History of Belgium History of Belgium The history of Belgium extends before the founding of the modern state of that name in 1830. Belgium's history is therefore intertwined with those of its neighbours: the Netherlands, Germany, France and Luxembourg. For most of its history, what is now Belgium was either a part of a larger territory, such as the Carolingian Empire, or divided into a number of smaller states, prominent among them being the Duchy of Brabant, the County of Flanders, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and County of Luxembourg. Due to its strategic location and the many armies fighting on its soil, since
Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France The "Reichskommissariat" of Belgium and Northern France was a German civil administration ("Zivilverwaltung") which governed German-occupied Belgium during World War II. The "Reichskommissariat" replaced an earlier military government, the Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France, established in the same territory in 1940. On 18 July 1944, the first Gauleiter, Josef Grohé, was named the first "Reichskommissar" of the territory, known as the "Reichskommissariat Belgien und Nordfrankreich" or "Reichskommissariat für die besetzten Gebiete von Belgien und Nordfrankreich". The territory was mostly liberated by the Allies in September 1944, in the aftermath of the Normandy