THE BOUNDARIES OF FRENCH AND GERMANIC LANGUAGES IN BELGIUM AND
LUXEMBURG
The western section of the Franco-German linguistic boundary
extends over Belgian territory through a country in which the
formation of nationality has been exceedingly laborious. Flemish
and Walloon, two languages within a single political boundary,
represent the obstacles which stood in the way of national
growth. Physically Belgium also consists of diversified regions.
Its history is the long drawn-out struggle between two powerful
neighbors. Over and over again its inhabitants have found
themselves drawn into foreign quarrels against their will.
The country is a marshland in which the mountains and plains
of Europe meet. The main divisions which correspond to this
background have inherited the names of Flanders and Wallonia. The
clashing-ground of men of the Alpine and Nordic races, Belgium
received wave after wave of northerners who came to colonize its
broad flatlands. At the time of the conquest, the Romans came upon
long-established colonies, but found to their cost that Teuton
invasions were not ended. In the fifth century of our era the
northern lowland was cleared of Romans by the Franks; but to this
day the dualism of its people has not been obliterated. To whatever
extent inbreeding has destroyed racial purity, the Fleming of our
day represents the Nordic race, while the Walloon is mainly Alpine.
Of the two, the fair-complexioned product of the north speaks a
Teutonic language, whereas the swarthy highlander is both the user
and disseminator of French.
At the partition of the Carolingian Empire in 843,[7] the Schelde
became the dividing line between Lotharingia and France. Flemings
and Walloons, who had been thrown together for centuries, were
separated into an eastern and a western group. Nevertheless their
struggle for unity and independence continued to fill Belgium’s
history. In the ensuing period of national trials, the political
disruption of the country is manifested by the growth of civic
communities. Belgium became in turn a Burgundian, an Austrian and a
Spanish province. The golden age of the Burgundian period brought
prosperity to the land, but economic decadence accompanied the
prolonged strife between Hapsburgs and Bourbons. It was Belgium’s
misfortune to be the scene on which the rivalry was fought out.
With a population reduced by the horrors of war, Belgium emerged
from under the heel of Spanish oppression only to fall successively
under Austrian, French and Dutch domination. But the seed of
nationality, planted upon its uncertain soil when the valley of
the Schelde became part of Burgundy, sheltered a smouldering
vitality which, finally, in the nineteenth century was fanned to
independence.
The line of contact between French and the languages belonging
to the Germanic group begins at the sea on French soil. Starting
a few miles west of Dunkirk,[8] the linguistic divide follows a
direction which is generally parallel to the political boundary
between France and Belgium until, a few miles east of Aire, it
strikes northeast to Halluin, which remains within the area of
French speech. From this point on to Sicken-Sussen, near the German
border, the line assumes an almost due east trend.
This division corresponds broadly to the mountainous and depressed
areas into which Belgium is divided. The upland has always been
the home of French. Walloon is but a modified form of the old
langue d’oïl.[9] Flemish, on the other hand, is a Germanic language
which spread over Belgian lowlands as naturally as the Low German
dialects to which it is related had invaded the plains of northern
Europe. This east-west line also marks the separation of the tall,
blond, long-skulled Flemings from the short, dark, round-skull
Alpine Walloons.
The remarkably straight course of the linguistic divide, in Belgian
territory, is generally regarded as an effect of the plain over
which it extends. Whatever ruggedness it may have once possessed
has been smoothed away in the course of centuries by the ease
with which either Flemish or French could spread in the low-lying
flatland. The two languages have now been facing each other for
about four centuries. Place names indicate that the variations of
the line have been slight. It is a rare occurrence to find Roman
village names north of its present extension. Teutonic roots,
in locality names to the south, are likewise unusual. A few can
be traced. Waterloo, Tubize, Clabecq, Ohain were once Flemish
settlements. Tubize was originally known as Tweebeek and became a
Walloon center in the fifteenth century. Ohain likewise is known in
the form of Olhem in twelfth century documents.
Belgium’s linguistic dualism prevailed throughout the five
centuries of the Roman occupation. Intercourse at that time between
the Belgae dwelling south of the Via Agrippa, and the Romans who
were pushing steadily northwards was frequent and intimate. The
Latin of the Roman invaders, modified by the Celtic and Germanic
of native populations, gave birth eventually to the Walloon of
subsequent times.[10] The Belgae of the lowlands farther north,
however, successfully resisted the efforts made by the Romans
to conquer them. The marshes of their nether country, and the
forested area which was to be laid bare by the monks of the Middle
Ages, constituted a stronghold in the shelter of which Germanic
dialects took root. This forested area--the Sylva Carbonaria of the
Romans--was the chief geographical feature which prevented thorough
fusion of Flemings and Walloons. It was the westernmost extension
of the Ardennes forests and its gloomy solitudes covered the
largest part of the territory which has since become the province
of Hainaut. Beyond its northern boundary lay the lands of Teutonic
culture and language. To the Flemings, living north of the wooded
curtain, the Gallo-Romans, who became known as Walloons, were the
Walas or “foreigners” who dwelt south of the tree-studded barrier.
A sharply defined line of separation intensified, in this manner,
all pre-existing racial differences.
At a later date, the growth of the temporal power of the Roman
Church resulted in the establishment of a number of bishoprics over
districts segregated irrespectively of linguistic differences.
Perhaps one of the most striking features of Belgian history is
found in the fact that its linguistic and political boundaries have
never coincided. Every century is marked by renewal of the age-long
clashes between the northern and southern races which have been
thrown in contact along the western end of the line which separates
the plains of northern Europe from the mountainous southland of the
continent.
It may be gathered from all this that the linguistic line of
cleavage has undergone very little modification in the course of
centuries.[11] It now divides the country into a northern section,
the inhabitants of which consider Flemish as their vernacular,
but who also generally understand French, and a southern section
peopled by French-speaking inhabitants, who adhere to the use of
Walloon dialects in the intimacy of their home life. To the east,
the political frontier between Belgium and Germany does not divide
the two countries linguistically. Within Prussian territory,
Malmedy and a group of fifteen villages are inhabited by a
French-speaking folk. As though to offset this intrusion of French
speech on Prussian soil, a corresponding area of German speech
is found in the Belgian province of Luxemburg around Arlon.[12]
Altogether about 31,500 Belgians employ German as a vernacular.
[Illustration:
_The American Geographical Society of New York_
_Frontiers of Language and Nationality in Europe, 1917, Pl. I_
THE FRANCO-FLEMISH LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY]
The figures of the last (Dec. 31, 1910) Belgian census[13] show
that the Flemish provinces are bilingual, whereas the Walloon
region is altogether French. Knowledge of French as an educational
and business requirement accounts for its occurrence in Flanders.
The Romance language, therefore, tends to supersede the Germanic
idiom as a national vernacular. The utter absence of Flemish in the
Belgian Congo constitutes perhaps the strongest evidence in favor
of French as Belgium’s national language.
In northwestern France, the language of the plain has, since the
thirteenth century, steadily receded before the uplander’s speech.
At that time Flemish was spoken as far south as the region between
Boulogne and Aire.[14] The area spreading east of the Atlantic,
between the present linguistic boundary and a line connecting these
two cities, is now bilingual with French predominating. It might be
noted here, however, that Boulogne has been a French-speaking city
since Frankish days.
The use of Flemish in France is restricted to the two
arrondissements of Dunkirk and Hazebrouck as well as to a few
communes of Lille. Dewachter’s studies[15] in this locality
have been summarized by Blanchard.[16] According to these
investigations, the arrondissement of Dunkirk contains 41
Flemish-speaking communes, four of purely French language and
20 of dual speech. Of the last, only five reveal a majority of
Flemish speakers. In Hazebrouck there are 36 Flemish communes,
eight French and nine bilingual. Five of the latter show French
predominance. In the arrondissement of Lille, Flemish is spoken
only in six bilingual communes, four of which have a majority of
French-speaking residents. Furthermore a few Flemish-speaking
families are found in the suburbs of St. Omer as well as in a
commune near by. About one-third of the inhabitants of Tourcoing
understand Flemish. This is also true of one-half the population
of Roubaix. In each of the cities of Lille and Armentières, the
ratio falls to one-quarter. Outside of the Flemish-tainted communes
of the arrondissement of Lille, the boundary of this language is
indicated by the course of the Aa, the canal of Neuffossé and the
Lys.
The progress of French, in the Flemish-speaking districts of
France, may be followed through the growing invasion of French
words in the local vernaculars. The Flemish spoken in Dunkirk or
Hazebrouck is an archaic dialect which is growing further and
further away from the Flemish of Belgium, as this language tends to
identify itself with Dutch in order to acquire literary form. As a
rule, French is gradually replacing the Germanic idiom throughout
the line of linguistic contact. The Frenchifying of the communes
between the Aa and Dunkirk has taken place within the last fifty
years. In the same period, Flemish has almost entirely disappeared
from the suburbs of St. Omer, and the progress of French towards
Cassel and Hazebrouck becomes yearly more apparent. The bilingual
aptitude of the inhabitants in all of these localities is on the
increase in the sense that many of the Flemings are acquiring
proficiency in French. Business requirements in a large degree
account for the change.
The only opposition to the advance of French is found in the
Flemish immigration which brings fresh linguistic energy in its
train. Fortunately for the Romance language, the tide of this
immigration is weak and the newcomers are easily assimilated by the
French-speaking element. A locality in which the decline of French
is noticeable is found in the vicinity of Menin on the Lys river.
The number of Flemish immigrants is particularly heavy in this
region. Communes which have been French since immemorial times are
fast becoming Flemish. Everywhere else, however, French is steadily
encroaching upon the domain of Germanic speech.
[Illustration:
FIG. 12 is a view of the low-lying plain of Flanders in the
vicinity of Waterloo.]
[Illustration:
FIG. 13--Shows the environs of Chaudfontaine and gives an
excellent glimpse of the hilly country in which Walloon language
has held its own. These two photographs show the contrast between
the areas of Walloon and Flemish in Belgium.]
Brussels typifies the bilingual character of the country of
which it is the capital. French and Flemish are spoken both in
its precincts and suburbs. The distribution of inhabitants,
according to communes or wards, showed French predominance on
December 31, 1910, as follows:
Speaking
COMMUNES Number of French- Flemish- French and
(wards) inhabitants speaking speaking Flemish
Bruxelles 177,078 47,385 29,081 85,414
Anderlecht 64,157 11,211 24,320 23,486
Etterbeck 33,227 11,107 6,596 13,166
Forest 24,228 7,975 5,247 8,756
Ixelles 72,991 39,473 6,733 19,799
Jette 14,782 1,811 7,775 4,191
Koekelberg 12,750 1,770 5,702 4,378
Laeken 35,024 4,720 12,702 15,230
Molenbeek-St. Jean 72,783 11,663 24,910 31,331
Saint-Gilles 63,140 24,376 5,928 27,497
Saint-Josseten-Noode 31,865 10,547 3,349 14,859
Schaerbeek 82,480 20,975 13,677 40,525
Uccle 26,979 5,818 9,074 10,169
Woluwe--St.-Lambert 8,883 2,035 3,839 2,262
------- ------- ------- -------
Totals 720,367 200,866 158,933 301,063
Although Brussels is generally placed on the Flemish side of the
linguistic divide, it is interesting to note that the city may
appropriately be considered as the northernmost extension of the
area of Romance languages in Belgium. Only two villages of Flemish
speech intervene between the capital and the Walloon area. They are
Rhode-Saint-Genèse and Hoeylaert. Were it not for these two small
communities, Brussels would not be an enclave of French speech in
Flemish territory. But the two villages are separated by the forest
of Soignes which extends in an elongated band, all the way south of
Uccle and Boitsfort, to within reach of Waterloo. This wooded area
acts as a link which connects Brussels with the ancient area of
Romance speech. It tends to restrict Flemish in this section to the
lowland to which it really belongs.
Within the city limits the canal, which now replaces the
natural water course flowing on the site, divides Brussels into
Flemish-speaking quarters and districts entirely given up to French
language. West of the waterway, the native vernacular prevails
predominantly. This section of the Belgian capital is the site of
its industries. Its population consists mainly of laborers. As
early as the twelfth century, the members of the city’s guilds
found it convenient to reside along the banks of the stream which
watered the heart of their settlement. In our day, this part
of Brussels presents similar advantages to factory owners and
operators of industrial plants.
[Illustration:
FIG. 14--Sketch map of the environs of Brussels showing the
forested patch of Soignes intervening between the Brussels area
of French language (shown by dots) and the adjacent part of the
area of the French language in Belgium (also shown by dots). The
blank area is territory of Flemish speech. (Based on a map by P.
Reclus in _La Géographie_, Vol. 28, 1913, p. 312.)]
The rising ground east of the canal has always been favored as a
residential site by the leaders of the community. In the Middle
Ages the counts of Brabant erected their palace on the summit of
this eminence. Since then the well-to-do residents of Brussels have
built their homes on this side of the canal. The bourgeois class
followed the lead of the aristocracy as soon as their commercial
and industrial revenues equaled those of their titled countrymen.
French, the language of culture in the land, naturally took root in
this eastern section of Brussels. The tendency of the privileged
classes to select this part of the city for their residence is as
strong today as in the past. The bracing air of the heights and of
the forest of Soignes near by affords an inducement which cannot be
found in the bottom of the valley. Spacious avenues enlivened by
elaborate residences extend along the crest lines. The intervening
blocks are tenanted by the middle classes. Educational institutions
also flourish in these eastern wards of Brussels. French prevails
overwhelmingly in all their nooks and bypaths.
The growth of French in Brussels is strongly brought out by a
comparison of the following census figures for the years 1846 and
1910:
_1846_ _1910_
French-speaking inhabitants 70,000 480,000
Flemish “ “ 130,000 280,000
------- -------
Totals 200,000 760,000
The gradual replacement of Flemish by French in Brussels may
often be traced to recent changes in the growth of the city.[17]
In the faubourgs of Woluwe, Boitsfort and Uccle the number of
users of French is on the increase each year. The growth proceeds
with sufficient regularity to forecast a thorough spread of the
language by 1935. In some cases it is easy to foresee that some
of the outlying villages will be Frenchified sooner than certain
wards of the western part of the city. Tervueren and Linkebeek, for
instance, are both noted for the charm of their scenery. Both are
centers of attraction for the well-to-do Belgians and as a result
tend to lose their Flemish character.
In recent years a keen struggle for predominance between Flemings
and Walloons has been observed in every province of the country.
Each element aspires to impose its racial traits, customs and
ideals on its rival. The contest sometimes degenerates into
extreme bitterness. The university, the street, the theater, even
the government offices are converted into scenes of polemical
wrangling. News items in the dailies reveal a constant state of
tension between “Flammigants” and “Fransquillons.” In this racial
struggle, language has been adopted as the rallying standard of
both parties. Each faction consistently aims to eliminate the study
of the rival tongue in the primary schools of its territory.
The Walloons now represent a true blend of northern, central and
southern European types. The mingling was attended by the clash
and contest which has always marked racial fusion. As a language
Walloon forced itself into existence out of the confusion which
followed a long bilingual period and by the sheer obstinacy of
an humble Belgo-Roman people whose ears had been attuned to
vernacular speech at church and school. It was no mean feat for the
inhabitants of the principality of Liége to have retained their
language, surrounded as they were by Germanic peoples on all sides
but one. The ancient state had the shape of a triangle whose base
abutted against a land of French speech. Its sides, however, on
the north and the east penetrated like a wedge into districts of
Flemish and German.
The language became prevalent in the principality of Wallonia after
the tenth century. It was then still in a state of infancy and the
literature of its early period is relatively poor.[18] Contrasted
with official and aristocratic French the Walloon was a dialect of
little account prior to the eighteenth century. Since that time,
however, genuine interest has been manifested in its folk-tales
and literature by educated Frenchmen. But it remained for Dutch
presumption to give a final impetus to the revival of Walloon. By
the terms of the treaty of Vienna, Belgium and Holland had been
assembled into a single state known as the Netherlands. The Dutch
represented the dominant element in the union. Their endeavor to
impose their language on the Flemings and Walloons was vigorously
resisted by the latter. The streets of Belgian towns resounded
with the hatred of the Dutch expressed in Walloon words.[19] The
separation of Belgium from Holland in 1830 was in a sense the
expression of the linguistic diversity which had characterized the
kingdom of the Netherlands.
Fusion of the two elements of the Belgian population is observable
in the Brabant country, in the vicinity of the linguistic frontier.
Flemish laborers tend to invade Walloon settlements with the
result that the number of inhabitants of Flemish speech is on
the increase. A counter immigration of Walloons into Flemish
villages also exists, with a corresponding addition to the number
of French-speaking inhabitants wherever it takes place. The fact
remains, however, that while Flemings acquire the French spoken by
Walloons, it is an extremely rare occurrence for the latter to take
up Flemish. In the course of time the Flemish immigrant in Walloon
villages learns French, while the Walloon newcomer in Flemish
villages manages to impose his language on his new neighbors. The
net result is a gain for the French language.
Today, after almost a hundred years’ quiescence, the Belgian
question enters upon another critical stage. The problem is one
of language in so far as the two languages spoken in the country
represent the aims and interests of two different peoples. The
Belgian question dates, in reality, from the treaty of Verdun
of 843 and the partition of Charlemagne’s empire. Belgium then
became the westernmost province of the transition state known as
Lothringia. It was the hedge-country artificially created to act as
a barrier between the peoples of Romanic and Teutonic speech. Its
population, drawn from both elements, has been the alternate prey
of French and German powers. But all of Belgium’s troubled history
has been affected by the shape of the land. The only frontier with
which the nation has been supplied by nature is the sea on the
west. On the other three sides land features merge gradually with
the main types in their neighborhood. Within Belgian territory, the
lowlands of northern Europe join with the outliers of the uplifts
of central Europe and their extension into France. Nowhere is the
break sharp. The basin of the Schelde itself trespasses on the
neighboring basins of the Rhine, the Meuse and the Somme.
Aggravation of the feud between Walloons and Flemings may lead to
secession. The Flemish provinces might then cast their political
lot with the Dutch, with whom their intercourse has been marked
by a degree of friendliness which has never characterized their
relations with other neighbors. This extreme course might not
unreasonably be adopted as a measure of self-preservation.[20]
The languages spoken in Holland and Flanders are practically
identical. Religious differences alone have stood in the way of
political fusion in the past. Flemish princes, swayed by religious
scruples, had refused to side with the Protestant communities
whose political connection had been established by the Union of
Utrecht in 1597. The menace of absorption by Germany may yet drive
the Flemings to union with their close kinsmen of the lowlands
on the north. Walloons would then naturally revert to French
allegiance. The coincidence of political and linguistic boundaries
in the westernmost section of central Europe would then become an
accomplished fact.
The language of the Duchy of Luxemburg is a Low German dialect
in which a strong proportion of Walloon French words is found.
French is taught in schools and is the language of the educated
classes. It is also used in tribunals, and in many places as the
official language of governing and administrative bodies. The use
of French is largely due to intimate intellectual ties which bind
Luxemburgers and Frenchmen. It is estimated that at least 30,000
natives of the Grand Duchy, or about one-eighth of its population,
emigrate to France for business reasons. Many marry French women.
Maternal influences prevail with the children born of these unions
with the result that, upon returning to their native land, the
families bring French speech along.
But French as a commercial language is on the wane throughout the
Grand Duchy. German has been replacing it gradually since 1870.
This is one of the results of the small state’s admission into
the ring of German customs. Prior to that period business was
transacted mainly in the French dialect of Lorraine. The spread
of German is furthermore the result of a systematically conducted
propaganda carried on with well-sustained determination. German
“school associations” and “Volksvereine,” established in every city
of importance, help to spread German speech and thought. Lectures
of the type entitled “The beauty of Schiller’s and Goethe’s speech”
are delivered by orators who are in reality skilled pioneers of
empire engaged in the work of reclaiming populations to Germanism.
The efficiency of their methods is proved by the results they have
obtained. Out of a population of about 21,000 inhabitants, hardly
4,000 natives of Luxemburg speak French exclusively, while of the
six or seven papers published in the capital, two alone are issued
in French.
This closing of the German grip over the land stimulated the growth
of national feeling among the inhabitants. They were reminded by
their leaders that, from having formerly been one of the seventeen
provinces of the Netherlands, the duchy acquired the status of a
sovereign state in 1890, on the accession of Queen Wilhelmina to
the throne. Henceforth the maintenance of Luxemburg’s independence
rests on the European powers’ observance of the pledges by which
they guaranteed national freedom for this little state.[21] The
natives are free from the burden of onerous taxation imposed
on inhabitants of the neighboring powerful countries. Peaceful
development of their commerce and industry is thus facilitated.
Their land is richly endowed by nature. The wine produced in the
Moselle valley and the extensive deposits of high grade iron ore
found around Etsch make the community one of the most prosperous on
the European continent.
Nevertheless the country seemed predestined by nature itself
to form a part of Germany. The broken surface of the Ardenne
hilly region and the extension of the plateau of Lorraine are
drained by the Sauer and Moselle into German territory. The life
of the inhabitants of the entire state is influenced by this
easterly drift and tends yearly to greater dispersal in the same
direction. This is the danger which prompts them to cling to their
independence with patriotic tenacity. Their feelings are reflected
in their national hymn, which begins with the words “Mir welle
bleiwe wat mer sin” (We wish to remain what we are). These are
the words of the tune rendered daily at noon by the chimes of the
Cathedral of Luxemburg.
Some fifty miles north of Luxemburg, and at the point of contact of
the French, German and Dutch languages, lies the neutral territory
of Moresnet, barely three and a quarter square miles in area.
This forgotten bit of independent land is claimed by both Prussia
and Belgium on account of the exceedingly valuable zinc deposits
which it contains. It has a population of some 3,000 inhabitants
who, alone among Europeans, enjoy the inestimable privilege of not
paying taxes to any government. A Burgomaster, selected alternately
from among Prussian and Belgian subjects, rules this diminutive
state in conjunction with a Communal Council.
The survival of such a relic of medieval political disorders was
due to the impossibility of making a settlement between the two
claimants of its territory. In the fifteenth century its mines were
the property of the Dukes of Limburg, who had leased them to Philip
the Good, Duke of Burgundy. Shortly after the French Revolution,
they were declared national property by the French Republic and
were operated by the government.[22] With the fall of Napoleon,
the estate passed under the management of both Prussia and Holland.
After the Belgian revolution of 1830, however, the entire property
became part of Belgium’s share. A demand for rents in arrears
from the lessee by Prussia, although recognized as valid by the
courts of Liége, was not approved by the new Belgian state and the
only compromise that could be reached was a declaration of the
neutrality of the territory.
The Belgian question as well as the related Luxemburg and Moresnet
problems, the latter being of slight significance, present
themselves today as economic settlements no less than political
adjustments. The inner reason which had led German hope to dwell on
the annexation of Belgium is the knowledge that such an addition
in territory would convert Germany into the dominating industrial
nation of Europe. This position of superiority would be firmly
established if, in addition, the French basins of Longwy and
Briey could be turned into Reichslands, as had been done with
Alsace-Lorraine in 1870. Fortunately for Europe, the developments
of the armed contest begun in 1914 proved that the threat of this
economic vassalage is no longer to be feared. Incidentally it is
worth remembering that its realization would obviously have been
followed by the loss of Holland’s independence.
Belgium’s political independence is therefore a necessity for
the fine adjustment of the balance of European industrial life.
And there are quarters where such economic considerations carry
greater weight than national sentiments. The main point to be made,
however, is that Belgian nationality is entitled to survival,
whether it be examined from a material or a moral standpoint.
Changes, if any, of its frontiers are indicated in the east, where
Malmedy and its environs in Rhenish Prussia constitute a domain of
French language. The exchange of this territory for districts of
German speech in Belgian Luxemburg and the strategic reinforcement
of this eastern frontier, as a safeguard against future aggression,
are desirable for Belgians as well as for Germans.
TABLE I
FRENCH- AND FLEMISH-SPEAKING INHABITANTS OF BELGIUM
Census of December 31, 1910
Speaking
PROVINCES Number of French- Flemish- French and
inhabitants speaking speaking Flemish
Antwerp 968,677 12,289 762,414 113,606
Brabant 1,469,677 382,947 603,507 381,997
E. Flanders 1,120,335 9,311 934,143 116,889
W. Flanders 874,135 31,825 669,081 123,938
Hainaut 1,232,867 1,113,738 17,283 49,575
Liége 888,341 748,504 14,726 50,068
Limbourg 275,691 9,123 218,622 29,386
Luxemburg 231,215 183,218 153 1,393
Namur 362,846 342,379 733 4,436
--------- --------- -------- -------
Totals 7,423,784 2,833,334 3,220,662 871,288
This table shows French predominance for the entire country. The
arrangement given immediately below brings out this fact more
clearly.
Inhabitants speaking French only 2,833,334
“ “ French and Flemish 871,288
“ “ French and German 74,993
“ “ French, German and Flemish 52,547
“ “ German only 31,415
“ “ German and Flemish 8,652
“ “ Flemish only 3,220,662
“ “ None[23] of the three languages 330,893
---------
7,423,784
FOOTNOTES:
[7] The importance of the treaty of Verdun of this date with regard
to the conflict between the French and the German languages is
pointed out in the next chapter.
[8] G. Kurth: La frontière linguistique en Belgique et dans le nord
de la France, _Mém. couronnés, Acad. R. Sci. Let. et Beaux-Arts de
Belg._, XLVIII, Vol. 1, 1895, Vol. 2, 1898, Brussels.
[9] Cf. Map, “Ausbreitung der Romanischen Sprachen in Europa,”
1:8,000,000, in Gröber: Grundriss der Romanischen Philologie,
Trübner, Strassburg, 1904-1906.
[10] The Belgae of Caesar are probably represented by the Teutonic
populations of northern France--Flanders and Batavia--rather than
by the Walloon. They are a Germanic tribe who made their appearance
in Belgium about the third century, B.C.
[11] G. Touchard: Les langues parlées en Belgique, _Le Mouv.
Géogr._, May 11, 1913, pp. 226-229.
[12] N. Warker: Die deutsche Orts- und Gewässernamen der Belgischen
Provinz Luxemburg, _Deutsche Erde_, Vol. 8, 1909, pp. 99, 139.
[13] Statistique de la Belgique, Recensement Général de 1910, Vol.
2, 1912, Vol. 3, 1913, Brussels.
[14] G. Kurth: op. cit. Kurth’s work is based partly on place
names. See also L. De Backer: La langue flamande en France, Samyn,
Ghent, 1893.
[15] Le flamand et le français dans le nord de la France, 2^{me}
Congrès international pour l’extension et la culture de la langue
française, Weissenbruch, Brussels, 1908.
[16] Le flamand dans le nord de la France, _Ann. de Géogr._, Vol.
20, Dec. 15, 1909, pp. 374-375.
[17] P. Reclus: Les progrès du Français dans l’agglomération
Bruxelloise, _La Géogr._, Vol. 28, No. 5, Nov. 15, 1913, pp.
308-318.
[18] M. Wilmotte: Le Wallon, histoire, littérature des origines à
la fin du XVII^e siècle, Rosez, Brussels, 1893. J. Demarteau: Le
Wallon, son histoire et sa littérature, Liége, 1889.
[19] J. Demarteau: op. cit., p. 134.
[20] Germany’s violation of Belgian neutrality in 1914 has been
followed by systematic endeavors to induce Flemings to favor
annexation of their land to Germany on the plea of ancestral
kinship.
[21] Luxemburg’s neutrality was guaranteed by the treaty of London,
May 11, 1867, to which Britain, Austria, Prussia, France, Belgium,
Holland, Italy and Russia were signatories.
[22] The Neutral Territory of Moresnet, Riverside Press, Cambridge,
1882, p. 14.
[23] Children under two and foreigners are included under this
heading.