Today 175 years ago, separist troops forced the Dutch governemental army to retreat after several days of heavy fighting around the warande-park in Brussels. It was the start of the separation of the low-lands and the birth of Belgium.

Thank God, if this hadn't happend, chocolat, waffles and fries would have been a Dutch specialty...   

Long live the Belgians!


Omag

Well done Omag old chap. I always knew that Belgium must be famous for something besides Brussels sprouts.

I went to school with a chap from Belgium. I think his mother came from your country. He told me that there are various languages spoken depending on the region, rather like Switzerland I suppose. One of them is Walloon which I believe is a minority language still spoken in some regions but I forget which one was his natural tongue.

Let us be honest here, the reason so many countries have fought over Belgium is because armies are run by men, and the Stella Artois brewery is in Belgium

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Bleep could very well be replaced by Björn, cause the Germans showed some interest, twice! Lol! As did the Austrians, Romans, Vikings, etc…

Belgium was founded 175 years ago, in 1830, as a result of the separation fights earlier mentioned in this thread. It’s a big deal around here at the moment…

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Doug, Doug, for once not too well informed ( yes, I’m gloating, this doesn’t happen to often I can say that about you!).

There are three official languages.

Dutch – spoken in Flanders, roughly the northern part of the country, if you divide it from the channel to germany.

French – spoken in Wallonie – the southern part, about the same size as Flanders

German – spoken in the most eastern part of Belgium, an area reclaimed after one of the wars if I’m correct. They are a minority, but it still is an official language, which I like…

But then we have a wicked governmental system involving 6 (!) administrations and some hot-spot area’s where language-groups tend to collide… Yep, Belgium, not the most uniform country in the world. But that’s what makes us special.

And Souichiro? We love you guys!

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Well, I do my best but can't be expected to know everything. I learn something new every day. That's why I brought the subject up. Who better to ask than my old mate Omag who actually lives in this strange place.

I'm going from a rapidly failing memory of what this chap told me over 50 years ago. I also checked it out on Google before I mentioned it here. Maybe I know more about this than you think. 8)
http://www.wallonie.com/wallang/

Cause the lazy gits can't be bothered to export it.

And now I'm wondering, how does real, belgian Stella differ from the stuff we get?

I'm gonna have to go to belgium...

I'm safe then as I drink Hungarian beer from our local brewery

Not to ignore all of you potential drunks but, to return to the initial topic:
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What do you mean, "And then... the Belgians came!" Weren't they already there in the timeframe of which you speak, but for (an)other name(s)? ???