Activity details
Hobbemastraat 8
1000 Brussels
Belgium
Conference: September 1944
Belgium is liberated. And after that?’
30 AUGUST 2024 • 1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
After the liberation of Belgium in September 1944, the country had to rebuild and faced new challenges. Five speakers tell us about lesser-known topics from this period of our history.
Exceptional conference co-organised by KVVL and the RMA History Chair, with the support of the WHI.
Registration required before 20 August 2024.
PROGRAMME
| 12:30 pm | Welcome and registration |
| 1:30 pm | Introduction |
| 1:45 pm | Democracy restored (1944-1946): between conservative restoration and social renewal (NL), Nico WOUTERS, head of the War and Society Study Centre (CegeSoma) of the State Archives |
| 2:30 pm | German prisoners of war in Belgium (FR), Pierre MULLER, collection manager armoured vehicles/artillery/marine - WHI |
| 3:15 pm | The execution of collaborators in Belgium after World War II (NL), Stanislas HORVAT, Professor & Chair of Law at the Royal Military School and affiliated researcher at the VUB |
| 4:00 pm | Rebuilding an army, occupation of Germany (FR), Jean-Michel STERKENDRIES, Professor Emeritus of the Royal Military School |
| 4:45 pm | From the origins of the 1944 Social Pact to today's social security (FR), Vanessa AMBOLDI, Director of the Centre d'Education Populaire André Genot (CEPAG) |
| 5:30 pm | Conclusion |
Practical information
ADRESS:
Royal Military Academy
Hobbemastraat 8
1000 Brussels
REGISTRATION:
The conference is free of charge. However, for security reasons on the RMA campus, you must register in advance via the KVVL secretariat, by e-mail to [email protected] or by phone on +32 (0) 2 737 78 90 (Tuesday or Thursday between 10:30 am and 3 pm).
Please state your name, first name and national registration number (on the back of your identity card) or, for non-Belgians, the passport number, both of yourself and, if applicable, the person accompanying you. The list of participants will close on 20 August 2024. After this date, registration will no longer be possible.
ACCESS THE DAY OF THE CONFERENCE (30 August 2024)
Welcome and registration starting at 12:30 pm
Access via Hobbemastraat 8, 1000 Brussels, with your identity card (or passport).
Attention: There is no parking at the Royal Military Academy
The presentations in summary
De democratie hersteld (1944-1946): tussen conservatieve restauratie en sociale vernieuwing (NL)
The Belgian democratic state was restored remarkably quickly in 1644-1946. This was not evident after the deep systemic crisis of the 1930s and the fragmentation of state authority during four years of occupation. This lecture discusses the elements that help explain that success, including the importance of local governments as state-carrying entities, the presence of the Allies, the restoration of a patriotic constitutional culture, the return of particracy and of state-carrying elites and social reforms coupled with neocorporatism.
Les prisonniers de guerre allemands en Belgique (FR)
How and why the Belgian government employed German prisoners of war between 1945 and 1948 to boost the Belgian economy and win the battle for coal.
De terechtstelling van collaborateurs in België na de Tweede Wereldoorlog (NL)
After World War II, 242 collaborators and war criminals sentenced to death in Belgium were shot. The executions are etched in the collective memory as the climax of post-war repression. To this day, many misconceptions and myths exist about these executions and the role of the military tribunal.
Reconstruire une armée, occuper l’Allemagne (FR)
How could Belgium regain its place on the international stage, especially in relation to resolving German issues? Participating in the future occupation of the former Reich was absolutely necessary for several reasons: among others, rebuilding an army was only conceivable with the support of the British, who were much more powerful.
Des origines du Pacte social de 1944 à la sécurité sociale d'aujourd'hui (FR)
Social security as we know it today has its origins in the Social Pact signed by unions and employers at the end of World War II. How did the Social Pact come about in the immediate post-war period and what were the consequences for workers?