Flanders Quotes
Churchill saw before many others that technology and weaponry had changed the nature of warfare. At the time the military leadership of all the major powers were pursuing 19th century tactics with 20th century weaponry including mass bayonet charges against machine guns behind barbed wire. Churchill and other civilians, although they had legal control over the military, had little de facto tactical control. As a politician he became an itinerant meddler in military tactics thereafter.
The French demand for land The French had demanded that the new Dutch Republic pay them an indemnity of 100 million florins to pay for the army expenses and that the Dutch cede France some territory at near the border and some of the Dutch Islands. The French had sent a small army to help the Dutch Revolution. The Dutch were ethically and morally outraged and sent this resolution on to France who were very surprised that their weak ally would even protest to them. The result was that the French compromised in the land and limited it to Maastricht, Venlo and Flanders and money.
The Flemmish city of Ghent needed a Governor. Du Bois approached Philip Van Artevelde whose father had been a successful governor to see if he would be interested in assuming the office. Many cities, while not democracies, did elect their ruler as for a time was done on Ancient Rome. This quotation is interesting in that Du Bois, a kingmaker politician, shows us what qualifications were perceived necessary for a Governor of a major city.
The Flemmish city of Ghent needed a Governor. Peter Du Bois and a delegation of all classes of citizens approached Philip Van Artevelde whose father had been a successful governor to see if he would be interested in assuming the office. Many cities, while not democracies, did elect their ruler as for a time was done on Ancient Rome. He fared much better than his father with the citizens of Ghent, but because of Ghent’s independence and success, it drew the enmity of the Duke of Flanders and King Charles VI of France. They attacked Ghent and Van Artevelde was killed.
Belgium is comprised of an amalgam of two separate nations and cultures, Walonia and Flanders. They spoke a different language and had very different economies and world views. Destree was distressed that few people saw themselves as Belgians—They were either Flemish or Waloons. There was at the time no concept of a nation even though there was a king and the rest of the world recognized one country.
Referring to Senator Ralph E. Flanders who introduced the Senate resolution that led to McCarthy's censure:
