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The Flemish Legion (Dutch: Vlaams Legioen, pronounced [ˈvlaːms leːɣiˈjun]) was a collaborationist military formation recruited among Dutch-speaking volunteers from German-occupied Belgium, notably from Flanders, during World War II.
Gradually, more prisoners were released, but around 64,000 Belgian soldiers were still in captivity by 1945, of whom just 2,000 were Flemish. [6] According to estimates compiled for the Nuremberg Trials , 53,000 were still incarcerated in 1945 at the end of the war, [ 11 ] but there could have been as many as 70,000 according to some estimates ...
Flemish people also emigrated at the end of the fifteenth century, when Flemish traders conducted intensive trade with Spain and Portugal, and from there moved to colonies in America and Africa. [28] The newly discovered Azores were populated by 2,000 Flemish people from 1460 onwards, making these volcanic islands known as the "Flemish Islands".
These units were all commanded by General Ernst August Köstring (1876−1953). [9] A lower estimate for the total number of foreign volunteers that served in the entire German armed forces (including the Waffen SS) is 350,000. [10] These units were often under the command of German officers and some published their own propaganda newssheets.
Based on other surveys and figures, Laurent Hendschel wrote in 1999 that between 30 and 40% people were bilingual in Wallonia (Walloon, Picard), among them 10% of the younger population (18–30 years old). According to Hendschel, there are 36 to 58% of young people have a passive knowledge of the regional languages. [25]
During the 1930s, Belgium was still recovering from the destruction of World War I.Economically, Belgium was experiencing high unemployment in the aftermath of the Great Depression of 1929, and by 1932 unemployment stood at 23.5 percent [3] though under the "New Deal-style" Plan de Man [4] this had been reduced to around 15 percent by 1937.
The Flemish Guard (Dutch: Vlaamsche Wacht) was a collaborationist paramilitary formation which served as an auxiliary police in parts of German-occupied Belgium during World War II. It was founded as an independent formation in May 1941 at the initiative of the Union of Flemish Veterans [ nl ] ( Verbond van Vlaamsche Oudstrijders , VOS) and the ...
German cavalry parade past the Royal Palace in Brussels shortly after the invasion, May 1940. The German occupation of Belgium (French: Occupation allemande, Dutch: Duitse bezetting) during World War II began on 28 May 1940, when the Belgian army surrendered to German forces, and lasted until Belgium's liberation by the Western Allies between September 1944 and February 1945.