Walloon Movement
Encyclopedia
The Walloon Movement is an umbrella term for all Belgian
political movements that either assert the existence of a Walloon identity
or defend French culture and language within Belgium. The movement began as a defence of the primacy of French but later gained political and socio-economic objectives. In French, the pejorative terms wallingantisme and wallingants are used to describe the movement and its activists.
and more distant from the Netherlands
, as expressed in the Benelux
policy:
"Rattachism", the French irredentist trend in the Walloon Movement, is a good example of this love for French republic. Notably Albert du Bois who in his book "The Belgians or the French?" edited in 1903 "denounces the subjection of the Walloons to the Flemings : besides those who are only succeeding the Dutchmen, Austrians and Spaniards who occupied Wallonia. The French heart of the Walloons must carry them to want the return to "l'œuvre de Quatre-vingt-treize" [the work of 1793, the invasion of the Southern Netherlands by the French] and the destruction of the international agreements of 1814 and 1830. It develops the same thesis in the "Catechism of the Walloon", widely diffused in this same year 1903."
movement from its beginning. Started in liberal left
societies, it quickly became a rallying cry for a liberal-socialist coalition against the conservatives of the Catholic Party
whose power base was in the Flemish-speaking provinces. During the interbellum between World War I
and World War II
, many of the Christian left
joined the Walloon Movement, notably the Abbé Mahieu, an anticlerical Catholic priest. The movement was the focus of several attempts to create left-wing party, for example the Walloon Democratic and Socialist Rally (Rassemblement démocratique et socialiste wallon) created during World War II.
The tension between the class struggle and Walloon empowerment brought forth two view points. One prioritised the class struggle and the other, Renardism (Fr "Fox-ism") saw both being achieved together. Jules Destrée
in a speech on November 9, 1913 declared that the Walloon Movement is not, cannot be, as well as the Flemish Movement a cause of division of the worker class. On the contrary, each time that there will be only their interests of class, workers, all workers must find themselves united..
Renardism is an ideology combining syndical struggle
and Walloon militancy. Conceived by André Renard
, he finely defined it :
The struggle was typified by the internecine strife between workers during the strike of 1960-61.
Walloon militants often regard Belgium as an invention of Bourgeoisie
.
as Belgium's sole official language was a historical campaign of the Walloon Movement.
Militants at that time were attached to the «Belgian contract» that, according to them, allowed only French to be used in Belgium's official life. Belgian revolutionaries in 1830 decided to prefer the French language. Firstly to reduce the Dutch
influence from whom they had separated. Secondly because they were from the Francophile bourgeoisie - if not originating from France - and attached to principles of the French Revolution
.
A Flemish Movement
was quickly created to recognize the Dutch language
. The first Walloon militants then set up a French-speaking and Walloon movement of defence to fight against the official recognition of Dutch. The militants were from the French-speaking areas joined by liberal bourgeoisie from Brussels and the Dutch-speaking provinces. These surprising allies joined the Francophiles because much of their work was in the bureaucracy where the introduction of another language would have been prejudicial to them.
This idea begins to quickly disappear after 1898, the year in which the Coremans-De Vriendt law was enacted, which recognized Flemish.
This trend become again more wide spread with the end of the linguistic censuses and fixing of the linguistic border in 1962–1963. At the elections of 1965, a party called Democratic Front of Francophones of Brussels
(FDBF, now FDF) aroses and had three deputies and one senator.
take part, on the future statute of Wallonia. The independence manifesto was written in November 1943, after the departure of the federalists, in the form of a draft Constitution for a Walloon republic. Its principle rests on "the formation of an independent Walloon State, suitable to be associated with a Flemish State and a State of Brussels, but integrated in the defensive system of France".
The RDSW draft was presented at the Walloon nation congress in 1945 but only during the «sentimental vote», in which it received only 154 votes out of 1048 voters, or 14.6%. After the congress, this trend remained discrete until the sixties
. During the general strike of 1960–1961 Renardism appeared, an independentist trend for a socialist and syndical Wallonia, but its failure after this strike forces this syndical enterprise to be folded back on the constitution of a federalistic lobbying group, the Walloon Popular Movement (Mouvement Populaire Wallon - MPW).
During the seventies
and the 80s, several parties with an independentist programme were created, such as the Walloon Popular Rally (Rassemblement populaire wallon - RPW) and the Front for the Independence of Wallonia (Front pour l’Indépendance de la Wallonie - FIW) but after electoral failures, especially the European elections on June 17, 1984, they sank into oblivion. It is the Rattachist trend that today gathers the most enthusiasm of Walloon militants unhappy with the result of institutional reforms in favour of the autonomy of Wallonia within Belgium.
There have been rattachists since the independence of Belgium, like Alexandre Gendebien but only in the 20th century did rattachism become an important aspect of the Walloon Movement with the Count Albert du Bois d'Enghien and his Catechism of the Walloon that affirms French identity of the Walloon. He participated in the newspaper Le Réveil wallon, clearly Francophile and rattachist.
This trend is currently represented by the party Rassemblement Wallonie-France
with at its head André Renard who ally Walloon Movement claims and workers' claims.
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
political movements that either assert the existence of a Walloon identity
Walloons
Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...
or defend French culture and language within Belgium. The movement began as a defence of the primacy of French but later gained political and socio-economic objectives. In French, the pejorative terms wallingantisme and wallingants are used to describe the movement and its activists.
Francophilia
The central theme of the Walloon Movement is the ideal of the French revolution, and a love of French language and culture. This francophilia gave rise to the Walloon Movement and Walloon militants' aim of growing closer to FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and more distant from the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, as expressed in the Benelux
Benelux
The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...
policy:
In fact, the Walloon Movement is the first, and quasi the sole, to warn the public opinion against implications of the Benelux policy and to claim, on the other hand or in complement, an economic and cultural moving closer to France. […] Qualified as a modern version of orangism, the Benelux policy can serve a certain Flemish policy. According to George Dotreppe, member of the directory of "Wallonie Libre", Benelux, born out on English groung and turned towards Great Britain and the United States, supports the anti-French policy of Anglo-Saxons, which does not serve of anything Wallonia, sister of France.
"Rattachism", the French irredentist trend in the Walloon Movement, is a good example of this love for French republic. Notably Albert du Bois who in his book "The Belgians or the French?" edited in 1903 "denounces the subjection of the Walloons to the Flemings : besides those who are only succeeding the Dutchmen, Austrians and Spaniards who occupied Wallonia. The French heart of the Walloons must carry them to want the return to "l'œuvre de Quatre-vingt-treize" [the work of 1793, the invasion of the Southern Netherlands by the French] and the destruction of the international agreements of 1814 and 1830. It develops the same thesis in the "Catechism of the Walloon", widely diffused in this same year 1903."
Left-wing Politics
The Walloon Movement was a left wingLeft-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
movement from its beginning. Started in liberal left
Social liberalism
Social liberalism is the belief that liberalism should include social justice. It differs from classical liberalism in that it believes the legitimate role of the state includes addressing economic and social issues such as unemployment, health care, and education while simultaneously expanding...
societies, it quickly became a rallying cry for a liberal-socialist coalition against the conservatives of the Catholic Party
Catholic Party (Belgium)
The first Catholic Party in Belgium was established in 1869 as the Confessional Catholic Party .-History:In 1852 a Union Constitutionelle et Conservatrice was founded in Ghent, in Leuven , and in Antwerp and Brussels in 1858, which were active only during elections...
whose power base was in the Flemish-speaking provinces. During the interbellum between World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, many of the Christian left
Christian socialism
Christian socialism generally refers to those on the Christian left whose politics are both Christian and socialist and who see these two philosophies as being interrelated. This category can include Liberation theology and the doctrine of the social gospel...
joined the Walloon Movement, notably the Abbé Mahieu, an anticlerical Catholic priest. The movement was the focus of several attempts to create left-wing party, for example the Walloon Democratic and Socialist Rally (Rassemblement démocratique et socialiste wallon) created during World War II.
Class struggle and Renardism
Many Walloon militants consider their movement as an incarnation of the social struggle and a way to fight for the workers' cause.The tension between the class struggle and Walloon empowerment brought forth two view points. One prioritised the class struggle and the other, Renardism (Fr "Fox-ism") saw both being achieved together. Jules Destrée
Jules Destrée
Jules Destrée was a Walloon lawyer, cultural critic and socialist politician. The trials subsequent to the strikes of 1886 determined his commitment within the Belgian Labour Party. He wrote a Letter to the King in 1912, which is seen as the founding declaration of the Walloon movement...
in a speech on November 9, 1913 declared that the Walloon Movement is not, cannot be, as well as the Flemish Movement a cause of division of the worker class. On the contrary, each time that there will be only their interests of class, workers, all workers must find themselves united..
Renardism is an ideology combining syndical struggle
Syndicalism
Syndicalism is a type of economic system proposed as a replacement for capitalism and an alternative to state socialism, which uses federations of collectivised trade unions or industrial unions...
and Walloon militancy. Conceived by André Renard
André Renard
André Renard , was the leader of an important tendency in the Walloon tradeunionism-Resistance and a new faction in the Syndicalism:...
, he finely defined it :
They made us believe in the socialist opening in Flanders. Just look at numbers. For me, the combat remains whole, but I choose the best ground and the best weapons. For the moment, the best ground and the best weapons are in Wallonia, the best road passes by the defense of the Walloon interests. I am at the same time socialist and Walloon and I embrace the Walloon thesis's because they are socialist.
The struggle was typified by the internecine strife between workers during the strike of 1960-61.
Internationalism
The Walloon Movement ideology with the arrival of socialists within it was subsumed by a proletarian internationalism, Jules Destrée considered that "the Walloon Movement is not in contradiction with internationalism. On the contrary, by creating a nation new, free and independent, it facilitates the creation of solid agreements between the nations, which is by definition internationalism".Walloon militants often regard Belgium as an invention of Bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
.
Unilingual Belgicism
The defence of FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
as Belgium's sole official language was a historical campaign of the Walloon Movement.
Militants at that time were attached to the «Belgian contract» that, according to them, allowed only French to be used in Belgium's official life. Belgian revolutionaries in 1830 decided to prefer the French language. Firstly to reduce the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
influence from whom they had separated. Secondly because they were from the Francophile bourgeoisie - if not originating from France - and attached to principles of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
A Flemish Movement
Flemish movement
The Flemish Movement is a popular term used to describe the political movement for emancipation and greater autonomy of the Belgian region of Flanders, for protection of the Dutch language, and for the over-all protection of Flemish culture and history....
was quickly created to recognize the Dutch language
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
. The first Walloon militants then set up a French-speaking and Walloon movement of defence to fight against the official recognition of Dutch. The militants were from the French-speaking areas joined by liberal bourgeoisie from Brussels and the Dutch-speaking provinces. These surprising allies joined the Francophiles because much of their work was in the bureaucracy where the introduction of another language would have been prejudicial to them.
This idea begins to quickly disappear after 1898, the year in which the Coremans-De Vriendt law was enacted, which recognized Flemish.
Front for Francophones
The defence of francophones and the French language started up after the failure to keep unilingual belgicism. Various organizations represented it, as the League against the Flemishisation of Brussels in the Thirties which fought for bilingualism in some communes of Brussels.This trend become again more wide spread with the end of the linguistic censuses and fixing of the linguistic border in 1962–1963. At the elections of 1965, a party called Democratic Front of Francophones of Brussels
Democratic Front of Francophones
The Francophone Democratic Federalists , is a Francophone political party based in Brussels, Belgium founded on 11 May 1964. Until 1982, the FDF dominated Brussels' municipal politics. It is led by Deputy Olivier Maingain....
(FDBF, now FDF) aroses and had three deputies and one senator.
Autonomism
The autonomist or separatist trend appeared on March 15, 1898 in "The Walloon Soul" ("L'Âme wallonne"). This propaganda paper of the Walloon League of Liege published on first page a plea in favour of the administrative separation of the country: "Let us take the offensive openly and continue as of today the obtention of a separatist regime, before they strip us and reduce more still". Concepts of autonomy vary from federalism to confederalism within the Belgian framework according to autonomist activists but there are also separatists promoting autonomy within a European framework in the case of a "Europe of the Regions".Independentism
This trend inside the Walloon Movement is the youngest. It was born during the Second World War, in the Walloon Democratic and Socialist Rally ("Rassemblement démocratique et socialiste wallon" - RDSW), a group mainly from Liège which arose at the end of 1942. It grouped together politicians and Walloon militants. The RDSW's attempt to create a unique party for the left was without success. It also aimed to be a working group, in which the liberal Fernand Schreurs and the socialist Fernand DehousseFernand Dehousse
Fernand Dehousse was a Belgian politician.-Biography:Originally a Liberal, he went on to join the Socialist Party while he remained a Walloon activist...
take part, on the future statute of Wallonia. The independence manifesto was written in November 1943, after the departure of the federalists, in the form of a draft Constitution for a Walloon republic. Its principle rests on "the formation of an independent Walloon State, suitable to be associated with a Flemish State and a State of Brussels, but integrated in the defensive system of France".
The RDSW draft was presented at the Walloon nation congress in 1945 but only during the «sentimental vote», in which it received only 154 votes out of 1048 voters, or 14.6%. After the congress, this trend remained discrete until the sixties
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
. During the general strike of 1960–1961 Renardism appeared, an independentist trend for a socialist and syndical Wallonia, but its failure after this strike forces this syndical enterprise to be folded back on the constitution of a federalistic lobbying group, the Walloon Popular Movement (Mouvement Populaire Wallon - MPW).
During the seventies
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
and the 80s, several parties with an independentist programme were created, such as the Walloon Popular Rally (Rassemblement populaire wallon - RPW) and the Front for the Independence of Wallonia (Front pour l’Indépendance de la Wallonie - FIW) but after electoral failures, especially the European elections on June 17, 1984, they sank into oblivion. It is the Rattachist trend that today gathers the most enthusiasm of Walloon militants unhappy with the result of institutional reforms in favour of the autonomy of Wallonia within Belgium.
Rattachism
Rattachism, or Reunionism as their supportes prefer to call it, is a trend advocating joining Wallonia with France.There have been rattachists since the independence of Belgium, like Alexandre Gendebien but only in the 20th century did rattachism become an important aspect of the Walloon Movement with the Count Albert du Bois d'Enghien and his Catechism of the Walloon that affirms French identity of the Walloon. He participated in the newspaper Le Réveil wallon, clearly Francophile and rattachist.
This trend is currently represented by the party Rassemblement Wallonie-France
Rassemblement Wallonie-France
The Rassemblement Wallonie France is a small political party in Belgium. It is active in Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region. In Brussels it is known as the Rassemblement Bruxelles France or RBF...
History
Historians agree that the Walloon political movement began in 1880 with the foundation of a Walloon and French-speaking defence movement following the first linguistic laws of the 1870s. It took the character of a movement asserting the existence of Wallonia and a Walloon identity without giving up the defence of French. Wallonia asserted timidly since 1898 but which becomes the principal claim since 1905 with a climax at the Walloon congress of 1912 and Jules Destrée's Letter to the King. The First World War and a reviving of Belgian patriotism applied a brake to the movement and it spin offs. Walloon militants banded together in 1930s under the patronage of the Walloon Concentration where the radical ideas of 1912 were born again bringing into existence the linguistic laws of 1932. During the Second World war, several activists distinguished themselves within Resistance by forming various clandestine groupings. This world war radicalised even more the movement which for the first time speaks about independence ideas, and which will lead to its active participation in the Royal Question in 1950. Then follows a lull long of a decade which ends with the 1960-1961 Winter General Strike1960-1961 Winter General Strike
1960–1961 Winter General Strike was the most important strike of the 20th century in Belgium and was called the Strike of the Century. Its triggering factor was Eyskens' government introducing a number of austerity policies under the general name Loi unique...
with at its head André Renard who ally Walloon Movement claims and workers' claims.
See also
- Wallonia
- WalloonsWalloonsWalloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...
- Flemish MovementFlemish movementThe Flemish Movement is a popular term used to describe the political movement for emancipation and greater autonomy of the Belgian region of Flanders, for protection of the Dutch language, and for the over-all protection of Flemish culture and history....
- Partition of BelgiumPartition of BelgiumThe partition of Belgium, or the dissolution of the Belgian state through the separation of the Dutch-speaking people of the Flanders region and Brussels from the French-speaking people of the Walloon region and Brussels, granting them either independence or respective accession to the Netherlands...
- Wallonie LibreWallonie LibreWallonie Libre or Free Wallonia is a small political movement in Belgium. It is believed to have been founded on June 18, 1940 on the battlegrounds of Waterloo in the Brabant province, the place where Napoleon was defeated in 1815 by the British, Prussian and Russian armies...
French
- L'Encyclopédie du Mouvement wallon, Institut Jules Destrée, Charleroi, 2000
- Philippe Destate, L'Identité wallonne, Institut Jules Destrée, coll. Notre Histoire, Charleroi, 1997
- Chantal Kesteloot, Mouvement Wallon et identité nationale, Courrier Hebdomadaire du CRISP, No. 1392, 1993.
- Chantal Kesteloot, Tendances récentes de l'historiographie du mouvement wallon (1981–1995), Revue Belge d'Histoire Contemporaine, XXV, 1994–1995, 3-4, pp. 539–568. pdf
Dutch
- Maarten Van Ginderachter, Het kraaien van de haan, Cahiers Jan Dhondt 3, Acamedia Press, Gand, 2005 pdf