Editing History of Belgium (section)

=== Reparations ===
German reparations to Belgium for damage incurred during the [[First World War]] was set at £12.5 billion [[pounds sterling]].
In 1919 under the [[Treaty of Versailles]] the area of [[Eupen-Malmedy]], along with [[Moresnet]] was transferred to Belgium. "[[Neutral Moresnet]]" was transferred to Belgium, as well as the [[Vennbahn]] railway. An opportunity was given to the population to "oppose" against the transfer by signing a petition, which gathered few signatures, in large part thanks to intimidation by local authorities, and all regions remain part of Belgium today.

Belgian requests to annex territory considered as historically theirs from the Dutch, who were perceived as collaborators, was denied.{{Sfn|Cook|2004|page=102}}

Between January 1923 and August 1925, Belgian and French soldiers were sent to the [[Ruhr]] in [[Weimar Republic|Germany]] to force the German government to agree to continue reparation payments. The [[Occupation of the Ruhr]] led to the [[Dawes Plan]] which allowed the German government more leniency in paying reparations.

The League of Nations in 1925 made Belgium the trustee for the former [[German East Africa]] which bordered the Belgian Congo to the east. It became [[Rwanda-Urundi]] (or "Ruanda-Urundi") (modern day [[Rwanda]] and [[Burundi]]).<ref>William Roger Louis, ''Ruanda-Urundi 1884–1919'' (Oxford University Press 1963).</ref> Although promising the League it would promote education, Belgium left the task to subsidised Catholic missions and unsubsidised Protestant missions. As late as 1962, fewer than 100 natives had gone beyond secondary school. The policy was one of low-cost paternalism, as explained by Belgium's special representative to the Trusteeship Council: "The real work is to change the African in his essence, to transform his soul, [and] to do that one must love him and enjoy having daily contact with him. He must be cured of his thoughtlessness, he must accustom himself to living in society, he must overcome his inertia."<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Mary T. |last=Duarte |title=Education in Ruanda-Urundi, 1946–61 |journal=Historian |date=1995 |volume=57 |issue=2 |pp=275–284}}</ref>