%.
With such a high degree of industrialization, the commerce of Belgium is very large in proportion to the population ; and her trade is further increased by a transit trade (to Great Germany and Switzerland) which passes chiefly through Antwerp.
The figures for 1913 and 1938 are as follows: The special commerce takes into account only the consumption and produce of Belgium itself.
Associated with iron and steel production is a considerable engineering industry. Shipbuilding is carried on at Antwerp, and machinery, railway stock, etc., are manufactured at Brussels, Charleroi, and Liege. There have been important developments in the electro-technical industry, due in part to the electrification of certain railway lines.
In addition, tin, cobalt and uranium are also worked; the de posits of uranium being so large as to have given Belgium a preponderance in the world production of radium until the dis covery of Canadian deposits in 193o.
Textile production was formerly a cottage industry, but after about 1910 there was a rapid change-over to large scale methods, and many factories were built, although the old system has not as yet completely disappeared.
The linen industry is centred round Courtrai, in the valley of the Lys, the waters of which offer special advantages for the retting of the flax. The raw material comes from the Baltic states, and for a time the industry suffered very greatly owing to the interruption of supplies during and after the War. The cotton industry has a wider distribution but is located chiefly in the south-west of the country. Until the World War, Belgium's arti ficial silk industry was the most important in the world. Al though outdistanced by those of the United States, Japan, Eng land, Italy and Germany, the industry still occupies an important place.
Separation of the Northern and Southern Netherlands. —The conclusion of the Union of Arras (Jan. 6, 1579) by the Catholic provinces of Artois and Hainaut enabled Alexander Farnese (q.v.) to resume the war against the Protestants of the Netherlands. William of Orange was supported by the Union of Utrecht (Jan. 29, 1579), which combined the northern provinces in their opposition to the king of Spain. William of Orange at first tried to set up the duke of Anjou, the brother of the king of France, in opposition to the king of Spain; but the assistance of the ambitious duke proved to be useless. He arrived in Antwerp early in 1582, and in the following year he attempted to gain possession of the city by force (Jan. 17, 1583) . This act of treachery put an end to his pretensions, and promoted the suc cess of Farnese. On Nov. 3o, 1581, the latter had captured Tour nai. After a series of sieges he made himself master of Ypres, Dunkirk, Bruges, Ghent, Brussels and finally Antwerp, which capitulated on Aug. 17, 1585, after a heroic resistance.