Belgium faces deep political divisions between its French-speaking and Dutch-speaking communities, as language differences have led to the development of distinct cultural identities. The Flemish population now outnumbers French speakers but still feels their identity is threatened, leading many to refuse speaking French. This has split Belgium along linguistic lines in many aspects of public life. It remains unclear whether this divide will ultimately separate Belgium into two independent countries, but language has clearly become strongly tied to political divisions and nationalist sentiments within the country.

1. Belgium’s lingual-political divide
Belgium faces severe political conflict between its two main linguistic communities – the
French and the Flemish – demonstrating the historic troubled relationship between
language and cultural and national identity. Will the linguistic frontier become a
permanent political frontier, splitting Belgium in two?
Submitted by Rebecca.Loxton on Wednesday, 15 September 2010
(c) Brussels-Belgium Travel Guide
At the heart of unified Europe lies a divided nation. Bilingual Belgium is becoming
increasingly split as the rift between the Flemish-speaking and the French-speaking
sections of the country deepens and linguistic issues impact on the political life of the
country. For centuries, the Belgians have been divided on account of their linguistic
differences: Flemish (a dialect of Dutch) and French co-exist as official languages of the
country, but not in peaceful harmony. In fact, Belgium has three official languages
(French, German and Dutch) but the differences primarily arise between speakers of the
two main languages in Belgium: Dutch and French.
Once one steps outside predominantly Francophone Brussels, the bilingual street signs
disappear to be replaced by a distinct hostility which meets any attempt to address the
inhabitants of the predominantly Flemish region in the Gallic tongue. The choice of
language used to communicate becomes a mark of political defiance, as many Flemish
refuse, as a point of principle, to speak French to any Francophone Belgians or French-
speaking tourists, despite the fact that many Flemish are perfectly bilingual. Many
Francophone Belgians, on the other hand, do not understand and are unable to
communicate in Flemish.
The desire of the Flemish to protect their cultural and linguistic identity is rooted in the
economic and social supremacy of the Francophone section of the country when Belgium
was created in 1830. Previously a dominated minority, Flemish-speakers now account for
three-fifths of the country’s population, but they nonetheless remain fiercely protective of
an identity that they feel is challenged. The refusal to speak French is born from the
desire of the Flemish to protect and emphasise their ethnic identity. French-speakers, on a
trip to the Flemish-speaking part of their country, have noted hostile gazes if overheard
conversing in their mother-tongue, making them feel alien and unwelcome in their own
country. Many Francophones are dissuaded from crossing into the Flemish region of
Belgium if they are not armed with a good command of Dutch as a second language.
The battle lines have been drawn, but it is not yet clear whether the linguistic frontier will
become a permanent political frontier, splitting Belgium into two separate countries, each
with its own national language and identity. So deep is the rift between the two sides, the
conflict is often referred to as a ‘war’. The Belgian conflict clearly highlights the strong
link between language and politics, or rather the inseparability of linguistic and national
identities. The Flemish and the French do not speak the same language and therefore, do
not feel they rightly belong to the same country. One of the dominating issues in Belgian

2. politics, the raging linguistic conflict has led to resignation of several political figures.
Riots in 1968 were serious enough to bring down the government.
While Belgium currently remains one country, it is made up of three distinctly separate
regions with each area responsible for its own social, economic and cultural affairs.
Official divisions have also not alleviated the tensions born out of linguistic differences
between the Flemish- and the French-speakers, leading to bureaucratic absurdities in
many areas of public life, such as the use of both languages during government press
conferences, meaning that all questions and answers must be repeated in both languages.
Culture, arts and publications are divided on linguistic lines and some schools, in
predominantly Flemish villages, ban the speaking of French in a bid to promote the
Flemish language and a Flemish identity over that of a Francophone one.
The significance of the link between language and national identity (or nationalism, in
extreme cases) has been recognised by totalitarian leaders throughout history, who have
used language as a building block to nationalism and the creation of a totalitarian state.
Dictator Franco attempted to forge a strong national and cultural identity in Spain by
promoting Castilian Spanish as the only official language of the country, leading to a
steady eradication of significant minority languages which no longer had a part to play in
public life. Franco had recognised the fact that people are likely to build their cultural
identity on the language they speak, which suggests why the Belgians are struggling to
forge a common cultural identity (in view of the fact that they speak two different
languages). Franco had used language as an ideological weapon in his creation of a new
political order, in the same way as language has become the reason the Flemish and the
French wish to divide their country.
Linguistic differences, however, need not always be a cause of political tension;
Switzerland also has four official languages and yet the different regions with their
separate identities are able to co-exist harmoniously, no one region seeking to forge a
stronger, separate national identity on the grounds of the fact that they speak a different
mother tongue to their fellow citizens.
Is a new iron curtain unfurling across Belgium? The political consequences of these
linguistic differences have so far been profound but it remains unclear as to whether the
linguistic divide will have such an impact that the small country will bow to the pressure
of the right-wing separatists, calling for permanent division of Belgium into two
autonomous countries.
http://www.the-vibe.co.uk/2010/09/15/belgiums-lingual-political-divide/