Editing Belgium (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Belgium}}
{{For timeline|Timeline of Belgian history}}
{{More sources|section|date=April 2025}}

===Antiquity===
[[File: Map Gallia Tribes Towns.png|thumb|left|''[[Gallia Belgica]]'' at the time of [[Julius Caesar]]'s conquest of [[Gaul]] in 54 BCE]]

According to [[Julius Caesar|Julius Caesar's]] ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'', the [[Belgae]] inhabited the northernmost part of [[Gaul]], a region extending from the [[Seine]] and [[Marne (river)|Marne]] rivers to the [[Rhine]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=C. Julius Caesar, Gallic War |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0001 |date=1869 |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> This area was larger than present-day Belgium and included parts of modern [[France]], Belgium, [[Luxembourg]], and [[Germany]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mise en page 1 |url=https://var.fr/documents/20142/107955/Guide+de+visite+%EF%80%A0Les+Gaulois%EF%80%A0+GB.pdf/443bebbb-dbf7-7827-4d9c-1b5ddeea662a |date=2019 |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=var.fr}}</ref> Caesar noted that the Belgae were the bravest among the Gauls due to their distance from the civilization and refinement of the [[Roman province|Roman Province]], minimal contact with merchants importing luxury goods, and their continual warfare with the neighboring [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]] across the Rhine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Works of Julius Caesar: Gallic Wars Book 1 (58 B.C.E.) |url=https://sacred-texts.com/cla/jcsr/dbg1.htm |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=sacred-texts.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Allen-Hornblower |first=Emily |date= 2014|title=BEASTS AND BARBARIANS IN CAESar's ''BELLUM GALLICUM'' 6.21–8 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/abs/beasts-and-barbarians-in-caesars-bellum-gallicum-6218/0207CEA01853E9B516FD766E92FB2676 |journal=The Classical Quarterly |language=en |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=682–693 |doi=10.1017/S0009838814000044 |issn=0009-8388}}</ref> Within this broad region, Caesar referred to a specific area as "Belgium," which was politically dominant and located in what is now northern France.<ref>Caesar, ''Gallic War'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0002:book=8:chapter=46&highlight=belgio%2Cbelgium 8.46] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811110505/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0002:book=8:chapter=46&highlight=belgio%2Cbelgium |date=11 August 2023 }} "''quattuor legiones '''in Belgio''' collocavit''", "''his confectis rebus ad legiones '''in Belgium''' se recipit hibernatque Nemetocennae''". (In online English translations the second part is often included in the next paragraph [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Commentaries_on_the_Gallic_War/Book_8#47 8.47] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621075642/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Commentaries_on_the_Gallic_War/Book_8#47 |date=21 June 2023 }}. {{citation|first=Edith|last=Wightman|title=Gallia Belgica|page=12|url={{GBurl|id=aEyS54uSj88C|p=12}}|year=1985|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-05297-0}}. {{citation|last1=González Villaescusa|last2= Jacquemin|year=2011|title= Gallia Belgica: An Entity with No National Claim|journal= Études rurales|volume= 2|issue=2|pages=93–111|doi=10.4000/etudesrurales.9499|doi-access=free}}</ref> 

Modern Belgium, along with neighboring regions of the Netherlands and Germany, corresponds to the territories of the northernmost Belgae tribes, including the [[Morini]],{{efn|The Morini were located along the coast of modern Belgium, particularly in the [[Pas-de-Calais]] region, centered around [[Boulogne-sur-Mer]]. Their territory extended from the [[Canache|River Canache]] to the [[River Scheldt]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Morini (Belgae) |url=https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/BarbarianMorini.htm |date=1903 |author=Peter Kessler,Edward Dawson |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=historyfiles.co.uk}}</ref>}} [[Menapii]],{{efn|The Menapii dwelt near the [[North Sea]], around present-day [[Cassel, Nord|Cassel]], in the region now part of Belgium.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Menapii (Belgae) |url=https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/BarbarianMenapii.htm |date=1903 |author=Peter Kessler,Edward Dawson |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=historyfiles.co.uk}}</ref>}} [[Nervii]],{{efn|The Nervii inhabited the central part of modern Belgium, including Brussels, extending southwards to [[Cambrai]] in [[French Hainaut]]. Their territory included areas along the [[Haine]] and [[Sambre]] rivers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Territoire des Nerviens — région, Gaule — nation - Nervii Territorium |url=https://www.gaudry.be/lieu/g1/g1-ner.html  |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=gaudry.be |language=fr}}</ref>}} [[Germani cisrhenani|Germani Cisrhenani]],{{efn|The Germani Cisrhenani inhabited regions on the eastern side of the [[Rhine]], corresponding to parts of modern-day Germany, but their influence extended into the northeastern part of Gaul.<ref name="gca" >{{Cite web |title=Pre-Roman Belgic tribes of modern Belgium |url=https://www.eupedia.com/forum/threads/pre-roman-belgic-tribes-of-modern-belgium.24913/ |date=2008-02-26 |publisher=Maciamo |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=eupedia.com}}</ref>}} and [[Atuatuci|Aduatuci]].{{efn|The [[Aduatuci]] lived in the eastern part of modern-day Belgium, particularly in the [[Meuse|Meuse valley]] and the [[Hesbaye|Hesbaye region]].<ref name="gca" />}} Julius Caesar described these tribes as particularly warlike and economically undeveloped, noting their kinship with the Germanic tribes east of the Rhine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Caesar Gallic War |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Caesar/Gallic_War/2*.html  |publisher=Loeb Classical Library |date=1917 |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=gaudry.be}}</ref> Additionally, the area around [[Arlon]] in southern Belgium was part of the territory of the powerful [[Treveri]] tribe, whose lands extended into present-day Luxembourg and adjacent regions of France and Germany.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Treveri – the tribe which Treves was named after |url=https://new.coinsweekly.com/antiquity/the-treveri-the-tribe-which-treves-was-named-after/ |date=2009-10-14 |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=new.coinsweekly.com}}</ref>

Following Caesar's conquests, Gallia Belgica became the [[Latin]] name for a large Roman province encompassing most of [[Gaul|Northern Gaul]], including the lands of the Belgae and Treveri. Subsequently, areas closer to the lower Rhine frontier, such as the eastern part of modern Belgium, were incorporated into the frontier province of [[Germania Inferior]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Germania Inferior {{!}} Roman province, Europe {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Germania-Inferior |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Germania Inferior (1) - Livius |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/place/germania-inferior/ |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=www.livius.org}}</ref> As the central government of the [[Western Roman Empire]] collapsed, the provinces of Belgica and Germania were inhabited by a mix of Romanized populations and Germanic-speaking [[Franks]], who came to dominate the military and political spheres.<ref>Hamerow, Theodore S., Leyser, K.J., Geary, Patrick J., Wallace-Hadrill, John Michael, Barkin, Kenneth, Berentsen, William H., Duggan, Lawrence G., Schleunes, Karl A., Sheehan, James J., Kirby, George Hall, Bayley, Charles Calvert, Turner, Henry Ashby, Heather, Peter John, Elkins, Thomas Henry, Strauss, Gerald. "Germany". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Apr. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany. Accessed 5 April 2025</ref>

===Middle Ages===
During the 5th century, the area came under the rule of the Frankish [[Merovingian dynasty|Merovingian]] kings, who initially established a kingdom ruling over the Romanized population in what is now northern France, and then conquered the other Frankish kingdoms. During the 8th century, the empire of the Franks came to be ruled by the [[Carolingian dynasty]], whose centre of power included the area which is now eastern Belgium.<ref>{{citation|first=Matthias|last=Werner|title=Der Lütticher Raum in frühkarolingischer Zeit : Untersuchungen zur Geschichte einer karolingischen Stammlandschaft|year=1980}}</ref> Over the centuries, it was divided up in many ways, but the [[Treaty of Verdun]] in 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms whose borders had a lasting impact on medieval political boundaries. Most of modern Belgium was in the [[Middle Francia|Middle Kingdom]], later known as [[Lotharingia]], but the coastal [[county of Flanders]], west of the [[Scheldt]], became the northernmost part of [[West Francia]], the predecessor of [[France]]. In 870 in the [[Treaty of Meerssen]], modern Belgium lands all became part of the western kingdom for a period, but in 880 in the [[Treaty of Ribemont]], Lotharingia came under the lasting control of the eastern kingdom, which became the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The lordships and bishoprics along the "March" (frontier) between the two great kingdoms maintained important connections between each other. For example, the county of Flanders expanded over the Scheldt into the empire, and during several periods was ruled by the same lords as the [[county of Hainaut]].

In the 13th and 14th centuries, the cloth industry and commerce boomed especially in the County of Flanders and it became one of the richest areas in Europe. This prosperity played a role in conflicts between Flanders and the [[king of France]]. Famously, Flemish militias scored a surprise victory at the [[Battle of the Golden Spurs]] against a strong force of mounted knights in 1302, but France soon regained control of the rebellious province.

===Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands===
[[File:Karte-Haus-Burgund 4-FR.png|thumb|upright|The [[Burgundian Netherlands|Burgundian State]] of [[Charles the Bold]] in the 15th century]]

In the 15th century, the [[Duke of Burgundy]] in France took control of Flanders, and from there [[Burgundian inheritance in the Low Countries|proceeded to unite]] much of what is now the Benelux, the so-called [[Burgundian Netherlands]].<ref name="Wl7Nu">{{cite web|title=Chapter I: The Burgundian Netherlands.|work=History of Holland|author=Edmundson, George|publisher=The University Press, Cambridge. Republished: Authorama|year=1922|url=http://www.authorama.com/history-of-holland-3.html|access-date=15 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428094602/http://www.authorama.com/history-of-holland-3.html|archive-date=28 April 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> "Burgundy" and "Flanders" were the first two common names used for the Burgundian Netherlands which was the predecessor of the Austrian Netherlands, the predecessor of modern Belgium.<ref>{{citation|last=Van Der Essen|first=Leon|title=Notre nom national|journal=Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire|volume=4|issue=1|year=1925|pages=121–131|doi=10.3406/rbph.1925.6335|url=http://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_1925_num_4_1_6335|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=20 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320145715/https://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_1925_num_4_1_6335|url-status=live}}</ref> The union, technically stretching between two kingdoms, gave the area economic and political stability which led to an even greater prosperity and artistic creation.

Born in Belgium, the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles&nbsp;V]] was heir of the Burgundians, but also of the royal families of [[House of Habsburg|Austria]], [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] and [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]]. With the [[Pragmatic Sanction of 1549]] he gave the [[Seventeen Provinces]] more legitimacy as a stable entity, rather than just a temporary [[personal union]]. He also increased the influence of these Netherlands over the [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège]], which continued to exist as a large semi-independent enclave.<ref name="3kmvZ">{{cite web|title=Chapter II: Habsburg Rule in the Netherlands|work=History of Holland|author=Edmundson, George|publisher=The University Press, Cambridge. Republished: Authorama|year=1922|url=http://www.authorama.com/history-of-holland-4.html|access-date=9 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926224357/http://www.authorama.com/history-of-holland-4.html|archive-date=26 September 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Spanish and Austrian Netherlands===
The [[Eighty Years' War]] (1568–1648) was triggered by the Spanish government's policy towards [[Protestantism]], which was becoming popular in the Low Countries. The rebellious northern [[Dutch Republic|United Provinces]] (''Belgica Foederata'' in [[Latin]], the "Federated Netherlands") eventually separated from the [[Southern Netherlands]] (''Belgica Regia'', the "Royal Netherlands"). The southern part continued to be ruled successively by the [[Habsburg Spain|Spanish]] ([[Spanish Netherlands]]) and the [[History of Austria|Austrian]] [[House of Habsburg]]s ([[Austrian Netherlands]]) and comprised most of modern Belgium. This was the theatre of several more protracted conflicts during much of the 17th and 18th centuries involving France, including the [[Franco-Dutch War]] (1672–1678), the [[Nine Years' War]] (1688–1697), the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] (1701–1714), and part of the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] (1740–1748).

===French Revolution and United Kingdom of the Netherlands===
Following the [[French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1794|campaigns of 1794 in the French Revolutionary Wars]], the Low Countries{{snd}}including territories that were never nominally under Habsburg rule, such as the Prince-Bishopric of Liège{{snd}}were annexed by the [[French First Republic]], ending Austrian rule in the region. After the dissolution of the [[First French Empire]] and the abdication of [[Napoleon]] following his defeat on the [[Battle of Waterloo|battlefield of Waterloo]], the [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1814–15 created the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]]. This [[buffer state]], located between the major European powers, united the former territories of the Dutch Republic, the Austrian Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, under King [[William I of the Netherlands|William I of Orange]].

===Independent Belgium===
[[File:Gustave Wappers - Episode of the September Days 1830, on the Grand Place of Brussels - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|''Episode of the [[Belgian Revolution]] of 1830'', [[Egide Charles Gustave Wappers|Gustaf Wappers]], 1834]]

In 1830, the [[Belgian Revolution]] led to the re-separation of the Southern Provinces from the Netherlands and to the establishment of a Catholic and bourgeois, officially French-speaking and neutral, independent Belgium under a [[Provisional Government of Belgium|provisional government]] and a [[national Congress of Belgium|national congress]].<ref name="Dobbelaere-VoyE">{{cite journal|title = From Pillar to Postmodernity: The Changing Situation of Religion in Belgium|journal = Sociological Analysis|volume = 51|pages = S1–S13|year = 1990|author = Dobbelaere, Karel|author2 = Voyé, Liliane|doi = 10.2307/3711670|jstor = 3711670|df = dmy-all|author-link = Karel Dobbelaere}}</ref><ref name="Gooch"><!--Is this the best source? It describes the February 1848 Revolution. Admittedly, it does confirm the neutrality of Belgium--> {{cite book|url = https://www.questia.com/read/3461234|title = Belgium and the February Revolution|author = Gooch, Brison Dowling|publisher = [[Martinus Nijhoff Publishers]], [[The Hague]], Netherlands|year = 1963|page = 112|access-date = 18 October 2010|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110628222235/http://www.questia.com/read/3461234|archive-date = 28 June 2011|url-status=live|df = dmy-all|author-link = Brison D. Gooch}}</ref> Since the installation of [[Leopold I of Belgium|Leopold&nbsp;I]] as king on {{nowrap|21 July}} 1831, now celebrated as Belgium's [[National Day]], Belgium has been a [[constitutional monarchy]] and [[parliamentary democracy]], with a [[Secularism in Belgium|''laicist'']] constitution based on the [[Napoleonic code]].<ref name="UL18v">{{cite web|url=http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/country/belgium_in_nutshell/symbols/national_holiday/|title=National Day and feast days of Communities and Regions|publisher=Belgian Federal Government|access-date=20 July 2011|archive-date=24 July 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724132628/http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/country/belgium_in_nutshell/symbols/national_holiday/|date=3 October 2010}}</ref> Although the franchise was initially restricted, [[universal suffrage]] for men was introduced after the [[Belgian general strike of 1893|general strike of 1893]] (with [[plural voting]] until 1919) and for women in 1949.

[[File:MapBelg1832-1724.jpg|thumb|Map of Belgium, 1832, before the final settlement of borders in 1839]]

The main political parties of the 19th century were the [[Catholic Party (Belgium)|Catholic Party]] and the [[Liberal Party (Belgium)|Liberal Party]], with the [[Belgian Labour Party]] emerging towards the end of the 19th century. French was originally the official language used by the [[nobility]] and the [[bourgeoisie]], especially after the rejection of the Dutch monarchy. French progressively lost its dominance as Dutch began to recover its status. This recognition became official in 1898, and in 1967, the parliament accepted a Dutch version of the [[Belgian Constitution|Constitution]].<ref name="etpIA">{{cite web|title=Ethnic structure, inequality and governance of the public sector in Belgium|last=Deschouwer|first=Kris|publisher=United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)|date=January 2004|url=http://www.unrisd.org/UNRISD/website/document.nsf/ab82a6805797760f80256b4f005da1ab/ec506a59176be044c1256e9e003077c3/$FILE/Deschou.pdf|access-date=22 May 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614025223/http://www.unrisd.org/UNRISD/website/document.nsf/ab82a6805797760f80256b4f005da1ab/ec506a59176be044c1256e9e003077c3/%24FILE/Deschou.pdf|archive-date=14 June 2007}}</ref>

The [[Berlin Conference]] of 1885 ceded control of the [[Congo Free State]] to [[Leopold II of Belgium|King Leopold&nbsp;II]] as his private possession. From around 1900 there was growing international concern for the [[Atrocities in the Congo Free State|extreme and savage treatment of the Congolese population under Leopold&nbsp;II]], for whom the Congo was primarily a source of revenue from ivory and rubber production.<ref name="Forbath">{{cite book|title=The River Congo: The Discovery, Exploration and Exploitation of the World's Most Dramatic Rivers|publisher=Harper & Row|year=1977|isbn=978-0-06-122490-4|last=Forbath|first=Peter|page=278|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UtgwAQAAIAAJ&q=The%2BRiver%2BCongo%3A%2BThe%2BDiscovery%2C%2BExploration%2Band%2BExploitation%2Bof%2Bthe%2BWorld%27s%2BMost%2BDramatic%2BRivers|url-access=subscription|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=23 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123070716/https://books.google.com/books?id=UtgwAQAAIAAJ&q=The+River+Congo%3A+The+Discovery%2C+Exploration+and+Exploitation+of+the+World%27s+Most+Dramatic+Rivers|url-status=live}}</ref> Many Congolese were killed by Leopold's agents for failing to meet production quotas for ivory and rubber.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/21/arts/belgium-confronts-its-heart-darkness-unsavory-colonial-behavior-congo-will-be.html|newspaper=nytimes.com|title=Belgium Confronts Its Heart of Darkness; Unsavory Colonial Behavior in the Congo Will Be Tackled by a New Study – The New York Times|date=21 September 2002 |access-date=6 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224172454/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/21/arts/belgium-confronts-its-heart-darkness-unsavory-colonial-behavior-congo-will-be.html|archive-date=24 December 2016|url-status=live|last1=Riding |first1=Alan }}</ref> In 1908, this outcry led the Belgian state to assume responsibility for the government of the colony, henceforth called the [[Belgian Congo]].<ref name="iwqD0">{{cite book|last=Meredith|first=Martin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNZ6srograIC&q=congo%2Bfree%2Bstate|title=The State of Africa|publisher=Jonathan Ball|year=2005|isbn=978-1-86842-220-3|pages=95–96(?)|url-access=subscription|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=25 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230925082012/https://books.google.com/books?id=jNZ6srograIC&q=congo%2Bfree%2Bstate|url-status=live}}<!--Original 2007-06-21 entry here as publisher=Simon & Schuster, year=2006, pages=95–96, isbn=978-0-7432-3222-7: ref not found on that date--></ref> A Belgian commission in 1919 estimated that Congo's population was half what it was in 1879.<ref name="nytimes.com" />
[[File:Cheering crowds greet British troops entering Brussels, 4 September 1944. BU483.jpg|thumb|Cheering crowds greet British troops entering [[Brussels]], 4 September 1944.]]
[[German invasion of Belgium (1914)|Germany invaded Belgium in August 1914]] as part of the [[Schlieffen Plan]] to attack [[France]], and much of the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] fighting of [[World War I]] occurred in western parts of the country. The opening months of the war were known as the [[Rape of Belgium]] due to German excesses. Belgium assumed control of the [[German colonies]] of [[Ruanda-Urundi]] (modern-day [[Rwanda]] and [[Burundi]]) during the war, and in 1924 the [[League of Nations]] mandated them to Belgium. In the aftermath of the First World War, Belgium annexed the [[districts of Prussia|Prussian districts]] of [[Eupen-Malmedy|Eupen and Malmedy]] in 1925, thereby causing the presence of a German-speaking minority.

[[Battle of Belgium|German forces again invaded the country in May 1940]], and 40,690 Belgians, over half of them Jews, were killed during the subsequent [[German occupation of Belgium during World War II|occupation]] and [[The Holocaust in Belgium|the Holocaust]]. From September 1944 to February 1945 [[Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine|the Allies liberated]] Belgium. After [[World War II|World War&nbsp;II]], [[General strike against Leopold III of Belgium|a general strike]] forced King [[Leopold III of Belgium|Leopold&nbsp;III]] to abdicate in 1951 in favour of his son, [[King Baudouin|Prince Baudouin]], since [[Royal Question|many Belgians thought he had collaborated with Germany]] during the war.<ref name="Arango">{{cite book|first=Ramon|last=Arango|title=Leopold III and the Belgian Royal Question|publisher=The Johns Hopkins Press|location=Baltimore|year=1961|url-access=subscription|page=108|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLzkugAACAAJ|isbn=978-0-8018-0040-5|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=15 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215075435/https://books.google.com/books?id=yLzkugAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> The Belgian Congo gained independence in 1960 during the [[Congo Crisis]];<ref name="7TmlQ">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1304803|title=The Congolese Civil War 1960–1964|work=[[BBC News]]|date=14 October 2003 |access-date=29 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524174128/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1304803|archive-date=24 May 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Ruanda-Urundi followed with its independence two years later. Belgium joined [[NATO]] as a founding member and formed the Benelux group of nations with the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Belgium became one of the six founding members of the [[European Coal and Steel Community]] in 1951 and of the [[European Atomic Energy Community]] and [[European Economic Community]], established in 1957. The latter has now become the European Union, for which Belgium hosts major administrations and institutions, including the [[European Commission]], the [[Council of the European Union]] and the extraordinary and committee sessions of the [[European Parliament]].

In the early 1990s, Belgium saw several large corruption scandals notably surrounding [[Marc Dutroux]], [[André Cools|Andre Cools]], the [[Dioxin affair|Dioxin Affair]], [[Agusta scandal|Agusta Scandal]] and the murder of [[Murder of Karel Van Noppen|Karel van Noppen]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Policy Failure and Corruption in Belgium: Is Federalism to Blame? |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228177797 |website=researchgate.net}}</ref>