Ottoman Diplomats

Synopsis

Essad Bey reports about Belgium’s interior politics, and more specifically about the conflicts between Flemish and Walloon MPs. He explains that the Flemings made efforts to ‘ban the learning of the French language from their schools’ and to receive recognition of Flemish as an official language in Belgium, whereas the Walloons made efforts in the opposite direction. He describes a Walloon demonstration in Liège, and comes to the conclusion that there was an internal crisis in Belgium. Essad Bey – who even used the term ‘racial fights’ – predicted that the Flemings would ‘win’, as they were a demographic majority and were supported by the clergy. This conflict would affect Belgium’s interior and exterior politics.

Design and development by Letterwerk