Transcript Belgium Power Point

Belgium
Geography, Government, War of Independence,
and WWII Involvement
Three Main Regions
• Think of these three
regions like states.
Even though NC is
not a part of SC, we
are still a part of the
US.
• Flanders, Wallonia,
and Brussels are all a
part of Belgium.
Three Geographic Regions
• Upper, Lower, and Central Belgium are
geographic regions, not states. If I were to
say I enjoy visiting the mid-west in
America, I could be referring to several
states. It is the same way when I say
Lower, Central, or Upper Belgium.
Lower Belgium
• Flanders is usually
described as Lower
Belgium. If you refer back
to the map that may
seem strange since
Flanders is in the North. It
is called “Lower” Belgium
because the land is below
sea level, not because it
is at the bottom of
Belgium.
Lower Belgium
• Lower Belgium begins at
the coast of the North
Sea and moves east
towards the coast, sand
dunes, and small hills.
• It has fertile valleys and
pastures. Pastures are
where animals graze, and
fertile means that they
are able to grow things.
• Does it seem like they
would have good farming
here? Yes.
Central Belgium
• Has low and fertile
plateaus (remember a
plateau is like a table
top). It has forested areas
and large farms and
pastures. Parts of
Wallonia could be
considered Central
Belgium, and Brussels is
considered Central
Belgium.
Upper Belgium
• The top picture is of the
Ardennes Forest, which are
mostly in Upper Belgium. The
bottom picture is of the Semois
Valley (a popular tourist
attraction) and a river. Upper
Belgium has fast moving rivers
which cut into the landscape
and make the hills steeper in
this area than in any other
region. There are also
vineyards here (where they
grow grapes). Notice the
differences between the
Ardennes Forest and our
forests in NC.
WWII Involvement
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Belgium was taken over by
Germany, who invaded them the
same year as France (1940).
Belgium surrendered instead of
losing more innocent lives than
needed, since they are small and
knew they could not win.
France and Belgium are close to
each other, which is why they
were invaded at about the same
time
Belgium is sometimes referred to
as one of the “low countries”
because it is below sea level. In
1940 Germany invaded other “low
countries)
Belgian Revolution
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Belgium and The Netherlands
were once united at The Kingdom
of The Netherlands and were
ruled by King William.
60% of the kingdom spoke Dutch,
40% spoke French
In April of 1830 rioting (fights)
began outside of the Opera that
was playing for King William’s
birthday and spread throughout
the country.
The French felt they were treated
unfairly
They were unemployed, poor, and
had no rights
The causes of this war are very
similar to the causes of The
American Revolution
• On November 18, 1830
Belgium declares
independence.
• Not until July 21, 1831 were
they officially independent of
The Netherlands
• Did the colonists in America
get independence just
because they declared it? No.
It took 8 more years to officially
get it. 7 years longer than it did
in Belgium.
• The borders of Belgium
established during the war are
still recognized today.
Questions?
• We skipped “Government” so don’t worry if
you don’t have it.
• If you aren’t sure about something leave a
comment on this page, or email me.
• You should have completed a KWL Chart
for Belgium as well as a Venn Diagram
that compares The American and Belgian
Revolutions.