History of the Netherlands Dutch-speaking territory in the Netherlands was taken from Spain, but not in Flanders, which to this day remains part of Belgium. Flanders was the most radical anti-Spanish territory. Many Flemish fled to Holland, among them half of the population of Antwerp, 3/4 of Bruges and Ghent and the entire population of Nieuwpoort, Dunkerque and countryside. His successful campaign gave the Catholics control of the lower half of the Low Countries, and was part of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The war dragged on for another half century, but the main fighting was over. The Peace of Westphalia, signed in 1648, confirmed the
Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts created and from then on until 1971 Flemish scientists were either member of the Dutch-language Flemish academy or member of the officially bilingual ARB. This situation created confusion sometimes. As a consequence of the first state reform in Belgium in 1970, the officially bilingual Royal Academy was dissolved in 1971 and replaced by a solely French-speaking academy, ARB, for the French speaking community and a solely Dutch-speaking academy, KAWLSK, for the Flemish community. Almost 30 years later on, KAWLSK was renamed KVAB ("Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten") in 1999. Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science