Wallonia, April-December, 1950

The Referendum in Belgium had the opposite of the intended effect, only dividing the country further instead of unifying it in a single decision. With the King gaining a narrow majority of support for his reign, he took power in a grand ceremony on March 20th. This was despite the general strike that had erupted across the country, and the violence that was employed in response to it. Even as the King was accepting his crown, skulls were being cracked in Liege by pro-Leopoldist militias.

The horror stories from across the country were constant. In Namur, two strikers were run down by a tank and crushed to death. In Charleroi, pro-Leopoldist militias firebombed the houses of the most prominent strike leaders, killing several children and wives. It didn't take long for the anti-Leopoldists to respond in kind, with the streets of Brussels exploding once again in violent, bloody confrontations. Palace Laeken was shot up for a second time by a sniper in the Royal Park, who was killed by Gendarmerie before being able to make her escape. On her body was found literature from the RDSW-AD, the same group that claimed responsibility for the machine-gun attack on the Palace in September of 1949. In response, Leopold took the drastic measure to outlaw the RDSW-AD, though the measure was blocked in the Chamber of Deputies and failed to pass.

The government remained in deadlock, with some calling for fresh elections, while others were so paralyzed with fear they refused to attend sessions in the capital. Their fears appeared well founded when a well-known pro-Leopoldist was gunned down outside his home in June of 1950. While blame was popularly assigned to the RDSW-AD, some evidence suggested that it was actually the pro-Leopoldist MNR-NKB who conducted the killing.

Events came to a head in September of 1950, when the trial for those arrested during the rescue of King Leopold the previous June was meant to go ahead in Liege. The courthouse was surrounded by heavily armed guards and tanks, while witnesses and the accused had to come and go in armored cars. Three separate sniper attacks were aimed at the Judge, the lead prosecutor, and several members of the accused, though none were successful. The trial itself was a farce; the lead prosecutor himself acknowledged that "finding a neutral jury in Belgium at this moment is impossible. You'd just as easily find a neutral militia member or cabinet minister." In the end, the Jury was hung and a retrial in December resulted in an acquittal for all but two of the accused, both of whom had been arrested while armed. They were given very light sentences that amounted to time served. When released, the accused were lauded as "Avengers of the Martyred 101"; the two armed members of the accused, Jacques Lavigne and Marcus DuPont, went on to attain prominence in the RDSW, leading organizing efforts in their home neighborhoods of Liege.

Leopold took to calling the violence an insurrection, but dithered constantly on a long-term solution. Indeed, it seemed he wished the whole thing would just go away. Whether an insurrection or simply ongoing civil violence, it is clear the unrest in Belgium will continue. Whether that unrest will take a larger form as a true breakaway insurrection remains to be seen. The streets of Brussels remain unsafe.