1938: Belgium

Finances.

Financial difficulties were a constant source of irritation in Belgium during the year 1938. In March, M. DeMan resigned as Minister of Finance and was replaced by M. Soudan. At that time the budget showed a large deficit due mainly to increased expenditures for national defense, public health and old-age pensions. In some circles the increase in the number of public employees was considered an important cause of increased taxation. In 1914 there were 103,524 public employees in Belgium. In 1937 there were 149,365 and all of them were receiving higher wages. King Leopold signed a decree providing for the gradual reduction of the number of civil servants. The decree provided that as public officials die or are pensioned they are to be replaced only in special cases. The economic situation was aggravated by French devaluation which resulted in practically closing the French market to Belgian goods. Unable to cope with the budgetary situation, the coalition Cabinet, composed of Catholics, Liberals, and Socialists, headed by the Liberal, Paul Emile Janson, resigned on May 13. The Catholics insisted on drastic cuts in Governmental expenditures particularly in regard to social reforms. The Socialists on the other hand insisted on fresh taxation. King Leopold showed his influence by the unprecedented action of asking the Foreign Minister Paul Henri Spaak, a Socialist, to form a new Cabinet after consulting only three political chieftains.

Political Situation.

By May 15 M. Spaak had formed a new ministry, becoming Belgium's youngest and first Socialist Premier. The new Cabinet, which was reduced from 15 to 11 Ministers, included 4 Socialists, 4 Catholics, 2 Liberals and a General. Banking and industrial interests were especially well represented. The greatest responsibility in the new Cabinet was assumed by the new Finance Minister, Max Lee Gerard, a Liberal who for five years had been secretary to the late King Albert. During the first Government of Paul Van Zeeland, when he put the country's money on a sound basis after the devaluation of March 1936, M. Gerard had earned the reputation of being one of the best Finance Ministers in Belgium since the World War. The other key Ministry, the combined Economic and Agricultural Department was assigned to Paul Hymans, a Catholic, banker, and engineer who had been a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1924 to 1926. M. Spaak retained the Foreign Portfolio and Lieutenant General Henri Denis retained the Portfolio of National Defense.

In his ministerial declaration, M. Spaak indicated that the Belgian Constitution might have to be reshaped by measures which would insure Cabinet stability and more efficient procedure in Parliament. Budgetary economies were promised. The first measure passed to bolster the budget abolished the Belgian 'blue laws.' This new law permitted liquor to be served in cafes and restaurants instead of limiting the sale to stores. A national crisis tax was instituted which provided for a progressive tax on all remunerations, indemnities, pensions, and annuities. The duties on petrol and tobacco were increased. These measures did not solve Belgium's financial troubles. In December, a crisis occurred when the Socialists fought the economic policy of the Government as deflationary. The immediate fall of the Cabinet was averted by the resignation of Finance Minister Max Leo Gerard. Albert Edouard Janssen, a Catholic and Finance Minister in 1925, became the third Minister of Finance in Belgium during the year 1938. At the same time, Premier Paul Spaak enlarged his cabinet by creating new Ministries of Agriculture, Foreign Trade and Unemployment.

The crisis became more acute when Premier Spaak appointed a commercial agent to the Spanish Insurgent Government at Burgos. The withdrawal by the Spanish Government of its Ambassador in Brussels angered Catholic and Liberal groups in the Government. The Premier's own Socialist party voted against him in spite of the fact that he had stated that he would resign unless the Socialists supported him. Emile Vandervelde, veteran Labor leader and an avowed friend of Loyalist Spain, led the fight against M. Spaak's policy toward the Spanish Insurgents. As the year closed it was not clear if Parliament would be dissolved or if a compromise might be reached over the Spanish question. (See also SOCIALISM.)

Léon Degrelle's Rexist party, Belgium's pro-Fascist political organization, was kept in eclipse during 1938. Degrelle courted popularity by attacking increased taxation. At the time of the Czechoslovakian crisis the would-be dictator called a meeting of his followers in Schaerbeck suburb and threatened to march upon Brussels with a procession. The Burgomaster of Brussels forbade the procession and nothing came of it. It was announced that, in searching the houses of Rexist deputies and Flemish leaders, the police had discovered documents tending to prove that the Rexist party and Flemish Nationalists were maintaining organizations of a military character.

Elections.

In the communal elections held in October, the Catholic, Liberal and Socialist parties were heavy winners at the expense of the extremist groups — Rexists, Communists, and Flemish Nationalists. The pro-French Liberal party which was thought to be on the decline gained in all parts of the land. Even in districts that belonged to Germany before the World War the vote was favorable to Belgian candidates. Malmédy voted heavily for all Belgian candidates. In Eupen the Nazi sympathizers were stronger but did not sweep the district. The collapse of the Rexists may have been partly due to the illness of their leader, Degrelle, but the movement had obviously been declining for some time.

Domestic Difficulties.

In the linguistic struggle in Belgium the Walloons, French-speaking Belgiums, were on the defensive. Premier Paul Spaak in his ministerial statement in the Chamber of Deputies on May 17 declared that the misgivings of the Walloons about becoming a linguistic minority were receiving attention. While M. Spaak read his statement in the Senate, Senator Van Dieren, a Flemish Nationalist, and a number of his party colleagues left their seats and walked out after a request that the statement be read in Flemish had been rejected by 117 votes to 10. Earlier in the year M. Tellenaere, a Flemish deputy, had caused a tumult in the lower house by attacking the French Ambassador Paul Bargeton. M. Tellenaere wanted to know if, in the event of a European conflict, the Belgian Government would permit French troops to move through Belgium territory. The President of the Chamber of Deputies, Camille Huysmans, rebuked the Flemish deputy for his attack on the French Ambassador and the Government refused to answer his question.

Foreign Affairs.

Belgium adhered to her policy of strict independence in international affairs. After the annexation of Austria by Germany, M. Spaak in a speech before the Chamber of Deputies declared that Belgium could not hope for security from the League of Nations but must have a strong army and try to avoid becoming entangled in a war. In August, 40,000 troops took part in the most spectacular manoeuvres ever held in Belgium. The manoeuvres were held along the Dutch and German borders, the same route over which the German armies marched in 1914. At the time of the Czechoslovakian crisis there was considerable anxiety about Eupen and Malmédy, districts which had belonged to Germany before the World War. Several pro-Hitler youths in Eupen who demonstrated in the streets there had been arrested in March. Three aldermen of Eupen who had conducted themselves in an unpatriotic manner during a visit of the Belgian Minister of the Interior to Eupen and Malmédy had been removed in April by the Governor of Liége Province with the approval of the Minister of the Interior. Belgians were relieved when, at the height of the crisis, German troops were withdrawn from the German side near Eupen and replaced by police. They were reassured when Premier Spaak stated that all indications were that the Great Powers would respect their guarantees of Belgium's frontiers. Belgium's forts were permanently and fully manned in September to meet any crisis. In March, Count André de Kerchove de Denterghem was appointed Ambassador to Italy filling a post that had been vacant for a year. In September it was announced that the Belgian Legation in Berlin was being raised to the rank of an Embassy. The status of the German Legation in Brussels was likewise being raised. A fervent appeal to the world to assure peace by a heroic effort to eliminate the economic causes of war was made by King Leopold in Paris in October when he dedicated a monument to his father, the late King Albert.

Relations between Belgium and Germany were not on a basis of complete friendliness at the end of the year. Joachim von Ribbentrop, Germany's Foreign Minister, made demands that the Belgian press show a more friendly attitude toward Germany. A high official of the Belgian Foreign Ministry suggested to the President of the Belgian Press Association that the press itself should draft curbing regulations. The answer to this suggestion was a unanimous vote of the Press Association to resist any attempts to interfere with the freedom of the press.

See also OSLO POWERS; PERMANENT COURT OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE.