In the Belgian general election of 1936 the VNV received 13.6% of the Flemish vote, corresponding to 7.1% nationwide. After the election, in which the far-right nationalist and Catholic Rexist Party also performed strongly, the two parties concluded an alliance, intended to create a corporatist Belgian state with great autonomy for Flanders. The VNV revoked this agreement after just one year. In the 1939 elections, the VNV moderately increased its share of the Flemish vote to 15% (8.4% nationally) while the Rexist vote collapsed.