Question

My friend’s grandfather had gone to Belgium during the 1950's and 1960’s and worked in a chocolate factory. He expressed that ‘he witnessed tensions between the Dutch speaking and French-speaking communities during this time in Belgium’. Justify his statement with two reasons.

Answer 1

During the 1950’s and 1960’s the minority French-speaking community was relatively rich and powerful in Belgium. This was resented by the Dutchspeaking community who got the benefit of economic development and education much later.

He said the tension between the two communities was more acute in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Brussels presented a special problem: the Dutchspeaking people constituted a majority in the country, but a minority in the capital.