GERMANS PRESCRIBE LANGUAGES

323 Wallonia, perceived that if Belgiùm were divided into two autonomous countries, each with its own legislature, they would have an excellent chance of carrying in their own country the socialist reforms which they could not carry in Belgium as a whole. The Flemish movement offered them an excellent opportunity for executing a party maneuver. Asserting that the political division of Belgium was the only way out of the interminable language dispute, they demanded the transformation of the "unitary state into a confederation of two autonomous states with a single sovereign and a common (foreign) frontier." The movement does not appear to have obtained a very general support in Wallonia. It is possible that the Socialists themselves desired only to place a stumbling block in the path of the Flemish Clerical party. At all events the Flemings, including the Flemish Socialists, characterized the whole affair as an "artificial" movement in no way justified by the real grievances of the Flemings.1

If the German authorities had really desired to meet the wishes of the Flemings, it would have been possible to find out whether they favored the administrative separation of Belgium by a very simple device: they might have submitted the question to the representatives of the people-the permanent Deputations of the Communal and Provincial Councils. This they neglected to do. Without consulting any responsible Belgians, and without consulting the Hague conventions (need one say?), the governor general issued a series of decrees dated February 25, April 22, 29, 1916, which modified the Belgian law of 1914 in respect to the use of language in the schools. These changes, not perhaps very serious in themselves, mark the beginning of the policy of separation; and on October 25, 1916, a further decree provided for two

1 Passelecq, op. cit., 51-54.

The series of decrees was promulgated in the Bulletin officiel des lois et arrêtés pour le territoire belge occupé, and the texts are available in Charles Henry Huberich and Alexander Nicol-Speyer, German Legislation for the Occupied Territories of Belgium, 7th Series, 115-140, 205, 226. The Hague provision referred to is Art. 43 of the conventions of 1899 and 1907, respecting the laws and customs of war and on land, as follows:

"The authority of the legitimate power having actually passed into the hands of the occupant, the latter shall take all steps in his power to reëstablish and insure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country.

educational administrative departments, with two budgets, one for the Flemish language and one for the Walloon (French) language, both under the ministry of science and arts but otherwise entirely distinct from each other. Similar ordinances effected a similar division in all other administrative departments, with the exception of the ministries of railroads, foreign affairs, colonies, and war. These were the preliminary steps in the administrative separation of Belgium.1

Before the final step was taken certain events occurred which are not without interest from the point of view of high international comedy, and as an illustration of the working of the German mind in matters calling for a certain delicacy and finesse. The comedy was opened February 4, 1917, at Brussels, where about 250 individuals met in what was called the Flemish National Congress. This body issued a manifesto addressed to the Flemings and favoring the establishment of Flemish autonomy; provided for a permanent executive committee of 30 members, to be known as the Council of Flanders; and appointed a deputation of seven from this council to go to Berlin in order to arrange, in collaboration with the imperial authorities there, the details of Flemish reform.

In due time the deputies (with official permits in their pockets) arrived at Berlin; and on March 3, 1917, they were received by the chancellor, Bethmann-Hollweg, who made them a friendly address. Adverting to the racial and historical influences that created an "affinity" between the Germans and the Flemings, and to the fact that for many centuries the Flemings had been "forced" to follow paths that separated them from their ancient kinsmen, the chancellor noted the fortunate circumstance that "to-day, thanks to God, in the midst of bloody conflicts, Germans and Flemings have become conscious that, in the struggle against the invasion of barbarism, the same road ought to lead us to the same goal." What the chancellor desired chiefly, however, was to assure the deputies that the Flemings, in their endeavor to emancipate themselves from the Walloon yoke, could count upon the active co-operation of the German Empire:

'Huberich and Nicol-Speyer, 7th Series, 161-174, 208-213, 246-247, 298–303. 'Passelecq, op. cit., 3−4.

SOUGHT TO DIVIDE THE LANGUAGES

325

"The governor general . . . has introduced preliminary measures tending to furnish for the Flemish people the possibility, which has up to the present been refused them, of an autonomous cultural and economic development. . . . I know myself to be in accord with the governor general in giving you the assurance that this policy, which is, as you yourself have urged, in conformity with the fundamental principles of international law, will be pushed with all the energy possible, and that it will be pursued even during the occupation, with the object of achieving a complete administrative separation, such as has been demanded for a long time in the two parts of Belgium. The linguistic frontier ought to become, as soon as possible, the dividing frontier of the two districts. . . . The collaboration of the German authorities with the representatives of the Flemish people will succeed in attaining this end. The difficulties are not slight; but I know they can be overcome by the disinterested collaboration of all those Flemings who have comprehended, in a profound sense of duty, what questions the love of country presents to them in this decisive epoch. . . . I salute your union as the best guaranty of the success of our work. . . . The German Empire during the negotiations, and also after the conclusion of peace, will do everything that may serve to facilitate and to assure the free development of the Flemish race."

GERMANY ENTERTAINS "FLEMISH DEPUTIES"

After this fraternal address of welcome the seven deputies were invited to meet Vice Chancellor Helfferich and other high officials at an informal evening reception, a Bierabend, offered by the chancellor in their honor and in honor of the Belgians whom they represented. Afterward an official banquet was given, which the seven attended as guests of the German Government; and, before they returned, in order to crown the festivities and perpetuate the memory of these pleasant days, the deputies allowed themselves to be photographed as a group, in company with a helmeted German officer, Count Harrach, chief of the "Political Division" at Brussels, who had throughout served as their guide and prompter.1

1Passelecq, op. cit., 206.

Prophets are not without honor save in their own country; and it seems that the distinguished seven, upon their return to Belgium, were less honored there than they had been at Berlin. This may have been due to the fact that they were less well known at home than abroad. A Belgian professor has described the seven deputies as follows:

"Of these delegates, supposed to be the flower of the Activists [a term used to designate those Belgians who lend themselves to German schemes] two, Vernieuwe and Verhees, were formerly minor officials at the central administration in Brussels; three others, Borms, Lambrichts and Tack, were formerly unknown teachers in the high schools; another, Dumon, is a physician who sells cigars; the seventh, Van der Broeck, a lawyer with no practice."

These men, M. Passelecq assures us, were unknown as leaders in the Flemish movement; and Camille Huysmans, one of the leaders of the Flemish movement, describes them as altogether obscure men: "They are nobodies; they have no standing." This may have been true formerly; but after they returned from Berlin they had a very definite standing, being pointed out everywhere as men to be stared at and spit upon in the streets, as men who had sold themselves to the despoilers of their country, as men who were to be no longer called Belgians but renegades-"individuals living in Belgium."

OPINION OF REAL FLEMINGS

The "Activists," under the most favorable circumstances, could perhaps rally to the support of the German program a thousand men-let us say two thousand-out of a population of seven and a half millions. Over against the opinion of this insignificant and nondescript group, it is interesting to place the opinion of the Belgian people, expressed upon every occasion and in every conceivable way by every kind of responsible group, but never better

1 Belgian Information Service, Release of March 31, 1918.

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327

expressed than in the protest addressed to Bethmann-Hollweg March 10, 1917, and signed by 77 of the most distinguished citizens of the country:

Excellency:

On March 3 you received at Berlin a deputation from an organization which styles itself "Council of Flanders," but which in our own country is altogether unknown. From communications that have been made to the press the impression is conveyed that this deputation has expressed the claims of the Flemish people, or of a considerable part of that people, and that it was itself composed of persons having some prestige and authority in this country. Nothing could be more dangerous than to allow, without contradiction, such an opinion to gain credit. The persons who, in the midst of war, have taken it upon themselves to offer to the German Government their aid in dividing the country and in radically changing its internal organization, have no right whatever to speak in the name of the Flemish people, and do not represent in any way either its desires or its aspirations.

Before the war, our Flemish populations designated, in complete independence, their representatives to the Chamber of Deputies and to the Senate, to the number of 113 deputies and 57 senators. Out of these 170 representatives, only two have joined what is called the activist move

ment.

The petition addressed to the Belgian Government, on the subject of the transformation of the University of Ghent into a Flemish University, was formerly signed by 2,000 university alumni. Only 100 have been prevailed upon to approve the new policy, and out of that small number several have already openly withdrawn their signatures, while others make no secret of the fact that they have been imposed upon, or that they were misinformed, and that they regret their action.

REAL FLEMISH MOVEMENT NOT REPRESENTED

The Flemish country and the Flemish movement have for years been represented by large and influential associations of a literary and political character, such as the Willemsfonds, the Davidsfonds, the Nederlandsche Bond and the Liberale Vlaamsche Bond of Antwerp, the Liberale Volksbond of Brussels, the associations of workingmen affiliated with our three political parties, the Association of Flemish Lawyers, the Congress of Flemish Doctors and Naturalists, and many others. The adhesion of none of these