Chapter 6: Narrative Templates Disrupted?: The (Dis)functioning of Templates in a Nation State in Decline

Belgium can be considered as a nation state in decline, in which national identity and national cohesion seem to increasingly evaporate (Rosoux & van Ypersele, 2012). This process began particularly after the Second World War. Collaboration with the German occupier during that war, distinctly widespread in Flemish and Catholic circles, became a constant source of enormous political and social controversy afterwards. It made a shared national memory highly problematic, and at times threatened the very survival of the country as a unit. This led the national government to largely withdraw from memory politics aimed at promoting a Belgian identity. From the 1960s onwards, Belgium took the path of federalization. In 1993, Belgium officially became a federal state, with the Flemish and francophone parts (Flanders and Wallonia) as the main regions (for a complete overview of the complex federal structure of Belgium, including the position of Brussels, see Witte et al., 2009). Several policies were gradually transferred from the national to the regional level. The Flemish and francophone regional governments became fully and autonomously responsible for education policy from 1989 onwards. The federal government continued its limited interference with memory politics aimed at fostering a Belgian identity. The regional governments, by contrast, actively pursued such a policy to strengthen the regional identity. The Flemish government in particular took up an active role in popular historical culture, among other things by actively promoting July 11 as the national holiday. This date refers to the 1302 Battle of the Golden Spurs when a “Flemish” foot militia defeated a powerful army of French knights, a battle which constitutes the Flemish foundational myth.