Editing Soumagne (section)

==History==

From the end of the 19th century until the 1960s, Soumagne was a flourishing municipality with numerous [[coal]] [[Mining|mines]] and a large Cooperative factory.
After the end of [[coal mining]], the mines were cleaned and residences as well as shopping areas were built. Some buildings are kept and transformed into tourism activities (such as "le domaine du Bas-Bois").

During the [[German invasion of Belgium (1914)|German invasion of Belgium]] at the beginning of [[World War I]], the [[German Army (German Empire)|Imperial German Army]] killed 118 civilians and burned 100 houses in the village as [[collective punishment]] for the [[Belgian Land Component|Belgian Army]]’s resistance of the invasion from the nearby [[Fort de Fléron]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hastings|first=Max|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/828893101|title=Catastrophe 1914 : Europe goes to war|date=2013|isbn=978-0-307-59705-2|edition=First American|location=New York|oclc=828893101}}</ref>

Since 1980, the higher number of people leaving big cities ([[Liège]] and [[Verviers]]) for more rural municipalities, with the [[European route E40|E40 motorway]] passing on its territory, Soumagne recovered from the loss of coal mining and the end of the Cooperative. In that period, houses are built due to a new, and young, population settling down in Soumagne. A lot of new shops and commercial centers opened and small companies are emerging.