Not only was his Belgian nationality interesting because of Belgium's occupation by Germany ( which provided a valid explanation of why such a skilled detective would be out of work and available to solve mysteries at an English country house ), but also at the time of Christie's writing, it was considered patriotic to express sympathy with the Belgians, since the invasion of their country had constituted Britain's casus belli for entering World War I, and British wartime propaganda emphasized the " Rape of Belgium ".

And the Belgians, many of them devout Catholics, also erected small roadside votive chapels like those in their homeland.

He also received numerous foreign honours-the French appointed him a Grand Officer of the Légion d ' honneur and awarded him the Croix de Guerre, the Belgians appointed him a Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown ( Orde de la Couronne ) and awarded him the Croix de Guerre and the United States awarded him the Distinguished Service Medal.

The official language is Dutch, although, Belgium being trilingual, Zaventem is also inhabited by French-speaking Belgians.

* Supporters of the return of Leopold III as King of the Belgians after the Second World War, also called Leopoldists

In the late 19th century, the Germans, Italians and the Belgians also joined in, beginning the third wave of invasions that would subdue native peoples and economies, and expand European-controlled territory over the majority of the globe.

It should be noted that most of what Belgians eat is also eaten in neighbouring countries, and is not singled out for mention here.

Countess Augusta is the grandmother of many notable monarchs of Europe, including both Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom ( through her mother Victoria ) and her husband, Prince Albert ( through his father Ernst ), King Consort of Portugal Ferdinand II ( through his father Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha ), and also Empress Carlota of Mexico and her brother Leopold II of Belgium ( through their father Leopold I who was elected King of the Belgians on 26 June 1831.

Leopold also rejected his family for his mistresses ; he had so many scandalous liaisons that he was known to his subjects as Le Roi des Belges et des Belles (“ The King of the Belgians and of the Beauties ”).

He also won the team title with his team Milhous Warriors, but the English quiz team was once again beaten by the Belgians.

He also lost his European title to Nico Pattyn of Belgium, but he took revenge by reconquering the title with the English national team, beating the Belgians in the final at Blackpool.

This ideology, also known as " Dutch reunification ", bases itself on the fact that the Dutch and Dutch-speaking Belgians ( known as the Flemish ) share a common history, culture, and language.

The utmost centrist party of Flanders has been the Volksunie, which not only embraced social liberalism but also displayed the national sentiment of the Dutch speaking Belgians who felt culturally suppressed by Francophones.

Some 43, 000 non-Jewish Belgians were also deported to German camps of which 13, 000 died.

See also List of Belgians and: Category: Wikipedia categories named after Belgian people.

In some teams there were also foreign aviators, e. g. in the German team there was the Canadian John Carberry, flying a German RK-25 aircraft ; in the French team there were two Belgians.

The Belgians did destroy one of the key bridges, preventing it from being used by the Germans but also preventing a relieving force from aiding the fortress.

Belgians are primarily a nationality or citizen group, by jus soli ( Latin: right of the soil ), also known as birthright citizenship, and are not a homogeneous ethnic group.

At the time, only a verbal agreement, on broad outlines, had been made and when it became time to put things to paper they realized that their € 4 billion was only going to buy them a 50 % share in a company they were only mildly interested in ( Fortis Bank Nederland, later sold for € 5 billion total ; instead of all Dutch Fortis holdings including ABN-AMRO and the Dutch insurance company ) and that the Belgians for their € 4. 7 billion were getting a 50 % share in the overall banking holding ( including not only Fortis Bank Nederland and Luxembourg, but also Fortis Investments and ABN-AMRO ).

Soulwax have also produced the debut album by fellow Belgians Das Pop.

While the majority of these Axis troops were Romanian, there were also significant contingents of Hungarians, Finns, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Italians, Slovakians, Croatians, Frenchmen, Danes, Norwegians, Belgians, and Spaniards.

When the Germans invaded Belgium on 10 May 1940, Keyes was sent as personal liaison between the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and the King of the Belgians, who was also commander-in-chief of the Belgian forces.

The Belgians Axiome, Hypnoskull, Imminent, Ah Cama-Sotz, Sonar, and This Morn ' Omina, also developed the genre.

Belgians also prefer the spelling tompouce.

The French cavalry under Sordet, which Sir John had previously asked Joffre in vain to be placed under his command, were further north trying to maintain contact with the Belgians.

Though unpopular at the end of his reign — his funeral cortege was booed — Leopold II is remembered today by many Belgians as the " Builder King " ( Koning-Bouwer in Dutch, le Roi-Bâtisseur in French ) because he commissioned a great number of buildings and urban projects, mainly in Brussels, Ostend and Antwerp.

This was a great morale boost to the Belgians, but failed to alter the predicament of the city.

They range from the Soviet Embassy on Sixteenth Street, a gray shuttered pile suggesting a funeral-accessories display house, to what Congressman Rooney has called `` that monstrosity on Thirty-fourth Street '', the modern cement-and-glass chancery of the Belgians.

Lumumba and Kasavubu blamed it all on the military intervention by the Belgians, and appealed to the United Nations to send troops to oust them.

Following riots in Leopoldville between 4 – 7 January 1959, and Stanleyville on 31 October 1959, the Belgians realised they could not maintain control of such a vast country in the face of rising demands for independence.

The Belgians and Congolese political leaders held a Round Table Conference in Brussels beginning on 18 January 1960.

Other examples of heads of state in parliamentary systems using greater powers than usual, either because of ambiguous constitutions or unprecedented national emergencies, include the decision by King Léopold III of the Belgians to surrender on behalf of his state to the invading German army in 1940, against the will of his government.

Albert II of Belgium | Albert II, King of the Belgians inspecting Belgian Armed Forces | troops on Belgium's national day in 2011.

* National Day, celebrates the inauguration of Léopold I, the first king of the Belgians, after its independence from the Netherlands on October 4, 1830.

Following the scandal, on October 26, 1996, about 300, 000 Belgians marched in Brussels to protest at the failures of the police force and judicial system in this affair.

The Belgians administered the territory through indirect rule, building on the Tutsi-dominated aristocratic hierarchy.

The UN Security Council was called into session on 7 December 1960 to consider Soviet demands that the UN seek Lumumba's immediate release, the immediate restoration of Lumumba as head of the Congo government, the disarming of the forces of Mobutu, and the immediate evacuation of Belgians from the Congo.

The city was built four years later in order to become a competitor with Léopoldville ( now Kinshasa ) which was built by the Belgians on the other side of the river.

Had she lived, she would have become Queen of the United Kingdom on the death of her father, and Leopold presumably would have assumed the role later taken by his nephew, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, as Prince Consort of the United Kingdom, and never been chosen to reign as King of the Belgians.

He was elected on 4 June and accepted and became " King of the Belgians " on 26 June 1831.

However, because of the existence of many wealthy Hutu who shared the financial ( if not physical ) stature of the Tutsi, the Belgians used an expedient method of classification based on the number of cattle a person owned.

* Baudouin, Duke of Brabant, Count of Hainaut, Prince of Belgium, who became the fifth King of the Belgians as Baudouin, born at Stuyvenberg on the outskirts of Brussels on 7 September 1930, and died at Motril, Spain on 31 July 1993.

* Léopold Philippe Charles Albert Meinrad Hubertus Marie Miguel, Duke of Brabant, Prince of Belgium, who became later the fourth king of the Belgians as Leopold III ( born 3 November 1901, and died at Woluwe-Saint-Lambert on 25 September 1983 ).

He ascended the throne and became the fifth King of the Belgians upon taking the constitutional oath on 17 July 1951, one day following his father's abdication.

It included 41 Americans and about 25 Belgians and were deployed on 21 July 1948.

Died of fever on the 9 June 1892 at Chinde on the Zambesi whilst in command of the Katanga Expedition sent out by the King of the Belgians.