Why does Belgium Exist? (Short Animated Documentary)
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- Опубліковано 17 тра 2020
- Why does Belgium exist? A question which is often asked given its location between two historically annex-happy states and its linguistically-divided population. If you want to find out why happy little Belgium became and managed to stay a thing then watch this short and simple animated history documentary to find out why.
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Sources:
A Concise History of the Netherlands by James Kennedy.
Belgium, Luxemburg, and the Defence of Western Europe, 1914-1920 by D. Stevenson.
Luxembourg be like: if I don't move, they won't harm me
They did succeed at being unoticed. And now they're rich.
Amsterdam=🚬🍄🌵
Our leader is probably motion detecting
Gets hot under the covers and decides it can sacrifice a leg.
Luxemburg: "I was emperor of all this."
Garmeny: "What you say?"
Luxemburg: "Nothing. Nothing. Don't mind me."
There's a Belgian saying that goes: "if you understood something about Belgium, it means we didn't explain it to you properly".
😅🤣😂👍
first time hearing that one, but i don't disagree. i'm not actually even sure what happened with the elections
in Dutch, French or German?
Same thing about the polish language.
Anyone who isn't confused clearly doesn't understand the situation
As near as I can tell Belgium exists so that a bunch of French speakers can claim they aren't French and a bunch of Dutch speakers can claim they aren't Dutch. But damn the beer is incredible.
Don't forget the chocolate and the waffles and of cours the totally not Frech Fries :-)
Exactly but you forget the FRENCH fries
As a Belgian, I agree on all counts 😄
Smurfs
@Davy Anthonissen It was an American and a Belgian who worked on the W3C
I love that the belgian have the "I rather put up with family then strangers" mentality
"We'll all be painful TOGETHER! Go Team!" yeah I can see that being a Belgian motivational poster somehow.
As a Belgian I wake up every morning and ask myself this question
Would you like to be split up?
It's the chocolate.
I wish i was belgian
And now belgium does include all the European institutions... Guess who won Dat.
Andrea CastiGo yes it does but that is because we are seen as a point of neutrality. Imagine if the EU took place in Germany!
Everyone always asks: 'Why is Belgium' never *"How is Belgium?"*
Who is Belgium?
What is Belgium
Why is Belgium?
We are fine... Most of the time
With who is Belgium
If schools would educate students with animated history, many more kids would pay attention.
I'm 54 and enjoying history for the 1st time.
Nice job, guys. Thank you
It is the responsibility of students to study and pay attention to the teacher, but it is not the responsibility of the teacher to entertain the students. If a doctor tells a patient "you need to stop smoking and exercise more" would it be reasonable for the patient to ignore it because the doctor did not give the medical advice in an entertaining way?
@@nicholasm7822
Who asked for your opinion? I did not.
@@kellyjohns6612 have a nice day
@@nicholasm7822that’s a bit of a false equivalence though. A doctors advice is usually for the benefit for the patient and their health, so if the patient ignores it, it is under their discretion. History isn’t really necessary or even interesting for a lot of people. Making history interesting for people who don’t have an inherent interest in the subject is something that I think is pretty impressive, which I think history matters does pretty well no?
@@tehspoderman7491 i think it is an appropriate analogy. Whether a student is interested in history or not, school is for the student's benefit, and the student would do well to listen to the teacher. Similarly medical advice is for the patient's benefit, whether the patient has a sufficient interest in taking care of his or her health or not.
0:11 I love the realism. As a resident of Brussels, I certainly agree about coloring it French. The "Dual Language" area speaks French first, and Dutch third.
The Second Language of Brussels is English, the unofficial fourth language of Belgium.
As someone from Flanders, it's exactly the same around here just switch Dutch and French around in the ranking. My English is better than my French.
@@SunlessSage I think I can tell based on you and @Trigm's English being perfect. Ik zou graag in Vlaanderen willen wonen, en ik leer Nederlands om dat te doen (maar het is nog steeds slecht). Engels is mijn moedertaal.
@@AntikythKomt goed
Belgium is just the center of a complicated love-triangle.
More like the fight pit between Germany, France and Britain seems to me. As a dutch speaker flemish is funny for me as it's like a weird dialect of dutch, everything is written the same but pronounced like you have something uncomfortable in your mouth, as opposed to dutch which has the pronunciation like a similar object is in your throat lol.
**cries**
*hate-triangle
Thought it always is the it's own Europes Devil's Triangle where problem solving mysteriously disappears
JP Beaubien approve
Belgium:
_"We hate eachother. But we hate the neighbours even more..."_
Nee die graftakken Bende bij jullie word je vrolijk van
@@jaspertepas8433 kalmeert uw tieten buurman.
@RUBENSKI wablief?
Als Belg kan ik ik dit bevestigen.
It's when you go abroad you notice you might have more in common with those damn Flemings/Francophones than you'd thought.
I don't know why Belgium exists but as a belgian I am happy I live in Belgium.
Because of waffles :)
So,are you from the dutch,german,or french speaking part?
@@pindol69 dutch
@@RedditPoes Hoi. 👋
Yeah, it's a great country. I mean, i can study for free, same as my medecine, my salary is bond to follow the inflation by law, we have a super economy... Like, that's really a great place to live. Long live the King, the Law, the Liberty!
It's kind of remarkable that they even found a name for this collection of Dutch, French and German leftovers.
It's equally remarkable that to France and Germany, Belgium was never an enemy or an ally, but simply "in the way". Like a geographically challenged Switzerland.
'Geographically and politically challenged Switzerland' is the most fitting title for Belgium.
Belgium come from the name of an old Germanic tribes first written by the Romans 'belgae' which also gave the region they inhabit it's name
The Belgae were Celtic not Germanic
They were not just leftovers. It has been a politically and culturally connected region for hundreds of years. Also, the region was of incredible importance relative to its size. Throughout the middle ages and later it was consistently one of the more economically and strategically important regions under whatever crown ruled it. It has its internal divisions especially nowadays, but the same would go if it was part of any other adjacent nation.
Remarkably is have your pfp and also have the ability to read or set up a UA-cam account.
I learned the term "Belgian Compromise" as "a half-assed compromise that neither solves the problem nor satisfies either side."
Yes but we’re pragmatic people so if it sorta works, we’ll go along with it
you mean like our reaction to covid...
And for some reason the EU looked at that and said we want that too. For the second time they took a Belgian president for the European counsil.
In the case of Covid, there can only be compromises: from a public health point of view, the best option would be to like people in their houses as was done in Wuhan, from the economic standpoint, just go for Herd Immunity.
@@TheGunkTv So thats why EU sucks?
Being a Belgian nationalist in the 19th and early 20th century must have been like having an existential crisis that never stopped
Belgium has almost zero national identity. You're either Flemish or Walloon . It's two completely different regions, with different cultures, languages and ways of life.
And lets not forget the few who still identify as Brabantian, hating the Flemish, Walloons and the expats from Brussels.
I guess the only one would have been the monarch, who is known as the King of the Belgians.
@@lessthanpinochet "The United Kingdom has almost zero national identity. You're either Scottish, English, Welsh, Cornish, or Irish. They're completely different regions, with different cultures, languages, and ways of life"
You cant bee a belgian nationalist as there is no belgian nation, you can be a belguian patriot.
You're a great history teacher. I've never learned so much of it in such a short time.
You have quickly become one of my favorite channels. I now look forward to see how you incorporate someone dancing thru the daisies into every episode. You never disappoint
"Zero out of three isn't bad" was the political philosophy we started with, and we will stick with it, dammit.
Well King Albert I was all 3. So you just needed patience
@@mitchellline3398 Not to mention he was BADASS
@@loscilla so it's 0,5 out of 3, even better :)
so true, typical Belgium philosophy.
“France can’t have nice things” - British foreign policy for 400 years. Love it.
Its wrong, as British and French divided the world between themselves for 2 centuries now...
YC please try watching videos before commentating on the validity of their content. I quoted a rough outline of Britains foreign policy.........from some time ago.
British policy has always been about making a coalition about the strongest european country. Meanwhile they colonised the planet.
But be careful, this is what China is saying to do the same thing to the world. With network control, data control, international institutions, intellectual property control, supply chain dependancy, dept loans diplomacy, and acquisition of foreign medias.
Taken from "Yes, Prime Minister".
@@yc2673 Yea and there came Germany and... France surrendered in 40 days, British were saved by Americans.
I love your channel keep up the great stuff!!
Im from belgium and its so BEUTIFUL
“0/3 isn’t bad”
-History Matters
“2/3 AIN’T bad”
-Meat Loaf
"We still have 2 out of 3 branches of government and that ain't half bad." -Jack Nicholson, Mars Attacks
That was hilarious! I like the whitty humour in this narrator. It keeps me hooked.
As a Belgian I can confirm that we don't know why we exist.
As a belgian I can confirm that the belgian above can confirm that we don't know why we exist.
Why you exist or why your country exists?
I can confirm too
@@arefkr both
Belgium exists to give the world André Franquin and Raymond van het Groenewoud. And we thank you.
Love the consistent use of orange, because of William of Orange.
“Why Does Belgium exist?” Asked Hitler Calmly
Dutch: who is Belgium.
Germans: where is Belgium
Congo: why is Belgium?!
No USA: *Where* *is* *Belgium*
@@kermitthefrog9818 I still have a special hate for Belgium for beating the USA in the world playoffs in 2014. Damnit
I never thought Drax was Congolese...
@ShadowRaven If you’re not sad when your country loses you’re not watching the World Cup correctly
Netherlanders will say this: 'Belgium? Southern Netherlands!'
'Why does Belgium exist?'
Alfred von Schlieffen: Good question
Nice
Just imagine, in another world, Flanders-Wallonia exists instead, under King Adalbert.
name checks out
Melinda Louise imagine that in another universe, Belgium is ruled by the house of Hohenzollern
Ouch!! Lol
Great narration of history. 👏🏽👏🏽🙌🏽
Great content!
"...and was rejected by the British because 'France can't have nice things' had been British foreign policy for over 400 years at this point" had me ROLLING
Cause tradition
And that wasn't going to change anytime soon.
We all know that Elizabeth II secretly hates the French...its in her blood
I mean, we and the French really have a love hate relationship. It's like we will stand up for our rights to independently hate each other...
@@himaro101 Yep, we'll defend each other's independence, as without it we wouldn't have our dearest frenemy
"Zero out of three isn't bad." Brilliant.
Yea if you score at least a zero out of three you can rule is the rule
Sounds like something I could put in my tinder bio.
the Belgian schizofrenic mind in a nutshell
It isn't bad, it's a failure.
All of the later Belgian kings seem to have been Catholics though.
You videos are brilliant. They explain things that I have never understood in just five minutes.
Though, of course, it takes me much longer since I have to re-watch sections and then usually look up several people or places on Wikipedia. Bravo.
I love your humo(u)r and the questions you raise that I never thought of.
A country can't work without a good government
Belgium: hold my waffle
German Waffle SS: *Takes waffle*
That's why we have 6 governments xD if they all do 1/6th right, it is functioning well
@@Aranimda Ha
how bout no government
Bosnia: Hold my... Actualy he has a point!
"If you understand Belgian politics, you understand politics everywhere in the world."
US embassador to Belgium in the 80s.
As a Belgian, I can agree lol
One does not simply understand Belgian politics
it's true
@@helenarichard One for each comunity (3), one for each language group (3), one for Brussel and one Federal. So, yeah, we have 8 cabinets for a nation the size of a pancake:)
@@edh9999 This is incorrect, since the Flanders community and the Dutch language group have been merged into 1 government for quite a while. We have 7 cabinets.
I live in Belgium and I learned more in those 5 minutes than in my whole school career until now
i adore the tone of your humor i must have it
Belgium: * exist *
History matters:
Why?
More like
Belgium: * exists *
Almost everyone who is interested in geoghraphy and history: Why?
Because Germany can't win a World War.
@@Thumbsupurbum As a Belgian myself I find this the best answer tbh.
exists*
Hey Vsauce
In Germany there is a saying that Belgium is like high school. We just need to pass through it.
For both, it's easier said than done.
Here in Belgium we have the saying 'all Germans are welcome here, just not all at once' lol
I would say: in Belgium we have a saying: keep on trying....
TheAnonymous1940, you already did. Short memory? Or you just didn’t know...
So, why did you wanted to stay here, in 1914 and 1940? Strange, ...
I think this is one of your best episodes you’ve produced.
I always enjoy your videos. They are concise, educational and enjoyable. I also appreciate your sarcasm and humour in addition to the information each video contains.
World: Belgium is a country
France: Belgium is a meat shield
Germany: Belgium is a speed bump
Germany: Belgium is the shortest route to Paris
A very flimsy meat shield.
I made it 69 likes
Netherlands: Southern Netherlands
"I don't believe in Luxembourg."
Proceeds to reference the existence of Luxembourg several times.
What're you looking at? You haven't seen a hypocrite before?
It's the grand duchy of Luxembourg!you should read a book form time to time!
It's almost like it's a joke or something.
@@DiamondDust132 It's almost like you missed the joke within the joke.
@@DiamondDust132 the money ze have here is not a joke
This is one of my favorite videos! Thank you for the laughs and the knowledge!
I love the humor in the videos especially the skipping through daisies haha
France: **Has lots of defences along the german border**
Germany in the 20th century: *Why does Belgium exist?*
*does belgium really need to exist?*
To bait Germany into fighting an offensive war in the Belgian lowlands.
Alfred Von Schleiffen And Nazi Generals: *"Good Question."*
France: *has an agreement to use the existing belgian defenses in case of war*
Belgium: *doesn't like the french response to the rhineland so ends the agreement with france leaving them open to invasion and ruining french plans*
Belgium: *wins war*
Britain: “what are your demands?”
Belgium: “... *Netherlands* “
We got Rwanda and Burundi
"Wins" war
It’s like watching a retard hoi4 game, the country didn’t win the war by itself, it wasn’t a major power, and apparently it wanted land from the Netherlands, not one of its enemies in the war.
It would literally never have gotten it
@@feartheghus the amount of dumb demands and border gore that can happen in that game is staggering.
Love the title of this video. I’m Dutch so I ask myself this question really often 😁
0:07 Good to know History Matters' stance on the extremely complex geopolitical issue of Luxembourg.
Grandma of my wife here in East-Belgium changed nationality multiple times, without ever leaving her village :D
Ahh yes i live there too, in eupen to be exact
@@memzboiz wie ich auch :D
@@arnosaxena Grüße an meine Deutsch-Belgischen Freunde aus Österreich :D
"Where are you from?"
"Luxembourg this week"
Ich mag Belgien.
Sandwiched between France, Germany, and the Netherlands...
Luxembourg: Am I a joke to you
Exactly...
Mais, oui ! MdR
Mon ami alsacien a appelé le Luxembourg le pays le plus étrange de l’Europe occidentale. Je n’y suis jamais allé, et donc j’en reste agnostique. Toutefois, il me semble que d’être plus étrange qu’un pays qui veut garder son patrimoine culturel et sa langue et à la fois ne parler qu’en franglais en s’ouvrant grand les portes aux plus grands associations américaines comme McDonalds, Starbucks, Walmart partout et à tout musulman, même s’il veut venir sans devenir français (la langue, du vin, du porc, du catholicisme culturel, etc., même la loi laïque) ça serait vraiment un défi de taille ! Sauf faire de l’anglais une des langues nationales quand aucune région ne l’a comme langue principale et historique, la Suisse me semblait plus raisonnable et plus réussite que la France -sauf si l’on parle des vins. 😂🤣🍷😍
Yeah, no offense to anyone, but did I somehow miss the part explaining why *Luxembourg* exists?? 🤔 lol
Yes.
@@yobhsiFehT because nobody wanted it when they signed the peace at Westphalia
2:26 as a Flemish person this is correct
"the intention was to get the northeners over time to speak french byut fun fact: no"
god damn, the belgians inherited more dutch than i thought, including the stubbornness
Belgium: **exists for centuries as a sovereign nation despite being sandwiched between two great powers that want to annex it**
Poland: “God I wish that were me”
I am learning english. Is "were" here correct or should it be "was"? "I wish that was me" sounds better to me.
hsdjsd shdhsdnsmsd I agree that “was” works
Were is correct, it's subjunctive form. I wish it were, if it were, etc.
Example: if you were writing a sentence such as this, it would seem more natural.
If you was writing a sentence like this, I'd think you're from the south.
Was is used when a condition/ wish is more real, where as were is used when it isn’t. So “I wish that were me” is technically correct as that isn’t them. However most people say “was”, so it’s really fine either way.
Belgium: *exists*
Germany in both World wars: *interesting*
Germany: hold my beer stein!
Germany invades Belgium.
Canada: alright. I'm getting up.
Germany: Holde my Schlieffen plan
Get in loser we're going to get come Belgium chocolate
"Why does Belgium exist?"
Me, a Dutchman, grabbing my shotgun: "Good question..."
The Dutch had Belgium, but then they got greedy!
This video bookends nicely with many of Tim the Travelers many "Belgium's Wobbly Border" videos.
Belgium has made quite a career out of going "Wouldn't it suck if this belonged to your enemy?" They managed to turn Brussels into the center of EU bureaucracy in much the same way since the big early EU countries couldn't tolerate the idea that one of the other big boys had the EU "capital". Vote Brussels, at least it's not Paris, Berlin, London (lol) or Rome!
Or Madrid (after Spain became more democratic).
If it even splits I would suggest making Brussels a city state from the EU, much as Washington DC is not a state but the capital city.
@@swamidude2214 gross
@@swamidude2214 never gonna happen, the Flemish army will then invade Brussels and take it over by any costs...
The same way we acquired congo at the Berlin conference, the british didn’t want the french to have it and the french didn’t want the british to have it 🤣
Love the comment in the first ten seconds regarding Luxembourg. Quality move
fax
Im from belguim
Hallo ik ben blij dat je hier een video over maakt
Two months into quarantine: questioning an entire country’s existence
🤣
Captain Cook it’s already here
That's so funny man😂🤣😂🤣
Why does Belgium exist?
France: Shield from Germany
Germany: Invasion path into France
England: Reason to fight Germany
Netherlands: Give us back our land
Some people still want it, but it's not a real concern. Here in the Netherlands, it's kinda nice having Belgium as a BFF though.
@@voided_sun We dont want them back I rather prefer to join Germany. Belgium go with France and make a lot of debt.
Congo: Give us back our hand
Yes.
@@michaellin4553 Congo: Give us back our hands
"Zero out of three isn't bad..." LMFAO!
can you make a video like this on the formation of the german state? It had some interesting tactics in regards to how the prussians basically forced a war with france to get the southern states to join them
History Matters: Why does Belgium exist?
Germany: Look, we tried, okay?
😂😂😂😂😂
The Netherlands tried better
M4tth13s and still failed
@@nielsdecoene2925 yes and that is very sad
"Leopold I, a German speaking protestant who quickly expanded the power of the monarchy, but you know 0/3 isn't bad"
got me laughing
And they threw a revolution to get away from us so that they could get the same only now less powerful?
@@algiz21 Less powerfull? I would argue that the Belgians became much more powerfull (you know The Congo and stuff)
The Greeks had one time a Danish Protestant as their King.
But he wasn't bad really. Leopold was quite liberal (so no killing catholics) and he sponsored the industrial revolution
There was also that time in Russia where the help overthrow there Russian Tsar in favor of his German wife.
as a true belgian i can only say that we are pretty good into finding solutions to create problems, even when everything is doing perfect..
4:04 best line in the video
YEEEEEEEEES
History Matters: "Why does Belgium exist?"
Answer: So Germany can go through shortcut when it attacks France.
*so that germany can lose WW1 thinking it can go through shortcut when it attacks France
@@LF-hj8kk u gotta cut the germans some slack .. in ww1 they fought france uk blegium and later the usa in the west and russia in the east and later italy in the south .. lets face the facts in a duel germany would've won against the frensh with ease ! in ww2 it did"nt even matter france lost so quickly it became a meme
"Belgium is like school, one has to go through it," - old German joke
@@si-jd9oq but France never lost to Germany in ww1. France fought back in 1914 and was the main winner of the allies in 1918 by looking at the contribution
@@ziadjouini1671
Not exactly, you seem to conveniently forget the very existence of Austria- Hungary empire (quite a huge country at the time) who faced Italy alone (germans were barely involved on this front) and shared the burden against Russia.
You also conveniently forget the importance of Turkey, notably against Russia in Caucasus, as well as well as minor allies (Bulgaria...).
You are hugely mistaken when you implies that Germany have fought the allied coalition all alone.
To prove to the world that you can perfectly function without a government.
To be honest, I barely notice when we do or don't have a government, so this probably is correct.
Look at brussel and say no more
As a northern neighbour it looks to me that the infrastructure is being upgraded tho.
@@Minox_ as a belgian i highly agree
I hate all government. Criminals.
I just love how first Burgundian resistance to France and their expansion in the general Netherlands, subsequent continuation by the hubsburgs and the confessional split after Reformation (of course along territorial boarders "cuius regio eius religio") laid the groundwork for a Belgian state that exists until today and could just as easily exist a 2 split countries in the EU, if they wanted so.
Thank you for the explaination. I have almost zero knowledge of Belgium. Except that the Battle of Waterloo was fought there. And that Fabrique Nationale make arms there.
"Belgian Lives Matter"
- ISP 2017
anonymous opinions agreed
I was looking for an ISP reference, and now found it
Revolver Ocelot nah they don’t
That's so true in 2020
There it is
Fun fact: the border between Belgium and the Netherlands follows the front line between the Dutch Republic and the Spanish troops in the 80-year war. On aerial photographs, you can still see traces of this front line such as old ramparts.
And in Baarle-Nassau the border is totally mixed up because of feudal land holdings that came along with the national division in 1839. About two dozen enclaves and counter-enclaves exist between Belgium and the Netherlands. Walking down the street markers in the sidewalk show what country you are in. Shops next to each other may have different national rules, building permits and so on. Somehow it works.
Thats a cool little fact i didnt know about my country are you bzlgian too?
@@IHaveALotOfNamesI I’m Dutch ☺️.
Belgium exists because of neighboring tyrants wanting to annex it, so the Belgians decided we better stick together no matter what.
I just found this channel today. The presentation is slick, smooth and well-done. The animation is actually GOOD and some of the signs the characters bring out are funny: "You may exist" had me giggling. I didn't know about any of this, to be quite honest; it's been some years since my ass has set foot in a school. These bite-size yet in-depth history lessons are going to prove invaluable to some kid struggling with a history exam someday; mark my words.
As a Belgian, I've been asking myself this question since 31 years and even after 5 minutes of this video, my questions remain unanswered.
Maybe Belgium exists so UK can fuck France and Nederland, and the last two to have a diplomatic lever against each other?
Always are some "frozen" countries/ places left in the world so the powerful continue to have power.
Sadly for the people who continue to have hope from the exact powers who fuck em.
I'm honestly amazed you guys never swallowed up Luxembourg entirely and simply made its Duchy another title for your king. And honestly, the reason you exist from what I can tell is to keep Germany, France and the Netherlands at bay (while consisting of ethnic lands of all three backgrounds). It's honestly why you guys struggle to form governments: You're not really one country, but a union of 2-3 microstates under one crown.
@@thunderbird1921 this is true but as a Flemish, i would just rather be part of the Netherlands and have the Walloons be part of France because it just makes more sense and the dutch have better laws anyway. The german part is so tiny that even we don't talk or think about them.
@@chaoticdanor Based Vlaamse Broeder
@@chaoticdanor as a Dutchy i agree, but i also disagree because your country keeps everything balanced. if your country became part of the Netherlands (border removed) our laws would then intertwine, meaning the combined laws would make everything worse.
and why your country STILL exists today comes down to 1 word: POLITICS
« Sandwiched between France, Germany and the Netherlands... »
- me: starts crying in luxembourgish
Wait, luxembourg actually has a population??
putra duha WhAtT???
putra duha Man ... my disappointment is unmeasurable
0:07 "I don't believe in Luxembourg."
Someone's channeling big brain technology.
@@putraduha3176
No one lives in Luxembourg 😂
Thanks!
Thank you so much for uploading this video. It is helping me get through the pandemic!
During wartime Belgium exists as a place where the Dutch, Germans, French and British can have a fight outside their own borders. .
Outside of wartime Belgium exists as a political reality comedy show for the rest of Europe.
I think you're overestimating our political system. It is far too complex and dull to be worth a reality show. Especially when you see what some of our neighbors are up to sometimes, they're the real clowns.
@@valentinmassart1962 Calimero much?
@@valentinmassart1962 I would say: There is the political system for complexity and the politicians for the comedy, with additionally some healthy political soap opera competition from our neighbors to keep everything in balance.
@@valentinmassart1962 Belgian spotted. How? The fatalism & negativism while having it better than 99% of the world showed it.
@@MysteryOfMovies We could also just ignore all problems and warning signs and be overly positive.
It would probably take another decade or two before you wake up one morning wondering why the electricity is out and why your crazy neighbor is wearing his hazmat suit, so why worry now. Instead of building new nuclear power plants let's postpone it for another decade or two and see how long those old plants keep on going...
The Real Question is
Who is James Bissonnette?
Bise en nette
He's been the mastermind all along, changing the history based of what he wanted it to be, cause he's the patron (French for boss)
That's just a theory, a GAME THEORY
The French know him as Jacques the Little Bison.
biz nasty
Better question, what happened to David Archeologist?
I love the square figures - they can convey a lot of emotion, just by adding a line here and a line there. The subject matter's pretty good too - I lived in Mons (Wallonia) for around 18 months in 67 and 68, after Le Grande Charles threw NATO out of France. I loved my time there - the Belgians seemed much more down-to-earth than the Parisians. Their French was much easier to understand, too!
Belgium has gone long periods without a government. The two main parties are Flemish and Walloon, and are fairly evenly matched. At one point, there was a period of 11 months following elections where they argued about which party or parties would form government. It's been suggested, quite seriously, that Brussels become a city-state, and the two halves of the country then join The Netherlands and France. The border between Belgium and the Netherlands so porous that there are houses built on it. The nation it's in is decided by the location of the front door!
Why does Belgium exists?
Something that even Belgians themselves often asking
We have good BELGIAN FRIES
Bc Europe needed a country to preserve amazing fries, beer and waffles and honestly, I think that’s beautiful
@@davute9546 HEX: DELETE LEGION
@Strawberry Kiys Same
Their food and drink.
"I mean, it wasn't a bad plan exactly."
-History Matters (or 10 minute History depending on how long you have been following) end Card.
What Plan. To Poland Belgium.
As soon as i watch this video... first recommended video: why does Luxembourg exist? Good job!
Fun fact julius caesar wrote off the tribe known as the belgii, noteworthy for their fighting prowess and disagreeability at least to him.
I'm belgian, the fact that we exist is still a national debate
Jasper Op de Beeck it hasn’t been tried yet, so how can you know
I was talking with a walloon once that despite being very patriotic for belgium somehow disliked the flemish more than the french, she was convinced that with the current political situation in belgium there wouldnt be a belgium anymore within the next 100 years because tensions with the south and the north are just too much
In the hypothetical case there was no Belgium, what would you be?
Jart988 Wallonia and Flanders.
Bruh
There is one major error in this video: When French was chosen as the official language it wasn't yet the language of the south (Wallonia). At the time, Walloons spoke different dialects of mostly Walloon, Picard and Lorrain languages, which are separate languages from the same family as French but quasi non intelligible with the French language. French was chosen as the official language because it was the lingua franca of the bourgeoisie and nobility of the country (both Flemish and Walloon). At that time, French was thus as much a foreign language for the Walloons as it was for the Flemish. It is only after WW1 that Walloons began to widely speak French (and were punished at school and considered inferior if they spoke Walloon). This is something a lot of Flemish separatists still don't understand today: Walloons have been as much as the Flemish the victims of the frenchification of Belgium and, contrary to the Flemish, they have now completely lost their language.
A second error is that on your map you've colored Brussels as being "Walloon" and french-speaking in 1830. It is false for two reasons 1) At that time, inhabitants of Brussels spoke Brabantian (language close to Dutch) and it is only since the begining of the 20th century that people in Brussels widely speak French ; 2) French speakers in Brussels are not "Walloons", they are usually descendants of Brabantian speakers who have changed their language to French overtime (to climb up the social ladder) and do not identify neither as Flemish nor as Walloons.
My parents and grand-parents spoke walloon and even if they think that walloon was a "convivial" language, they consider that french is better. Better for all the cultural heritage to which it gives acces and on how it sounds. I think that this is a shared sentiment.
You mention a frenchification of Belgium but you could also mention that there has been a dutchification of the four flemish provinces under Wilhelm von Oranien (1822) and flemishes were hostile to dutch. Wilhelm with a royal decree made Dutch necessary to acces public employment. It is one of the reasons Belgium was created because the wallons and the bourgeoisie didn't want to be forced to speak dutch.
@@carthkaras6449 Of course, but it was also the case for a lot of Flemish people in the first century of existence of Belgium. That's why there are so many French speaking Belgians in Brussels for instance who have Flemish (or Brabantian) names, because their grand parents and parents progressivey stopped to speak Dutch as they thought French was more usefull and seemed more "educated" at the time. But what you notice is indeed interesting, maybe the conversion of Wallons to French was easier because they had a more "positive view" on the French language or felt it was closely related to Walloon, it's difficult to know.
@@carthkaras6449 That is of course another important fact to be remembered but I was talking specifically about the creation of Belgium and why it is false to say that "Walloons imposed their language to the Flemish". What you say is indeed true but there is a little inaccuracy in my opinion when you say that "It is one of the reasons Belgium was created because the wallons and the bourgeoisie didn't want to be forced to speak dutch". The language reform of Willem was badly welcomed by Flemish people and by the French-speaking aristocracy but as you said, it was only imposed on the Flemish provinces, not on (modern-day) Wallonia. If I am not mistaken, the only impact on "all Belgians" was on the central administration where people had to use Dutch (but it was composed mostly of educated people from the aristocracy/bourgeoisie). In fact, Belgium was created, among other factors, because the Francophone bourgeoisie as much as Flemish people and Walloons were hostile to this reform (and not just because Walloons and the french-speaking bourgeoisie didn't want to speak dutch).
Short and hilarious, perfect.
Thank you.
as a belgian, I'm less concerned with the why and more with the 'how'
Het zelfde haha onze politiek werkt weer is ni
@@nielsdoumen9277 Do you still have Belgian Futurists?
@@bingola45 no, not that i know 😂
@@bingola45 the netherlands is better
Niels Doumen kunnen jullie je wegen eens fixen het lijkt wel een Afrikaans land
"And that, is why Belgium exists."
Excellent ending to an excellent video!
But that wasn't the end
4:55 "wasn't a bad plan exactly"
@@vasishtvasudevan4059 Ending, not end. But, yeah that line's not too bad either.
"Sandwiched between France, Germany, and the Netherlands."
Luxembourg: *Am I a joke to you?*
Its made to be a speedbump
Wait, it does?
Your lucky you exist where fading here in Denmark
woah blud
More's the pity.
Omg you here, love your channel. I was as shocked to find out this ''belgium'' thing is real too o:
Belgium used to be the bumpy first stretch of the annual Dutch holiday trek to the south.
Everyone asks: "Why is Belgium?"
But nobody asks: "How is Belgium?"
...
😔
Sad waffle hours
TRUEnsal
I can do one up... when is Belgium?
Belgium is not doing well. It has no government for more than one year and half the people in the North are separatist.
Still have nice beers, and fantastic fries. The rest really is superfluous.
Because they don't need to
Made me laugh xd 1:43
"A plan that had one snag, it had already been liberated and that's not how that works" 10/10
It exists to keep the chocolate standard at an acceptable level.
Spot on!
If it wasn't for Belgium we'd have to eat cheap, sugary, Yank chocolate.
Tbh I don’t think Belgian chocolate is that good
@@lightbrand_ you never ate real artisanal ones then
@@margaretjbuckley No you would be eating Dutch Chocolate which is better as Belgian in the first place
@@margaretjbuckley Also Yank chocolate is not real chocolate, at least it is forbidden in the Netherlands to be called that way.