Forgotten World (56): Belgium
On 11 occasions now, I’ve had a week-long feature on NightHawk devoted to parts of the world that tend to be under-reported or even forgotten. You can check out the previous 55 entries here. This week, I am going to run an 12th series of postings on this theme.
In December 2006, Belgians reacted with shock and disbelief when the television channel RTBF announced that the Flemish part of the country had declared independence and that Belgium was no more. To back up the report during prime time viewing, the channel showed “live” footage of trams blocked at the new “border” and interviewed real-life politicians welcoming or denouncing the unilateral move of independence by the Flemish parliament.
In fact, the whole exercise was a spoof, intended only as a thought-provoking introduction to a television debate on the question which has long divided the two halves of Belgium, French-speaking Walloon and Dutch-speaking Flanders. But the overwhelming majority of viewers were completely taken in and the television’s switchboard was jammed by panicking callers.
How could such a hoax be taken so seriously? Modern Belgium only dates from 1830 and it has always been deeply fractured. Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Romance Europe, it is linguistically divided with 60%, mainly in the northern region Flanders, speaking a version of Dutch (Flemish) and 40%, mainly in the southern region Wallonia, speaking French.
A popular game of “Name five famous Belgians” has so irritated at least one Belgian that he has compiled a list of 259 famous Belgians.