A Concise History of Belgium

A Concise History of Belgium PDF Author: Guy Vanthemsche
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521192412
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 397

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Book Description
"The nation-state Belgium, born in 1830, and the polities that preceded it since ancient times, have played an important role in European and even global history. This introductory history offers a synthetical and non-specialist yet academically based view on the social, economic, political, and cultural aspects of its evolution"--

A Concise History of Belgium

A Concise History of Belgium PDF Author: Guy Vanthemsche
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521192412
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 397

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Book Description
"The nation-state Belgium, born in 1830, and the polities that preceded it since ancient times, have played an important role in European and even global history. This introductory history offers a synthetical and non-specialist yet academically based view on the social, economic, political, and cultural aspects of its evolution"--

Belgium

Belgium PDF Author: Samuel Humes
Publisher: Hurst & Company
ISBN: 9781849041461
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This concise history describes the traditions and transitions that over two thousand years have developed in Belgium in a sense of shared identity, common government, and a centralized nation-state - and then over a few recent decades paved the way for Flemish-Walloon schism that now threatens to break up Belgium. It responds to the question: Why does a government, unified for more than 600 years, no longer seem capable of holding together a linguistically divided country In tracing the evolution of Belgian governance, Humes describes why and how the dominance of French-speaking propertied elite eroded after having monopolized the land's governance for centuries. The extension of suffrage, combined with the rise of literacy and schooling enabled labor and Flemish movements to gather sufficient momentum to fracture the Belgian polity, splitting its parties and frustrating its politics. The presence of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has, in a tangential way, enable the Belgian separatists to discount the merit of a national government that is no longer needed to defend the country militarily and economically.

A Concise History of Belgium

A Concise History of Belgium PDF Author: Guy Vanthemsche
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009327267
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 397

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Book Description
The small and densely populated nation of Belgium has played an important role in the history of Europe and other continents, especially Africa. It was a pioneering force in industry, trade, and finance during the Middle Ages, through early modern times and into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It introduced innovative political regimes and played a leading role in the creative arts. Yet this rich past is not widely known. This introductory history offers an accessible and rigorous overview of this small but important West-European country, synthesizing Belgium's main economic, social, political, and cultural developments from pre-Roman times until today. Today, this nation-state, born in 1830, is well-known for the rivalries between its two main language communities, and as a result is often considered a fragile or even an artificial political construct. This systematic chronological analysis of both present-day Belgium and the polities that preceded it throws fresh light on this controversial issue and demonstrates Belgium's enduring importance and influence.

A Concise History of the Netherlands

A Concise History of the Netherlands PDF Author: James C. Kennedy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521875889
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 505

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Book Description
This book offers a comprehensive yet compact history of this surprisingly little-known but fascinating country, from pre-history to the present.

Belgium and the Congo, 1885-1980

Belgium and the Congo, 1885-1980 PDF Author: Guy Vanthemsche
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521194210
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
This book explains how and why Belgium, a small but influential European country, was changed through its colonial activities in the Congo, from the first expeditions in 1880 to the Mobutu regime in the 1980s. Belgian politics, diplomacy, economic activity and culture were influenced by the imperial experience. Belgium and the Congo, 1885-1980 yields a better understanding of the Congo's past and present.

A Concise History of Switzerland

A Concise History of Switzerland PDF Author: Clive H. Church
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107244196
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
Despite its position at the heart of Europe and its quintessentially European nature, Switzerland's history is often overlooked within the English-speaking world. This comprehensive and engaging history of Switzerland traces the historical and cultural development of this fascinating but neglected European country from the end of the Dark Ages up to the present. The authors focus on the initial Confederacy of the Middle Ages; the religious divisions which threatened it after 1500 and its surprising survival amongst Europe's monarchies; the turmoil following the French Revolution and conquest, which continued until the Federal Constitution of 1848; the testing of the Swiss nation through the late nineteenth century and then two World Wars and the Depression of the 1930s; and the unparalleled economic and social growth and political success of the post-war era. The book concludes with a discussion of the contemporary challenges, often shared with neighbours, that shape the country today.

The Routledge Concise History of World Literature

The Routledge Concise History of World Literature PDF Author: Theo D'haen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136635718
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
This remarkably broad and informative book offers an introduction to and overview of World Literature. Tracing the term from its earliest roots and situating it within a number of relevant contexts from postcolonialism to postmodernism, this book is the ideal guide to an increasingly popular and important term in literary studies. It is accessible and engaging and will be invaluable to students of world literature, comparative literature, translation and postcolonial studies and anyone with an interest in these or related topics.

Reconstruction

Reconstruction PDF Author: Allen C. Guelzo
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190865695
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
Allen C. Guelzo's Reconstruction: A Concise History is a gracefully written interpretation of Reconstruction as a spirited struggle to reintegrate the defeated Southern Confederacy into the American Union after the Civil War, to bring African Americans into the political mainstream of American life, and to recreate the Southern economy after a Northern free-labor model.

The First World War

The First World War PDF Author: William Kelleher Storey
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 0742567249
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
A second edition of this book is now available. In a compact but comprehensive and clear narrative, this book explores the First World War from a genuinely global perspective. Putting a human face on the war, William Kelleher Storey brings to life individual decisions and experiences as well as environmental and technological factors such as food, geography, manpower, and weapons. Without neglecting traditional themes, the author's deft interweaving of the role of environment and technology enriches our understanding of the social, political, and military history of the war, not only in Europe, but throughout the world.

Yanks behind the Lines

Yanks behind the Lines PDF Author: Jeffrey B. Miller
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538141655
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
Winner, 2021 Colorado Book Awards, History Winner, 2021 American Fest’s Best Book Awards, History: Military “This is a powerful work of history, as informative as it is dramatically gripping. An impressive blend of painstaking historical scholarship and riveting storytelling.”—Kirkus Reviews More than nine million soldiers died in World War I. At the same time, a US-led effort saved nearly ten million civilians from starvation behind the lines during the German occupation, yet one of America’s greatest humanitarian efforts is virtually unknown today. In this gripping book, Jeffrey B. Miller tells the remarkable history of two American and Belgian citizen-created organizations that led a massive food relief program for civilians trapped in German-occupied Belgium and northern France. Herbert Hoover, then a successful international businessman, was the driving force behind the effort, coercing and bullying the governments of Germany, Great Britain, France, and the United States to allow a group of idealistic young volunteers to organize in occupied Belgium and coordinate the distribution of tons of food and clothing to desperate Belgians. These crusaders, known as CRB delegates, had to maintain strict neutrality as they watched the Belgians suffer under the harsh German regime. Miller tells compelling stories of German brutality, Belgian relief efforts, and the idealistic Americans who went into German-occupied Belgium from October 1914 up to May 1917, when they were forced to leave after the April entry into the war of the United States. Yanks interweaves the history of the time with fascinating personal stories of volunteers, diplomats, a young Belgian woman who started a dairy farm to feed Antwerp’s children, the autocratic head of the Belgian relief organization, and the founder of the American organization, who would become known to the world as the Great Humanitarian and later, largely because of his work in Belgium and post-war Europe, would become the thirty-first president of the United States. Visit the book’s website here: www.YanksBehindTheLines.com Watch the book trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0YKJRrSe4o