Belgium

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in western Europe.

Great War
At the outbreak of the Great War, Belgium maintained their stance of neutrality. However, in the beginning months of the war, Germany invaded the country to execute the Schlieffen Plan - which gave the United Kingdom cause to declare war on the German Empire. Under the command of King Albert, the Belgian army was one of the first to engage the German army during the Weltkrieg. The Belgian Army was able to stall the German advance towards France, a fact that invoked the ire of the German High Command. The German army responded by making the Belgians the victims of brutality, their victims accused of illegal sabotage by their occupiers. In response to the speeches and works of notable Walloon cultural critic Jules Destrée, German officials concluded that a federalized Belgian state was the best option for reducing cohesion between the Flemish and Walloons to avoid the formation of a unified Belgian resistance to German rule. The first step of this process began around 1916 under the guise of Flamenpolitik. It consisted of Flemish autonomist and independence figures supporting notions that went against the concept of a unified Belgian identity. As a stepping stone of the policy, the University of Ghent was Flemishized and as a result French was dropped in many courses at the school. As a second step, the German authorities authorized the creation of the Raad van Vlaanderen in order to gain the much-needed support of Flemish autonomists.

Treaty of Versailles
In the negotiations at Versailles, Germany made light demands which largely preserved the borders of Belgium, annexing Arlon in the east. In Africa, Belgium lost the Congo as it was annexed by Germany alongside French colonies in Central Africa. After the Treaty, Belgium emerged as a member of both the Central Powers and Mitteleuropa, as it became economically dependent on Germany.