1.
Uccle
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Uccle or Ukkel is one of the 19 municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. According to legend, Uccles church of St. Peter was dedicated by Pope Leo III in the year 803, with Charlemagne and Gerbald, Bishop of Liège, during the following centuries, several noble families built their manors and took residency here. The first mention of the name Woluesdal, now evolved into Wolvendael, in 1467, Isabella of Portugal, wife of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy founded a Franciscan convent on Uccles territory. Later, Uccle became the capital of the area including Brussels. Throughout the early stages of its history, however, the village of Uccle always had a rural character and lived mostly from the products of forestry. At the end of the 18th century, a few years after the French Revolution, Uccle merged with neighbouring territories to become a commune, with its own mayor and municipal assembly. It had to wait until 1828, however, for the Dutch authorities to allow the construction of the first town hall and this was a time of economic prosperity and growth, stimulated by the proximity to the two main roads linking Brussels to the industrial south. A newer and larger town hall was built between 1872 and 1882, banker and philanthropist Georges Brugmann contributed a lot to the urbanisation of the city just before the turn of the 20th century. In the early 20th century Michel van Gelder introduced a new breed of chicken, lying beyond Forest and Ixelles and skirting the Sonian Forest, Uccle is Brussels largest and most southerly commune. Uccle is mainly an area but has a lot of parks and forested areas, such as the Wolvendael Park. Wolvendael is the site of a 1763 castle, owned by a number of aristocrats from the 18th and 19th centuries. The municipality is situated to the immediate west of the Bois de la Cambre. St. Job Square and the area near St. Peters Church, right next door is the Royal Observatory of Belgium. Uccle Cemetery, also known as Dieweg Cemetery, was created following an epidemic in Brussels in 1866. Although burials ended in 1958, the grave of Hergé, the creator of Tintin who died in 1983, the Bloemenwerf, a turn of the 20th century Art Nouveau villa built by architect Henry Van de Velde. Nemo 33 is the second deepest indoor swimming pool in the world, château de La Fougeraie, built in 1911 for the industrialist Paul Wittouck by the architects Louis Süe and Paul Huillard. European School of Brussels I is located in Uccle, lycée Français Jean Monnet is located in Uccle. Escher, Dutch graphic artist Lara Fabian, singer Jean-Michel Folon, artist, illustrator, painter, and sculptor Martin Gray Warschau ghetto and Holocaust survivor, writer
2.
Battle of Belgium
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It took place over 18 days in May 1940 and ended with the German occupation of Belgium following the surrender of the Belgian Army. On 10 May 1940, Germany invaded Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the Allied armies attempted to halt the German Army in Belgium, believing it to be the main German thrust. The German Army reached the Channel after five days, encircling the Allied armies, the Germans gradually reduced the pocket of Allied forces, forcing them back to the sea. The Belgian Army surrendered on 28 May 1940, ending the battle, the Battle of Belgium included the first tank battle of the war, the Battle of Hannut. It was the largest tank battle in history at the time but was surpassed by the battles of the North African Campaign. The battle also included the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael, the first strategic airborne operation using paratroopers ever attempted, the German official history stated that in the 18 days of bitter fighting, the Belgian Army were tough opponents, and spoke of the extraordinary bravery of its soldiers. The Belgian collapse forced the Allied withdrawal from continental Europe, France reached its own armistice with Germany in June 1940. Belgium was occupied by the Germans until the autumn of 1944, the Belgian strategy for a defence against German aggression faced political as well as military problems. In terms of strategy, the Belgians were unwilling to stake everything on a linear defence of the Belgian–German border. Such a move would leave the Belgians vulnerable to a German assault in their rear, such a strategy would also rely on the French to move quickly into Belgium and support the garrison there. Politically, the Belgians did not trust the French, marshal Philippe Pétain had suggested a French strike at Germanys Ruhr area using Belgium as a spring-board in October 1930 and again in January 1933. Belgium feared it would be drawn into a war regardless, the Belgians also feared being drawn into a war as a result of the French–Soviet pact of May 1935. The Franco-Belgian agreement stipulated Belgium was to if the Germans did. The Belgians much preferred an alliance with the United Kingdom, the British had entered the First World War in response to the German violation of Belgian neutrality. But the British government paid little attention to the concerns of the Belgians, the lack of this commitment ensured the Belgian withdrawal from the Western Alliance, the day before the remilitarisation of the Rhineland. The lack of opposition to the served to convince the Belgians that France and Britain were unwilling to fight for their own strategic interests. The Belgian General Staff was determined to fight for its own interests, the French were infuriated at King Leopold IIIs open declaration of neutrality in October 1936. The French were dependent on how much cooperation they could extract from the Belgians, the French considered invading Belgium immediately in response to a German attack on the country
3.
NATO
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party, three NATO members are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and are officially nuclear-weapon states. NATOs headquarters are located in Haren, Brussels, Belgium, while the headquarters of Allied Command Operations is near Mons. NATO is an Alliance that consists of 28 independent member countries across North America and Europe, an additional 22 countries participate in NATOs Partnership for Peace program, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programmes. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the global total, Members defence spending is supposed to amount to 2% of GDP. The course of the Cold War led to a rivalry with nations of the Warsaw Pact, politically, the organization sought better relations with former Warsaw Pact countries, several of which joined the alliance in 1999 and 2004. N. The Treaty of Brussels, signed on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, the treaty and the Soviet Berlin Blockade led to the creation of the Western European Unions Defence Organization in September 1948. However, participation of the United States was thought necessary both to counter the power of the USSR and to prevent the revival of nationalist militarism. He got a hearing, especially considering American anxiety over Italy. In 1948 European leaders met with U. S. defense, military and diplomatic officials at the Pentagon, marshalls orders, exploring a framework for a new and unprecedented association. Talks for a new military alliance resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty and it included the five Treaty of Brussels states plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the goal was to keep the Russians out, the Americans in. Popular support for the Treaty was not unanimous, and some Icelanders participated in a pro-neutrality, the creation of NATO can be seen as the primary institutional consequence of a school of thought called Atlanticism which stressed the importance of trans-Atlantic cooperation. The members agreed that an attack against any one of them in Europe or North America would be considered an attack against them all. The treaty does not require members to respond with military action against an aggressor, although obliged to respond, they maintain the freedom to choose the method by which they do so. This differs from Article IV of the Treaty of Brussels, which states that the response will be military in nature. It is nonetheless assumed that NATO members will aid the attacked member militarily, the treaty was later clarified to include both the members territory and their vessels, forces or aircraft above the Tropic of Cancer, including some Overseas departments of France. The creation of NATO brought about some standardization of allied military terminology, procedures, and technology, the roughly 1300 Standardization Agreements codified many of the common practices that NATO has achieved
4.
Warsaw Pact
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The Warsaw Pact was the military complement to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, the regional economic organization for the communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. While the Warsaw Pact was established as a balance of power or counterweight to NATO, instead, the conflict was fought on an ideological basis and in proxy wars. Both NATO and the Warsaw Pact led to the expansion of military forces and its largest military engagement was the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968, which, in part, resulted in Albania withdrawing from the pact less than a month later. The Pact began to unravel in its entirety with the spread of the Revolutions of 1989 through the Eastern Bloc, beginning with the Solidarity movement in Poland, East Germany and Poland withdrew from the Pact in 1990. On 25 February 1991, the Pact was declared at an end at a meeting of defence, the USSR itself was dissolved in December 1991, although most of the former Soviet republics formed the Collective Security Treaty Organization shortly thereafter. Throughout the following 20 years, the seven Warsaw Pact countries outside the USSR each joined NATO, in the Western Bloc, the Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance is often called the Warsaw Pact military alliance—abbreviated WAPA, Warpac, and WP. Therefore, although ostensibly an international collective security alliance, the USSR dominated the Warsaw Treaty armed forces, the strategy behind the formation of the Warsaw Pact was driven by the desire of the Soviet Union to dominate Central and Eastern Europe. The Soviets wanted to keep their part of Europe theirs and not let the Americans take it from them and this policy was driven by ideological and geostrategic reasons. Ideologically, the Soviet Union arrogated the right to define socialism and communism, geostrategic principles also drove the Soviet Union to prevent invasion of its territory by Western European powers. Before the creation of the Warsaw Pact, Czechoslovak leadership, fearful of a rearmed Germany, sought to create a security pact with East Germany and these states protested strongly against the re-militarization of West Germany. The Warsaw Pact was primarily put in place as a consequence of the rearming of West Germany inside NATO, Soviet leaders, like many European countries on both sides of the Iron Curtain, feared Germany being once again a military power and a direct threat. The terrible consequences of German militarism remained a fresh memory among the Soviets, previously, in March 1954, the USSR, fearing the restoration of German militarism in West Germany, requested admission to NATO. The Soviet request to join NATO arose in the aftermath of the Berlin Conference of January–February 1954. James Dunn, who met in Paris with Eden, Adenauer and Robert Schuman, affirmed that the object should be to avoid discussion with the Russians, according to John Gaddis there was little inclination in Western capitals to explore this offer from USSR. But Eden, Dulles and Bidault opposed the proposal, the Soviets then decided to make a new proposal to the governments of the USA, UK and France to accept the participation of the USA in the proposed General European Agreement. Again all proposals, including the request to join NATO, were rejected by the UK, US, emblematic was the position of British General Hastings Ismay, supporter of NATO expansion, who said that NATO must grow until the whole free world gets under one umbrella. He opposed the request to join NATO made by the USSR in 1954 saying that the Soviet request to join NATO is like an unrepentant burglar requesting to join the police force, in April 1954 Adenauer made his first visit to the USA meeting Nixon, Eisenhower and Dulles. Ratification of EDC was delaying but the US representatives made it clear to Adenauer that EDC would have to become a part of NATO, memories of the Nazi occupation were still strong, and the rearmament of Germany was feared by France too
5.
Belgian nobility
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Because most old families reside in Belgium for hundreds of years, their members have belonged to various nations. A major part of Spanish nobles resided in Flanders in the 15th and 16th century and married to local houses, in the Holland period, the nobility formed an important factor in the independnce. After the independence of Belgium the Kingdom of the Netherlands lost an important part of nobles, all the families lived in the south. Although most old families are older and reside much longer in the then the Royal House. At court the nobility played a role and was strongly Connected to the royal family. In some old families the heads of the house have the right of multiple titles, today, most important families pass these old titles still only in male line. A part of the nobility lost their land to France, originally belonging to Flanders the Marquess of Morbecque had lost his land after the Battle of Cassel, during the Spanish period many noble houses received titles and privileges, some of those titles still exist today. When King Leopold III renmarried to Liliane de Rethy, the majority of the old houses did not accept this commoner at court, in the Second world war many members of the Nobility joined the resistance. Dozens of Noble houses lost family members in Concentration camps and on the battlefield, famous is the sad history of the Knight Armand de Menten de Horne, who was arrested by the SS at the funeral of his son when the Brabanconne was played too loud. He was released from prison and died soon after, Count Pierre dAlcantara de Querrieu died in Sachsenhausen. Marie-Madeleine della Faille dHuysse, Countess de Beaufort, she died in the gaschamber of Ravensbrück, rené baron Greindl died in Buchenwald. Mary Lippens died in Camp Belzig, ferdinand Nève de Mévergnies died in Neuengamme. José baron Gillès de Pélichy died in Mauthausen, some old important and old houses have died out, the House of Glymes, Von Cobenzl, Coloma, of Bette, Rockox, Rubens, Goubau, Gruuthuse and the House of Baillet. The modern Belgian nobility is known to be mostly traditionalist, all the noble old houses are Roman Catholic. In the Kingdom of Belgium there were as of 2013 approximately 1,300 noble families, the noble lineage of only approximately 400 families dates back to the 17th century or earlier. As Belgium is a constitutional monarchy there are no legal privileges attached to bearing a noble title or to being a member of the aristocracy. According to article 113 of the constitution, The King may confer titles of nobility, most nobles in Belgium still belong to the elite of society. They sometimes own and manage companies, or have leading positions in Catholic Church, Cultural society, business, banking, diplomacy, many of the older families still own important castles or country houses
6.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
7.
Croix de guerre (Belgium)
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The Croix de guerre or Oorlogskruis, both literally translating as War Cross, is a military decoration of the Kingdom of Belgium established by royal decree on 25 October 1915. It was primarily awarded for bravery or other military virtue on the battlefield, the award was reestablished on 20 July 1940 by the Belgian government in exile for recognition of bravery and military virtue during World War II. The post-1940 decoration could also be awarded to units that were cited, the decoration was again reestablished by royal decree on 3 April 1954 for award during future conflicts. The World War I Croix de guerre was established by decree on 25 October 1915 as an award for bravery or other military virtue on the battlefield. It was only awarded to individuals, the Croix de guerre was not only awarded for bravery but also for three years or more of service on the front line, or for good conduct on the battlefield. The World War I Croix de guerre was a 40mm wide bronze Maltese cross with 3mm in diameter balls at its eight points. It had a 14mm in diameter central medallion bearing the image of a lion rampant on its obverse. Two 37mm long crossed swords point upwards between it arms, the World War I Croix de guerres ribbon is red with five 2mm wide light green longitudinal stripes, three at the center separated by 3mm and one on each side 3mm from the edges. The individuals listed below were awarded the World War I Croix de guerre, Sergeant William Mabbott resident of Uttoxeter, Staffs and Mansfield Woodhouse and it was still mainly awarded to individuals, but was now also authorized as a unit award. Award of the fourragère was not automatic and required a specific decree of the Belgian Government, the fourragère is in the same colours as the ribbon of the World War II Croix de guerre. The Belgian fourragère was only worn by those who were members of the unit at the time of the award. The World War II Croix de guerre was constructed in the dimensions as its World War I predecessor. The new ribbon was red with light green stripes but there were now six, 1mm wide. The same ribbon devices were used as in World War I except the palms were now adorned with the monogram L. Dick Winters Christopher Peto General Carl Spaatz William P. Straitiff Sgt. S/Sgt Donald Thad Smith On 3 April 1954, the Belgian government re-established the Croix de guerre and this decoration is intended to be awarded in a manner akin the World War II statute during potential future wars. The 1954 Croix de guerre has not yet been awarded, the post-1954 Croix de guerre is similar to the previous variants but with a different reverse center medallion now bearing the Coat of arms of Belgium in lieu of a royal monogram. The ribbon is a reversal of the World War II Croix de guerre ribbon. Cornet R.1982, Recueil des dispositions légales et réglementaires régissant les ordres nationaux belges, borné A. C.1985, Distinctions honorifiques de la Belgique, 1830–1985 Paul Hieronymussen,1967, Orders Medals and Decorations of Britain and Europe in colour, 2nd Ed.1970
8.
Order of Leopold (Belgium)
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The Order of Leopold is one of the three current Belgian national honorary orders of knighthood. It is the highest order of Belgium and is named in honour of King Leopold I and it consists of a military, a maritime and a civilian division. The maritime division is awarded to personnel of the merchant navy. The decoration was established on 11 July 1832 and is awarded for bravery in combat or for meritorious service of immense benefit to the Belgian nation. The Order of Leopold is awarded by royal decree, when Belgium became independent of the Netherlands, there was a urgent need to create a national honour system that could serve as a diplomatic gift. The first King of the Belgians, Leopold I of Belgium, two years after the independence, the young King officially founded the dynastic Order of Leopold. The king approved the colour and grades both civil and military, and the official motto L’Union fait la Force/Eendracht maakt Macht, in the early 19th century, the court sent the Grand Cordon as a diplomatic gift. The founder gave his French family grand Cordons as wedding gifts, people who fought in the Belgian revolution became members in great numbers. In 1838 the King lost his right to create members, this was then on the responsibility of the foreign office. At the end of his reign the major political elite were members of the order, King Leopold II gifted major Belgian artists, generals and clergy into the order. At the end of World War I, the Order became internationally recognised for its famous members, the order was bestowed as a personal marriage gift by the King Leopold II to Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern and Ernst Gunther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. In 1878 the King named several diplomatic dignitaries Grand cordon in honour of his wedding celebration. In 1919 King Albert granted all Lieutenant-Generals of the Belgian Army the Grand Cordon in Brussels, one of the rare Ladies in the order was Countess Renée de Merode. The Order can be bestowed post-mortem, for example, Emile Verhaeren received the Grand Cordon after his death, people can lose the order, for example what happened during World War I with Alfred Wotquenne. After the Second World War, the Order of Leopold was bestowed on the officers of foreign militaries who had helped to liberate Belgium from the occupation of German forces. Most illustrious was the grand Cordons with Palms given by the King to Sir Winston Churchill, the medal was also granted to Karel Bossart in 1962, and Josip Broz Tito in 1970. Annually, there are two days when the King normally grants membership, on April 8 and on November 15. During state visits, the Order of Leopold is the most important diplomatic gift of the state, in 2015 some protest was noted when King Philippe offered the Grand Cordon to President Erdogan of Turkey during his state visit in Belgium
9.
Order of St Michael and St George
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It is named in honour of two military saints, St Michael and St George. People are appointed to the Order rather than awarded it, British Ambassadors to foreign nations are regularly appointed as KCMGs or CMGs. It is the award for members of the FCO. The Orders motto is Auspicium melioris ævi and its patron saints, as the name suggests, are St. Michael the Archangel, and St. George, patron saint of England. One of its symbols is that of St Michael trampling over. The third of the aforementioned Orders—which relates to Ireland, no longer fully a part of the United Kingdom—still exists but is in disuse, the last of the Orders on the list, related to India, has also been in disuse since that countrys independence in 1947. In 1864, however, the protectorate ended and the Ionian Islands became a part of Greece, accordingly, numerous Governors-General and Governors feature as recipients of awards in the order. In 1965, the order was open for women, with Evelyn Bark becoming the first CMG, the British Sovereign is the Sovereign of the Order and appoints all other members of the Order. The next-most senior member is the Grand Master, the office was formerly filled by the Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands, now, however, Grand Masters are chosen by the Sovereign. Members of the Royal Family who are appointed to the Order do not count towards the limit, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, like many other heraldic officers. The Usher of the Order is known as the Gentleman Usher of the Blue Rod, he not, unlike his Order of the Garter equivalent. On the left side is a representation of the star, the mantle is bound with two large tassels. The collar, worn only by Knights and Dames Grand Cross, is made of gold and it consists of depictions of crowned lions, Maltese Crosses, and the cyphers SM and SG, all alternately. In the centre are two winged lions, each holding a book and seven arrows, at less important occasions, simpler insignia are used, The star is an insignia used only by Knights and Dames Grand Cross and Knights and Dames Commanders. It is worn pinned to the left breast, the Knight and Dame Grand Cross star includes seven-armed, silver-rayed Maltese Asterisk, with a gold ray in between each pair of arms. The Knight and Dame Commanders star is a slightly smaller eight-pointed silver figure formed by two Maltese Crosses, it does not include any gold rays, in each case, the star bears a red cross of St George. In the centre of the star is a blue ring bearing the motto of the Order. Within the ring is a representation of St Michael trampling on Satan, the badge is the only insignia used by all members of the Order, it is suspended on a blue-crimson-blue ribbon
Belgium: Croix de Guerre. [4]
