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Author: Guy Vanthemsche
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2023-03-31
Total Pages: 397
ISBN-13: 0521192412
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"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"--
Author: Guy Vanthemsche
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2023-03-31
Total Pages: 397
ISBN-13: 1009327267
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe 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.
Author: Samuel Humes
Publisher: Hurst & Company
Published: 2014
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9781849041461
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis 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.
Author: James C. Kennedy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2017-07-13
Total Pages: 505
ISBN-13: 0521875889
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book offers a comprehensive yet compact history of this surprisingly little-known but fascinating country, from pre-history to the present.
Author: Guy Vanthemsche
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012-04-30
Total Pages: 301
ISBN-13: 0521194210
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis 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.
Author: Clive H. Church
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2013-05-23
Total Pages: 325
ISBN-13: 1107244196
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDespite 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.
Author: Theo D'haen
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-03
Total Pages: 217
ISBN-13: 1136635718
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis 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.
Author: J. C. H. Blom
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Published: 2006-06
Total Pages: 531
ISBN-13: 1845452720
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe history of the smaller European countries is rather neglected in the teaching of European history at university level. We are therefore pleased to announce the publication of the first comprehensive history of the Low Countries - in English - from Roman Times to the present. Remaining politically and culturally fragmented, with its inhabitants speaking Dutch, French, Frisian, and German, the Low Countries offer a fascinating picture of European history en miniature. For historical reasons, parts of northern France and western Germany also have to be included in the "Low Countries," a term that must remain both broad and fluid, a convenient label for a region which has seldom, if ever, composed a unified whole. In earlier ages it as even more difficult to the region set parameters, again reflecting Europe as a whole, when tribes and kingdoms stretched across expanses not limited to the present states of Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Nevertheless, its parts did demonstrate many common traits and similar developments that differentiated them from surrounding countries and lent them a distinct character. Internationally, the region often served both as a mediator for and a buffer to the surrounding great powers, France, Britain, and Germany; an important role still played today as Belgium and the Netherlands have increasingly become involved in the broader process of European integration, in which they often share the same interest and follow parallel policies. This highly illustrated volume serves as an ideal introduction to the rich history of the Low Countries for students and the generally interested reader alike.
Author: Paul Arblaster
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2005-12-23
Total Pages: 312
ISBN-13: 9781403948274
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis is the first full historical survey of the Benelux area (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) to be written in English. Paul Arblaster describes the whole sweep of the history of the Low Countries, from Roman frontier provinces, through medieval principalities, to the establishment of the three constitutional monarchies of the present day. This readable overview highlights the international importance of the social, economic , spiritual, and cultural movements that have marked the region.
Author: Oliver Stone
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2014-10-14
Total Pages: 336
ISBN-13: 147679166X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"Text in this work is taken from the transcript from the author's documentary on Showtime, which was based on the Gallery Books publication titled The untold history of the United States"--Title page verso.
