Among the hills of eastern Belgium there lives a race of men—vivacious and hardy, immensely proud of their ancient origin, who are descended from one of the Gallic tribes conquered by the Romans twenty centuries ago. These interesting people—they are called Walloons—inherited from their conquerors a Romanic dialect which they made their own. Though more like French than any other language, it can scarcely be understood by natives of France. However, in modern times, French has supplanted the dialect of Wallonia, except in intimate intercourse, and is the chosen tongue of the professional classes throughout most of Belgium.
West of the Maas (Meuse) River Valley stretch the plains of the Flemings—stout, hardworking sons of Teutons and Franks who in the Romans’ time overran the basin of the Scheldt and its treeless barrens. These, for the most part, know only Flemish, the language of Flanders—a richly expressive, unlovely-sounding tongue, closely related to Dutch and German.
Walloons and Flemish were often on opposite sides of the battlefield, until the provinces were united five centuries ago under Philip the Good of Burgundy. Since then, they have been divided by no issue of vital importance except that of language. For many years French was the language of the Belgian Government and press, of universities and men of learning. Walloons employed only French, while few of the north Belgium peasants would use any language but that of Flanders.
This lingual barrier between a people having the same national ideals is an ever-present cause of contention and misunderstanding. Suppose half the inhabitants of Ohio refused to learn the language of the other half, and each section was constantly on the alert to exalt its own tongue. Picture the possibilities of conflict and jealousy among a people otherwise closely allied, with the same government, and with daily interchange of interests.
Less than one-seventh of the Belgian population are able to speak both French and Flemish. The remaining six-sevenths are about equally divided between those that know only their own tongue—and object on principle to learning the tongue the other half speak.
One hears much in Belgium of the “Flemish Movement,” whose motto, adopted not long after the establishment of national independence, in 1830, is the Flemish sentence, “De taal is gansch het volk” (“The language is the whole people”). This organized effort to foster Flemish traditions and literature had from the first the support of public men and writers, including Henri Conscience, Ledeganck, and Van Beers, who lent their voices and their pens to extol the heroic deeds of Flanders and to advance in every way possible the influence of the language in the kingdom. Maeterlinck and Verhaeren have employed both Flemish and French in writing prose and poetry. The Walloons, anxious that the French tongue should continue to predominate in official affairs, steadfastly opposed the agitators of the Mouvement Flamingant. But at last the Flemings won their fight. Before the law, both languages are now equal; public documents and notices are printed in “the two national languages”; advocates may plead their cases in either one, according to preference, and in many towns street signs appear in both Flemish and French. Attempts to compel all employees of the Government to learn both languages has been only partially successful.
The Flemings are not only rather more numerous than the Walloons, but they are bound by their common loyalty to the Church of their fathers. The Walloons are of the Liberal faith, politically, and not such zealous churchmen as their Flemish brothers. Since the year 1884, the Flemish Party, also called the Conservative or Catholic Party, has been in power. A Flemish Academy and theaters for the presentation of the drama in Flemish were erected, in cities like Antwerp and Ghent, and these still receive part of their support from the State.
The popular balladists of the Walloons are the poets, Defrecheux (de-frech-eu) and Vrindts. Camille Lemonnier (le-mon-nee-ay), whose medium is French, has written powerful novels of both Walloon and Flemish life. “It is to Germany’s interest,” says an observer, “that the Flemish movement should develop and become more markedly aggressive. On the other hand, France cannot but view with rising apprehension the decline of her influence in Belgium, which will sink to a still lower point if the propagators of the revived and intensified Flemish movement attain all their ends.”
It is gratifying to record that the World War unified more than any other agency has ever done the people of the north and south of Belgium.
WRITTEN FOR THE MENTOR BY RUTH KEDZIE WOOD
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR. VOL. 8, No. 3, SERIAL No. 199
COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION. INC.