Economy of Belgium increased unemployment, stemming from the worldwide banking crisis. For 50 years through World War II, French-speaking Wallonia was a technically advanced, industrial region, with its industry concentrated along the sillon industriel, while Dutch-speaking Flanders was predominantly agricultural with some industry, mainly processing agricultural products and textiles. This disparity began to fade during the interwar period. When Belgium emerged from World War II with its industrial infrastructure relatively undamaged thanks to the Galopin doctrine, the stage was set for a period of rapid development, particularly in Flanders. The postwar boom years, enhanced by the establishment of the European Union and NATO
The Sorrow of Belgium The Sorrow of Belgium The Sorrow of Belgium () is a major novel first published in 1983 by the Belgian author Hugo Claus (1929–2008). It is widely considered Claus' major work and "the most important Dutch-language novel of the twentieth century". "The Sorrow of Belgium" explores the childhood and youth of Louis Seynaeve, a Flemish schoolboy living in the region of Kortrijk during World War II when Belgium was under German occupation. The novel itself is a "bildungsroman" formed from two sections: The work was first published in an English translation by Arnold J. Pomerans in 1994. It was also