Belgium’s history starts with the fact that the present Belgium was conquered by the Roman Empire in the year 57 before our era. In the Middle Ages, the area was divided into several feudal states. The western part was gradually placed under France, and the eastern one under the German-Roman Empire. Belgium was part of… Read More »
In the area that became the nation of Belgium in 1830, there existed since the Middle Ages a rich theater tradition from liturgical drama, the troupe of St. Peter’s Abbey in Ghent in the 9th century, to the common Dutch shipowners who were the performers of morals and high-profile games in marketplaces at associations of… Read More »
Independent Belgium During the peace period 1832–1914, the business world flourished. Belgium was the first country on the continent where the industrial revolution spread. The country became the most industrialized in the world after Britain. At the same time, the population grew rapidly. But the political and cultural contradictions persisted. The new state was intended… Read More »
The first professional ballet ensemble in Belgium was formed in 1705 at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. Among the most famous ballet masters there were Jean Antoine Petipa (1787–1855) and his son Lucien Petipa (1815–98), both well-known names in European ballet history. Another son, Marius Petipa (1818-1910), was ballet master at the Imperial… Read More »
Postwar Financially, Belgium had a favorable starting position at the end of the war in 1945. The country was relatively little war-torn. Exports of uranium and other metals from the Belgian Congo had brought in considerable foreign exchange reserves, which had increased by large revenues from the Allied transit through the Belgian territory during the… Read More »