Language is at the core of our European identity. People don't give that up, whatever the ties between countries
Jonny Dymond, The Observer,
The phrase "plucky Belgium" is not heard much any more. When the country's neutrality was violated in 1914, and the allied newspapers were full of wild stories of raped nuns and babies being tossed on to the bayonets of fearsome Huns, Belgium was a plucky place. But over the decades, its reputation has slid. Contempt, genial or otherwise, is the general tone used when writing or speaking about this wet corner of northern Europe. Upon entering liberated Belgium, a British general is reported to have remarked that the Belgians appeared to have eaten their way through the war. That set the standard for the next 60 years of commentary. Read more...