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World War I , also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as the war to end all wars, it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. An estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilians died as a direct result of the war, while it is also considered a contributory factor in a number of genocides and the 1918 influenza epidemic, which caused between 50 and 100 million deaths worldwide. Military losses were exacerbated by new technological and industrial developments and the tactical stalemate caused by gruelling trench warfare. It was one of the deadliest conflicts in history and precipitated major political changes, including the Revolutions of 1917–1923, in many of the nations involved. Unresolved rivalries at the end of the conflict contributed to the start of the Second World War about twenty years later.By 1914, the European powers were divided into two coalitions: the Triple Entente, consisting of France, Russia and Britain and the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. The Triple Alliance was primarily defensive in nature, allowing Italy to stay out of the war in 1914, while many of the terms of both agreements were informal and contradicted by others; for example, Italy renewed the Triple Alliance in 1902 but secretly agreed with France to remain neutral if it was attacked by Germany. As the war widened, the Entente added Italy, Japan and eventually the United States to form the Allied Powers, while the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined Germany and Austria to create the Central Powers. Between 1908 and 1914, the Balkans had been destabilised by the combination of a weakened Ottoman Empire, the 1912–1913 Balkan Wars and competing Russian and Austro-Hungarian objectives. On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb Yugoslav nationalist, assassinated the Austro-Hungarian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, leading to the July Crisis. On 23 July, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia; interlocking alliances quickly drew in all the major European powers with their respective colonial empires and the conflict rapidly spread across the globe. On 25 July, the Russian government issued orders for the 'period preparatory to war'; after Austria-Hungary shelled the Serbian capital of Belgrade on the 28th, partial mobilisation was approved of the military districts nearest to Austria, including Kiev, Kazan, Odessa and Moscow. General Russian mobilisation was announced on the evening of 30 July; on the 31st, Austria-Hungary and Germany did the same, while Germany demanded Russia demobilise within 12 hours. When Russia failed to comply, Germany declared war on 1 August, with Austria-Hungary following suit on 6th; France ordered full mobilisation in support of Russia on 2 August. French entry into the war stemmed from a combination of the desire to regain the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine ceded after the 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War, concern at Germany's increasing power and military commitments agreed with Russia.German strategy for a war on two fronts against France and Russia was to concentrate the bulk of its army in the West to defeat France within four weeks, then shift forces to the East before Russia could fully mobilise; this was later known as the Schlieffen Plan. On 2 August, Germany demanded free passage through Belgium, an essential element in achieving a quick victory over France. When this was refused, German forces entered Belgium early on the morning of 3 August and declared war with France the same day; the Belgian government invoked the 1839 Treaty of London and in compliance with its obligations under this, Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August. On 12 August, Britain and France also declared war on Austria-Hungary; on the 23rd, the Empire of Japan joined the Allied Powers, seizing the opportunity to expand its sphere of influence by capturing German possessions in China and the Pacific. On 24 August, Serbia won a major victory over the Austro-Hungarians at the Battle of Cer. The German advance into France was halted at the Battle of the Marne and by the end of 1914, the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, marked by a long series of trench lines that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, two Russian armies entered East Prussia on 17 August, in compliance with their 1912 agreement with France to attack Germany within 15 days of mobilisation. The Germans were forced to divert troops from the West, but successfully repulsed this invasion by victories at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes; however, the Russians occupied the Austro-Hungarian province of Eastern Galicia. In November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai Peninsula. In 1915, Italy joined the Allied Powers and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers. Romania joined the Allied Powers in 1916. After the sinking of seven US merchant ships by German submarines, and the revelation that the Germans were trying to incite Mexico to make war on the United States, the US declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917. The 1917 February Revolution in Russia replaced the Tsarist autocracy with the Provisional Government, but continuing discontent at the cost of the war led to the October Revolution and the creation of the Soviet Socialist Republic. Russian military resistance collapsed, allowing the transfer of large numbers of German troops to the Western Front and in April, 1918, Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers. The German March 1918 Offensive was initially successful but the Allies rallied and drove them back in the Hundred Days Offensive; on 28 September, German military leaders asked for an Armistice. On 4 November 1918, the Austro-Hungarian empire agreed the Armistice of Villa Giusti; with Revolution at home, and the military no longer willing to fight, Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated on 9 November and Germany also signed an Armistice on 11 November 1918. As a result of the war, the Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires were replaced by new states, based on nationalities. The Four Powers of Britain, France, the US and Italy, imposed their terms in a series of treaties agreed at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The formation of the League of Nations was intended to prevent another world war, but for various reasons failed to do so. The central role of the Nazi Party in World War II led to a focus on how the Treaty of Versailles impacted Germany but it also transformed large parts of Europe and the Middle East, in ways that remain relevant today.
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Belgium: Ypres - Ieper

Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders.
Te town had long been fortified to keep out invaders. Parts of the early ramparts, dating from 1385, still survive near the Rijselpoort (Lille Gate). Over time, the earthworks were replaced by sturdier masonry and earth structures and a partial moat. Ypres was further fortified in the 17th and 18th centuries while under the occupation of the Habsburgs and the French. Major works were completed at the end of the 17th century by the French military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.
During World War I, Ypres was the centre of intense and sustained battles between German and Allied forces. During the war, because it was hard to pronounce in English, British troops nicknamed the city Wipers.
Ypres occupied a strategic position during World War I because it stood in the path of Germany's planned sweep across the rest of Belgium and into France from the north (the Schlieffen Plan). The neutrality of Belgium was guaranteed by Britain; Germany's invasion of Belgium brought the British Empire into the war.
After the war the town was rebuilt using money paid by Germany in reparations, with the main square, including the Cloth Hall and town hall, being rebuilt as close to the original designs as possible. The Cloth Hall today is home to In Flanders Fields Museum, dedicated to Ypres's role in the First World War.The whole complex was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999.
The Gothic-style Saint Martin's Cathedral, originally built in 1221, was also completely reconstructed after the war, but now with a higher spire.
The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres commemorates those soldiers of the British Commonwealth -- with the exception of Newfoundland -- who fell in the Ypres Salient during the First World War before 16 August 1917, who have no known grave. The memorial now bears the names of more than 54,000 officers and men.
Every evening since 1928 (except for a period during the Second World War when Ypres was occupied by Germany), at precisely eight o'clock, traffic around the imposing arches of the Menin Gate Memorial has been stopped while the Last Post is sounded beneath the Gate by the local fire brigade. This tribute is given in honour of the memory of British Empire soldiers who fought and died there.
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Visit Belgium - 13/589 – Zonnebeke - World War 1, Dugout, Passchendaele & Tyne Cot Cemetery

A Belgian Challenge, I would like to visit all 589 Belgian Municipalities. In this video visit Zonnebeke, a municipality in the province of West-Flanders and known from the First World War.

We started our day in Zonnebeke with a visit to the church Dugout. This dugout is not reconstructed but completely authentic (it takes you back to 1917) and it’s open for public until the 10th of November 2017.

After this visit which took about 20 minutes, we visited the nearby Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917. The museum explains all about the First World War and it has a reconstructed dugout. Definitely worth a visit! The museum is located in a chateau park and in this park you can also find the Memorial Gardens of New Zealand, Canada, UK, Germany, USA and Belgium.

We ended the day at the Tyne Cot Cemetary, which is the largest Commonwealth War Graves cemetery in the world and the most important reminder of the Battle of Passchendaele from 1917.

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???????? Ypres, Belgium - the museum and other tourist attractions

Ypres is a city in the province of West Flanders of the Flemish Community in the region of Flanders, Belgium.

Sights: Market Square, St. George's Memorial Church, Lakenhal, St. Martin's Cathedral, war memorial Menenpoort (Gedenktor), Old Fortress, and the trenches.

Hooge, Ypres

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Hooge is a small village on the Bellewaerde Ridge, about 4 kilometres east of Ypres in the Flemish province of West-Vlaanderen in Belgium.Hooge and the nearby locations of Bellewaerde and Zillebeke were merged into Ypres in 1976.The economy of Hooge is dominated by tourism and agriculture.Tourists are attracted by the World War I battlefields as well as Bellewaerde, the oldest operating theme park in Belgium.

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Visit my Friend in Belgium Ypres and Ghent

Ypres (leper), is a town in the Belgian province of West Flanders. It's surrounded by the Ypres Salient battlefields, where many cemeteries, memorials and war museums honor the battles that unfolded in this area during World War I. After being destroyed in the war, many important buildings were carefully reconstructed, including Gothic-style Sint-Maartenskathedraal (St. Martin's Cathedral) and its soaring spire.

Ghent is a port city in northwest Belgium, at the confluence of the Leie and Scheldt rivers. During the Middle Ages it was a prominent city-state. Today it’s a university town and cultural hub. Its pedestrianized center is known for medieval architecture such as 12th-century Gravensteen castle and the Graslei, a row of guildhalls beside the Leie river harbor.

French Flanders and Artois Battlefields of WW1, France

French Flanders and Artois Battlefields of WW1, France
westfield school trip
The 1914-1918 battlefields of French Flanders are located in an area of northern France historically called the Province of Flanders and the County of Artois. Nowadays these two provinces are situated in the northernmost region of France, namely Nord-Pas-de-Calais. This region shares its northern border with Flemish Flanders in Belgium. Towns and villages in the area which feature in the battlefields of 1914-1918 are Armentières, Arras, Bailleul, Béthune, Bullecourt, Festubert, Fromelles, Hazebrouck, Loos-en-Gohelle, Monchy-le-Preux and St. Omer. The city of Lille is the administrative capital of Nord-Pas-de-Calais. During the First World War Lille was a busy centre of commerce and was occupied by the German Army for exactly four years from October 1914 to October 1918.

Ieper

Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. Though Ieper is the Dutch and only official name, the city's French name, Ypres, is most commonly used in English due to its role in World War I when only French was in official use in Belgian documents, including on maps. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote. Together, they are home to some 34,900 inhabitants.

During World War I, Ypres was the centre of intense and sustained battles between German and Allied forces. During the war, because the British troops had trouble pronouncing its name, they nicknamed the city Wipers.

Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium - virtual tour

Antwerp is a city in Belgium, the capital of Antwerp province in the region of Flanders. It is the most populous city proper in Belgium. Its metropolitan area houses around 1,200,000 people, which is second behind Brussels.

Antwerp is an international port city on Belgium’s River Scheldt, with history dating to the Middle Ages. In its center, the centuries-old Diamond District houses thousands of traders, cutters and polishers. Its Royal Academy of Fine Arts, founded in 1663, is today a well-known European fashion academy, where the local designers the Antwerp Six made the city a hotbed for the 1980s avant-garde.

Antwerp is on the River Scheldt, linked to the North Sea by the Westerschelde estuary. The Port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in Europe and within the top 20 globally.

Antwerp has long been an important city in the Low Countries, both economically and culturally, especially before the Spanish Fury (1576) in the Dutch Revolt. The inhabitants of Antwerp are nicknamed Sinjoren, after the Spanish honorific señor or French seigneur, lord, referring to the Spanish noblemen who ruled the city in the 17th century. The city also hosted the 1920 Summer Olympics.

Provinces of Belgium

The country of Belgium is divided into three regions. Two of these regions, the Flemish Region or Flanders, and Walloon Region, or Walloonia, are each subdivided into five provinces. The third region, the Brussels-Capital Region, is not divided into provinces, as it was originally only a small part of a province itself.
Many of the provinces evolved from earlier duchies and counties of the same name and similar location, albeit often with significant shifts of boundaries. At the time of the creation of Belgium in 1830, only nine provinces existed, including the province of Brabant, which held the city of Brussels. In 1995, Brabant was split into three areas: Flemish Brabant, which became a part of the region of Flanders; Walloon Brabant, which became part of the region of Walloonia; and the Brussels-Capital Region, which became a third region. These divisions reflected political tensions between the French-speaking Walloonians and the Dutch-speaking Flemish; the Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual.

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Belgium travel tip : Langemark - Ypres - Belgium In Flanders Fields #Belgium

The German cemetery of Langemark (formerly spelt 'Langemarck') is near the village of Langemark, part of the municipality of Langemark-Poelkapelle, in the Belgian province of West Flanders.More than 44,000 soldiers are buried here. The village was the scene of the first gas attacks by the German army marking the beginning of the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915.

The cemetery, which evolved from a small group of graves from 1915, has seen numerous changes and extensions. It was dedicated in 1932. Today, visitors find a mass grave near the entrance. This comrades' grave contains 24,917 servicemen, including the Ace Werner Voss.Between the oak trees, next to this mass grave, are another 10,143 soldiers (including 2 British soldiers killed in 1918). The 3,000 school students who were killed during the First Battle of Ypres are buried in a third part of the cemetery. At the rear of the cemetery is a sculpture of four mourning figures by Professor Emil Krieger. The group was added in 1956, and is said to stand guard over the fallen. The cemetery is maintained by the German War Graves Commission, the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge.

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Yser

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The Yser is a river that rises in French Flanders , enters the Belgian province of West Flanders and flows into the North Sea at the town of Nieuwpoort.The source of the Yser is in Buysscheure , in the Nord département of northern France.It flows though Bollezeele , Esquelbecq , Bambecque and approximately 30 kilometres of its 78-kilometre run through France before it enters Belgium.It then flows through Diksmuide and out into the North Sea at Nieuwpoort.

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Ypres

Ypres (/ˈiːprɛs/ or /ˈiːpreɪ/; French pronunciation: [ipʁ]; Dutch: Ieper, pronounced [ˈipər]) is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. Though Ieper is the Dutch and only official name, the city's French name Ypres is most commonly used in English due to its role in World War I when only French was in official use in Belgian documents, including on maps. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote. Together, they are home to some 34,900 inhabitants.
During World War I, Ypres was the centre of intense and sustained battles between German and Allied forces. During the war, because the British troops had trouble pronouncing its name, they nicknamed the city Wipers.

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Langemarck military cemetery

The German war cemetery of Langermarck is near the village of Langermarck, part of the municipality of Langermarck-Poelkapelle, in the Belgian province of West Flanders. More than 44,000 soldiers are buried here. The village was the scene of the first gas attacks by the German army, marking the beginning of the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915.

During the First Battle of Ypres (1914) in World War I, inexperienced German infantry suffered severe casualties when they made a futile frontal attack on allied positions near Langermarck and were checked by experienced French infantry and British riflemen.

The cemetery, which evolved from a small group of graves from 1915, has seen numerous changes and extensions. It was dedicated in 1932. Today, visitors find a mass grave near the entrance. This comrades' grave contains 24,917 servicemen. Between the oak trees, next to this mass grave, are another 10,143 soldiers (including 2 British soldiers killed in 1918). The 3,000 school students who were killed during the First Battle of Ypres are buried in a third part of the cemetery.

Adolf Hitler spent two days visiting the Ypres Salient battlefields. His tour included the town of Ypres and Langermarck military cemetery.

Top 13 Attractions in Belgium according to Lonely Planet

Top 13 Attractions in Belgium according to Lonely Planet

13. Cartoon Culture
Belgium has a consuming passion for comic strips, which are considered the 'Ninth Art'. Foreigners might know the boy-reporter Tintin whose creater, Hergé, is celebrated at a fine new museum in Louvain La neuve.

12. Art nouveau
Swirls, curlicues and architectural daring: don't leave Brussels without exploring some of its art nouveau marvels. The style was developed with the help of the architects Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde.

11. Flanders Fields
Flanders Fields is a common English name of the World War I battlefields in an area straddling the Belgian provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders. The name Flanders Fields is particularly associated with battles that took place in the Ypres Salient, including the Second Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Passchendaele.

10. Belfries & Begijnhoven
The Belfries of Belgium is a group of historical buildings designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Site, in recognition of an architectural manifestation of emerging civic independence in historic Flanders and neighbouring regions from feudal and religious influences, leading to a degree of local democracy of great significance in the history of humankind.

9. Chocolate
Belgium is famed for its high quality chocolate and over 2,000 chocolatiers, both small and large. Belgium's association with chocolate goes back as far as 1635 when the country was under Spanish occupation. From the early 20th century, the country was able to import large quantities of cocoa from its African colony, the Belgian Congo.

8. Castles
From French-style chateaux to Crusader-era ruins, Belgium is overloaded with spectacular castles. Antwerp and Ghent both retain medieval ones right in their city centres. And Namur, like Huy and Dinant, is dominated by a massive fortress citadel that retained military importance well into the 20th century.

7. Antwerp Art & Fashion
Go-ahead Antwerp is a city that has everything. its skyline is still dominated by one of the lowlands' most magnificent stone steeples and its medieval house-museums are stuffed with works by its most famous 17th-century resident, Pieter Paul rubens. But it's a dynamic place with state-of-the-art museums, vibrant nightlife and a reputation as one of europe's capitals of haute couture.

6. Art Cities
If you love the medieval charm of Bruges but want to be a little more original, a great choice is Gghent. this historic city also has its share of canalside splendour, a great arts scene and a grittier charm that many visitors find refreshing. Or try Mechelen. it's overloaded with splendid churches and the grand central square is graced with a fanciful town-hall complex that's only topped for sheer flamboyance by the statue-festooned equivalent in Leuven, Belgium'''s ancient university city.

5. Carnival Capers
If your neighbours' idea of a good time is to dress up in barrel costumes jingling with little bells, don spooky masks and ostrich feather hats, and then go throwing oranges at passers-by, you might wonder about their sanity. then again you might just be living in Binche. That's the town whose unique mardi gras carnival has long been so indulgent it gave the english language the term 'binge'.

4. Belgian Beer
For a comparatively small country, Belgium produces a very large number of beers in a range of different styles -- in fact, it has more distinct types of beer per capita than anywhere else in the world. In 2011, there were 1,132 different varieties of beer being produced in the country.

3. Flemish Primitives
The whole of western representational art was transformed in the 15th century by a group of Bruges-based painters whose mastery of oil paints allowed them to simulate reality and paint faces that expressed apparently real emotions. Simultaneously, the burgeoning economy of Flanders meant that rich sponsors were prepared to commission secular works.

2. Brussels' Grand Place
The Grand Place is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by guildhalls, the city's Town Hall, and the Breadhouse. The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels. It measures 68 by 110 metres (223 by 361 ft), and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

1. Bruges
Bruges is a picture-postcard-perfect city in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium. Relatively cosmopolitan and bourgeois given its compact size, it is one of the best preserved pre-motorised cities in Europe and offers the kind of charms rarely available other than in Europe.

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Ceremony of the 30.000 th. Last Post in Ypres ( 9 july 2015 )

On 09/07/2015 the Last Post was blown for the 30,000th time under the Menin Gate in Ieper. To celebrate this unique occasion, GoneWest (the cultural remembrance programme of the Province of West Flanders) is organizing with the Last Post Association and actor Wim Opbrouck (the guiding spirit behind the initiative) 'A Tribute for the Tribute'.
On 9 July 2015, this large-scale participative event has taken place in fire stations all around the world.

The New Zealand Sunset Ceremony for the Battle of Messines

On 7 June 2017, New Zealand marked its involvement in the Battle of Messines in Mesen/Messines, Belgium.

The New Zealand Sunset Ceremony for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Messines took place at 7.30pm at the New Zealand Battlefield Memorial in New Zealand Park, Mesen/Messines.

The Official Party included Her Excellency Dame Patsy Reddy, Governor-General of New Zealand, His Excellency Sir David Gascoigne, His Excellency Mr Gregory Andrews, New Zealand Ambassador to Belgium, Mr Sandy Evrard, Burgemeester of Mesen/Messines and Major General Tim Gall, Commander Joint Forces New Zealand.

The ceremony was narrated by Ms Nicola Jamieson and conducted by the New Zealand Defence Force. ‘The Ridge’ was arranged by Flight Lieutenant Simon Brew, Director of Music, Royal New Zealand Air Force. The arrangement tells the story of the Battle of Messines through music and ceremony featuring vocalist Leading Aircraftman Barbara Graham. The marching in of the 2nd Canterbury, Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast Battalion Regimental Colour symbolises the soldiers heading to the battlefield. Faint sounds of tunnelling can be heard while the nightingale sings. The still of the night is broken by by a colossal explosion and the battle begins. After the fighting many soldiers lie dead, the drummers beat a retreat and the Catafalque Guard is mounted. A battlefield prayer is offered for those who lost their lives.

The New Zealand Government thanks the following for their support and assistance with the New Zealand Services to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Messines: the Government of Belgium, the Government of Flanders, the province of West Flanders, the Belgian Ministry of Defence, the Mayor and community of Mesen/Messines, the Police of Mesen/Messines and Ieper, the New Zealand Pilgramage Trust and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Follow in the footsteps of New Zealand First World War soldiers with Ngā Tapuwae First World War Trails ngatapuwae.govt.nz

Beautiful nature at the provincial domain Gasthuisbossen Ypres Belgium on Januari 2, 2012.wmv

The beauriful nature of mother earth nearby in my own country Belgium province of West-Flanders near Ypres.

Flanders

Flanders (Dutch: Vlaanderen , French: Flandre) today normally refers to the Dutch speaking northern portion of Belgium. It is one of the regions and communities of Belgium. Historically, the name referred to a region located in the north-western part of present-day Belgium and adjacent parts of France and the Netherlands. Both in the historical and the contemporary meaning, the demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming, while the corresponding adjective is Flemish. Brussels is the capital of Flanders, though it is also autonomous and only partially under Flanders' jurisdiction.
Over the course of history, the geographical territory that was called Flanders has varied, and usage in English was at most periods much vaguer and imprecise than in the region itself. From around 1000 AD, Flanders historically meant the land situated along the North Sea from the Strait of Dover to the Scheldt estuary with ill-defined southern borders. It came to refer specifically to the County of Flanders, lasting from 862 to 1795, whose territory was situated in the northwestern part of what is now Belgium (approximately the modern Belgian provinces of East and West Flanders), and what are now parts of northern France (French Flanders), and the Netherlands (Zeelandic Flanders). Through marriage, the County of Flanders was joined with most of the rest of the Low Countries around 1400 AD, and it lost its independence. Most of the county's territory became part of an independent Belgium in 1830, and during the 19th and 20th centuries, it became increasingly commonplace to refer to the entire Dutch-speaking and northern part of Belgium as Flanders, including the Belgian parts of the Duchy of Brabant and Limburg. In the late 20th century, Belgium became a federal state in which the Dutch-speaking part was given autonomy as the Flemish Community (Dutch: Vlaamse Gemeenschap) and the Flemish Region (Dutch: Vlaams Gewest); these two entities were effectively merged, except that only the Flemish Community, not the Flemish region, has jurisdiction over Brussels, its capital.

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Guillaume de VAUDREY - Belgium - Flanders - Ieper (Ypres)

Belgium | Wikipedia audio article

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Belgium

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SUMMARY
=======
Belgium officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.
The sovereign state of Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. Its institutional organisation is complex and is structured on both regional and linguistic grounds. It is divided into three highly autonomous regions: Flanders in the north, Wallonia in the south, and the Brussels-Capital Region. Brussels is both the smallest and richest region in terms of GDP per capita. It is also the most densely populated area in Belgium.
Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups or Communities: the Dutch-speaking, mostly Flemish Community, which constitutes about 59 percent of the population, and the French-speaking Community, which comprises about 40 percent of all Belgians. Additionally, a small German-speaking Community, numbering around one percent, exists in the East Cantons. The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual (French and Dutch), although French is the dominant language of the population. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments.
Historically, Belgium was part of an area known as the Low Countries, a somewhat larger region than the current Benelux group of states that also included parts of northern France and western Germany. Its name is derived from the Latin word Belgica, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, the area of Belgium was a prosperous and cosmopolitan centre of commerce and culture. Between the 16th and early 19th centuries, Belgium served as the battleground between many European powers, earning the moniker the Battlefield of Europe, a reputation strengthened by both world wars. The country emerged in 1830 following the Belgian Revolution when it seceded from the Netherlands.
Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution
and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. The second half of the 20th century was marked by rising tensions between the Dutch-speaking and the French-speaking citizens fueled by differences in language and culture and the unequal economic development of Flanders and Wallonia. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Despite the reforms, tensions between the groups have remained, if not increased; there is significant separatism particularly among the Flemish; controversial language laws exist such as the municipalities with language facilities; and the formation of a coalition government took 18 months following the June 2010 federal election, a world record. Unemployment in Wallonia is more than double that of Flanders, which boomed after the war.Belgium is one of the six founding countries of the European Union and hosts the official seats of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the European Council, as well as a seat of the European Parliament in the country's capital, Brussels. Belgium is also a founding member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD, and WTO, and a part of the trilateral Benelux Union and the Schengen Area. Brussels hosts several of the EU's official seats as well as the headquarters of many major international organizations such as NATO.Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy. The country achieves very high standards of living, life quality, healthcare, educ ...