Dutch Hisses

At an international conference in Louvain, 200 Dutch Nationalists staged an anti-Belgium riot. They threw stones, hissed, unfolded Orange banners, cried "Long Live Wilhelmina! Down with Belgium !"

Belgians returned the stones and entered into a vocal contest with the Dutch by shouting their Brabanc,onne. (national anthem).

Although present-day Belgium was known to the Romans as Gallia Belgica, her history for the most part has been interwoven with that of the Netherlands. It was not until 1830, when the collapse of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands took place, that the modern State of Belgium was created. At that time and for a number of years later, the Dutch evinced a rabid hostility toward the Belgians, but this feeling has gradually diminished during the past 50 years, although the above clash shows that some bad blood still courses through the veins of both peoples.