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The Reversal of Belgian Foreign Policy, 1936–1937

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

Pierre Henri Laurent
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Extract

In October, 1936, the King of the Belgians, Leopold III, announced that the small Western European state planned to withdraw from her policy of alignment and adopt a policy which was “exclusively and completely Belgian.” Within six months, by the spring of 1937, Belgium signed an agreement with the French and British that replaced the defunct Locarno Pact and released her from the consultations and commitments involved in the Franco-Belgian Military Accords of 1920. The foreign policy of Belgium was altered to one of “independence” or neutrality and the two major powers of the West formally guaranteed her territorial integrity.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , July 1969 , pp. 370 - 384
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1969

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References

1 The general literature on the subject includes van Kalken, F., Entre deux guerres (Bruxelles: Office de publicité, 1944)Google Scholar; Gammaerts, E., Keystone of Europe: The History of the Belgian Dynasty, 1830–1939 (London, 1939)Google Scholar; Miller, J., Belgian Foreign Policy Between Two Wars (New York, 1951)Google Scholar; Wullus, A., En Marge de la politique beige, 1914–1956 (Bruxelles, 1957)Google Scholar; van Cauwelaert, F., “Foreign Policy, 1918–1940,” in Goris, J. A., Belgium (Berkeley, 1946)Google Scholar; Van Zuylen, P., Les Mains Libres: Politique extérieure de la Belgique (Bruxelles, 1950)Google Scholar; and Williquet, J., “Regards sur la politique beige de I'indépendance, 1936–40,” Revue d'histoire de la deuxiéme guerre mondiale, XXXI (07, 1958), 3–11Google Scholar.

2 See Miller, passim; Ch. Vanlangenhove, De Visscher et F. (eds.), Documents Diplomatiques Beiges 1920–1940 (Bruxelles, 1964–5)Google Scholar, I–III for a complete record of Belgium's role from Versailles to 1936. This series is hereafter cited as DDB. Also Aronson, T., Defiant Dynasty: The Coburgs of Belgium (Indianapolis, 1968), pp. 236–239Google Scholar.

3 Only after the Ethiopian crisis did there appear in the national press any substantial criticism of Belgium's foreign policy. See, for example, Vingtième Siècle, December 8, 1935; La Libre Belgique, December 19, 1935; and Het Laatse Nieuws, February 12 and 25, 1936.

4 L'Express, April 26, 1936; L'Indépendance beige, April 26 and 28, May 3 and 10, 1936; La Nation Beige, April 29, 1936.

5 See Scott, W. E., Alliance Against Hitler (Durham, 1962), pp. 164–165 and 250–259Google Scholar; Furnia, A. H., The Diplomacy of Appeasement (Washington, D.C., 1960), pp. 204–205 and 243–244Google Scholar; also Hojer, C. H., Le Régime parlementaire beige de 1918 à 1940 (Stockholm, 1946), pp. 174ff.Google Scholar

6 L'Indépendance beige, May 18, 1936; La Libre Belgique, May 20–22, 1936.

7 Annales parlementaires, Chambres, sessions législatifs de 1934–1940, February 11, 1936; and Van Overstraeten, F., Albert I-Leopold III: Vingt ans de politique militaire beige, 1920–1940 (Bruxelles, n.d.), pp. 167ff.Google Scholar; Le Soir, February 5, 1936.

8 Annales parlementaires, Chambres, April 23, 1936. See also Wanty, E., “Les relations-militaires Franco-Beige (de 1936 à Octobre 1939),” Revue d'histoire de la deuxième guerre mondiale, XXXI (07, 1958), 12–23Google Scholar.

9 On domestic politics, see Hymans, P., Mimoires (Bruxelles, 1958) II, 762–771;Google ScholarStengers, J., “Belgium,” in Rogger, H. and Weber, E., The European Right (Berkeley, 1965), pp. 133–160Google Scholar; De Smet, R. et Evalenko, R., Les Elections beiges (Bruxelles, 1956)Google Scholar; Buttgenbach, A., Le mouvement rexiste et la situation politique de la Belgique (Bruxelles, 1937)Google Scholar. On diplomacy in Belgian politics, see Van Zuylen, P., op. cit., pp. 331–342 and 363–369Google Scholar; Van Zeeland, P., Au service de son temps (Bruxelles, 1954), pp. 53ff.Google Scholar; Huizinga, J., Mr. Europe: A Political Biography of P.-H. Spaak (London, 1961), pp. 77–98Google Scholar.

10 Le Soir, May 4, 1936, L'Indipendance beige, May 9, 1936, La Libre Belgique, May 22 and 24, 1936. The makeup of the new ministry included no Rexists or Flemish Nationalists, but six Socialists, three Liberals, and two (where there had been six in the previous ministry) Catholics. General Denis, the Defense Minister, was unaffiliated and two ministers were Christian Democrats.

11 Clough, S., History of the Flemish Movement in Belgium (New York, 1930)Google Scholar on the pre-1930 events and Willemsen, A. W., Het Vlaams-Nationalisme 1914–1940 (Groningen, 1955), pp. 243–248 and 354–356 on 1933–36 periodGoogle Scholar.

12 Willemsen, , op. cit., pp. 243–248Google Scholar; Wullus, , op. cit., pp. 216–242Google Scholar; and the issues of De Standaard, April 28, 1936, May 5, 21, 23, 26, 1936.

13 On Rexist ideology, see Daye, P., Léon Degrelle et le rexisme (Paris, 1937)Google Scholar; Denis, J., Bases doctrinales de Rex (Bruxelles 1936)Google Scholar; Brasillach, R., Léon Degrelle (Paris, 1936)Google Scholar; and Degrelle himself in Je suis partout, October 24, 1936. Also the insights of Géoris–Reitshof, M., L'extreme-droite et le néofascisme en Belgique (Bruxelles, 1962)Google Scholar, passim.

14 Meynard, J. et al. , La decision politique en Belgique (Paris, 1965), pp. 83–85Google Scholar. In the May election, the Socialists got 32% of the vote and 70 Chamber seats, the Catholics 28% and 63 seats, the Liberals 12% and 23 seats, Rex ll 1/2% and 21 seats, the VNV 7% and 16 seats. The Communists got 6% and 3J/2% voted for independent candidates.

15 Degrelle, Léon in Pays Reel, 05 23, 1936Google Scholar.

16 La Nation Beige, July 6, 15, 1936; La Libre Belgique, July 26, August 18 and 24, 1936; Le Soir, May 25, 1936.

17 Meynard, , op. cit., p. 85Google Scholar; Petit Parisien, August 15, 1936; Paris Soir, August 20, 1936; Simon, A. C., Le parti catholique beige (Bruxelles, 1958), pp. 114ff.Google Scholar

18 Bary, Jules et al. , Les Fastes du Parti, 1885–1960 (Bruxelles, 1960)Google Scholar, and Dodge, P., Beyond Marxism: The Faith and Works of Henri De Man (The Hague, 1966), pp. 164–169CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Also Le Soir, February 23, 1936.

19 Huizinga, J., op. cit., pp. 16–32Google Scholar; Le Peuple, July 27, 29, August 5, 9, 16, 1936; New York Times, February 25, 1937 and April 26, 1937; London Times, October 26, 1936.

20 National solidarity was less than elsewhere in Europe, perhaps based on the excellence of transportation (the Belgian national railway) which allowed deputies to go home each night to the provinces where they were subjected to local and sectional interests. When the constituents insisted on their own point of view no matter what the national implications were, they made any effort such as the Spaak-Van Zeeland military and foreign policy changes extremely difficult in the Belgian legislative houses.

21 L'Indépendance belge, July 21, 1936. See the reactions of the Flemings and Rexists in De Standaard, July 21, 1936, and Pays Réel, July 22, 1936.

22 Le Peuple, August 14, 1936; La Libre Belgique, August 27, 1936.

23 La Nation Beige, July 22, 1936; De Standaard, July 21, 1936; Pays Réel, July 22, 1936.

24 DDB, IV, doc. nos. 104, 112, 121; Documents Diplomatiques Francais, 1932–39, II, 2e série, doc. no. 416 (hereafter cited as DDF); DDF, III, doc. nos. 128, 223, 300; Van Zuylen, , op. cit., pp. 370–380Google Scholar; Davignon, J., Berlin 1936–1940Google Scholar; Souvenirs d'une Mission (Bruxelles, 1951), pp. 49–61Google Scholar; and Barbey, F., La Belgique d'Albert I et de Léopold III: Le témoignage d'un diplomat (Paris, 1950), pp. 211–231Google Scholar; also Earl of Avon, The Eden Memoirs: Facing the Dictators (London, 1962), pp. 334–354, 389–90Google Scholar.

25 DDB, IV, doc. nos. 103, 112, 126; DDF, III, doc. nos. 398, 463, and 508.

26 Miller, , op. cit., pp. 225–246Google Scholar; Van Zuylen, , op. cit., pp. 363–369Google Scholar; Van Overstraeten, , op. cit., pp. 171–173Google Scholar; Dumont, G.-H., Léopold III: Roi des Beiges (Bruxelles, 1944), pp. 91–116Google Scholar; DDB, IV, doc. no. 398. See especially Le Temps, October 17, 1936.

27 The Flemish viewed the Government defense proposals as a socialist means of absorbing the numerous and persistently unemployed group in mostly northern areas.

28 DDF, III, doc. no. 398; Paris Soir, October 15, 1936; London Times, October 16, 1936; and the interesting but myopic comments of Izvestia, October 17, 1936.

29 Petit Parisien, October 15, 1936; Echo de Paris, October 16, 1936; Action Française, October 15, 1936. Cf. Blum, Léon, L'Oeuvre de Léon Blum (Paris, 1955), V, 7–11Google Scholar.

30 Le Jour, October 22, 1936; Action Frangaise, October 17, 1936. Also Flandin, P.–E., Politique française (Paris, 1947), pp. 200–201Google Scholar; Reynaud, P., Au coeur de la mêlée (Paris, 1951), pp. 210–215Google Scholar.

31 London Times, October 15, 16, 20, 22, 1936.

32 DDB, IV, doc. nos. 174 and 175; Pertinax, , “La nouvelle orientation de la politique étrangère beige: les répercussions diplomatiques,” L'Europe nouvelle, XIX (10, 1936), 1055–1056Google Scholar; cf. London Times, November 27, 1936, to Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, November 12, 1936, and Le Figaro, October 19, 1936.

33 La Nation Beige, October 30, 1936.

34 L'Indépendance belge, November 4, 1936; Het Laatse Nieuws, December 5, 1936.

35 Annales parlementaires, Chambres, December 2, 1936, and Sénat, December 5, 1936. The increase in military appropriations in 1936–37 over those of 1934–35 were 380 millions francs or 50%. The number of men and officers under the colors was increased by 33% by the extension of the military service period.

36 The lengthy process of diplomatic precision in terminology and final agreement can be traced in DDB, IV, doc. nos. 186–227.

37 The best reply to the “treason of the Belgians” school which blamed the Belgian 1936 policy for the entire success of Nazi diplomacy and even the events of May and June, 1940, is to be found in the perceptive piece by Cairns, J., “The Fall of France: Thoughts on the National Defeat,” Proceedings of the Canadian Historical Association, 1957, pp. 58–63Google Scholar. Another careful examination of the Belgian diplomacy is found in Vandenbosch, A., Dutch Foreign Policy since 1815 (The Hague, 1959), pp. 268–284CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

38 Van Zuylen, , op. cit., pp. 555–556Google Scholar. See Vital, D., The Inequality of States (Oxford, 1967), pp. 183ff.Google Scholar, and Kieft, D. O., “The Political and Diplomatic Origins of Belgium's Policy of Independence” (unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1966), pp. 187 ff.Google Scholar

39 See the fear over gouvernement de rue in Belgium in the fall of 1936 as viewed by Le Temps, October 24, 1936, and in Van Zeeland, , op. cit., p. 58Google Scholar.