Belgium

"We are pleased to note that Belgian entrepreneurs have begun to follow the trail blazed by other European investors into our manufacturing sector. Malaysia's infrastructures, the abundance of vital industrial raw materials and liberal investment climate should provide an added inducement to Belgian investors. We hope that Belgian investors would consider the advantages of venturing into, among other things, Malaysia's natural resource based industries. We would like to register our deep appreciation to the Belgian Government for the technical cooperation programme which has made valuable contribution in the fields of agriculture and wood technology. We are confident that the Belgian Government would positively consider the possibility of expanding the scope of the assistance programme to other areas including environmental pollution monitoring and forensic science. I also wish to take this opportunity to thank the Belgian Government for the generous emplacements of our students in Belgian institutions of higher learning."

"My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with a low grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery."

"Rory: "Lorelai Gilmore". Nope, doesn't sound model-y enough. You need something that stands out more. How about "Waffle"? We could call you Waffle and say you're from Belgium."

"Another Armenia, Belgium … the weak innocents who always seem to be located on a natural invasion route."

"Ray: I do know a Belgium joke! Okay, what's Belgium famous for? Chocolates and child abuse and they only invented the chocolates to get to the kids."

"Belgium" is the rudest word in the universe, which is "completely banned in all parts of the Galaxy, except in one part, where they could not possibly know what it means."

"They're the Canada of France."

"He said when he left that he wanted to repair the relationship, and that is very crucial. We need their help in Iraq. The more we can entice others to help us, the less of a target we could be."

"The years of slavery are past, The Belgian rejoices once more; Courage restores to him at last, The rights he held of yore. Strong and firm his grasp will be, Keeping the ancient flag unfurled, To fling its message on the watchful world: For king, for right, for liberty."

"'If in Belgium they continue to eat chocolate, enjoy life and parade as great liberals and democrats while not taking account of the fact that some of the Muslims who are there are organising acts of terror, they will not be able to fight against them"

"The European Union and many of its countries, which used to take initiatives in the United Nations for peaceful settlements of conflict, are now one of the most important war assets of the U.S./NATO front. Many countries have also been drawn into complicity in breaking international law through U.S./U.K./NATO wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and so on."

"The wealth of our country and our institutional system lies particularly in the fact that our diversity is strength. Whenever we find a balance between unity and diversity, the strength of Belgium is precisely to give meaning to our diversity."

"But perhaps we are wrong. Perhaps our memory deceives us. Dr. Goebbels and his Propaganda Machine have their own version of what happened twenty-five years ago. To hear them talk, you would suppose that it was Belgium that invaded Germany! There they were, these peaceful Prussians, gathering in their harvests, when this wicked, Belgium – set on by England and the Jews – fell upon them; and would no doubt have taken Berlin, if Corporal Adolf Hitler had not come to the rescue and turned the tables. Indeed, the tale goes further. After four years of war by land and sea, when Germany was about to win an overwhelming victory, the Jews got at them again, this time from the rear. Armed with President Wilson’s Fourteen Points they stabbed, we are told, the German armies in the back, and induced them to ask for an armistice, and even persuaded them, in an unguarded moment, to sign a paper saying that it was they and not the Belgians who had been the ones to begin the War. Such is history as it is taught in topsy-turvydom. And now it is holiday again, and where are we now? Or, as you sometimes ask in the United States – where do we go from here?"

"Americans reflexively believe that 'Had Germany occupied the United States, nearly all of us would have joined an armed resistance to the Nazis. That's what I thought, too, when I was 16. But that reflects a hopelessly naive view, both of what the world looked like to most people after the Nazis had conquered Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway and France, and of what it actually meant to take up arms against an occupying power'."

"We've just heard from the Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Many point a finger of blame at the DRC and other poor countries for their poverty. Yet we don’t seem to remember, or want to remember, that starting around 1870, King Leopold of Belgium created a slave colony in the Congo that lasted for around 40 years; and then the government of Belgium ran the colony for another 50 years. In 1961, after independence of the DRC, the CIA then assassinated the DRC’s first popular leader, Patrice Lumumba, and installed a US-backed dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, for roughly the next 30 years. And in recent years, and other multinational companies suck out the DRC’s cobalt without paying a level of royalties and taxes. We simply don’t reflect on the real history of the DRC and other poor countries struggling to escape from poverty. Instead, we point fingers at these countries and say, “What’s wrong with you? Why don’t you govern yourselves properly?”"

"The law of Belgium is the same as that of France, except that the “grande natural isation” can only be conferred by act of the legislature."

"Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired."

"Brutally attacked by Germany which had entered into the most solemn engagements with her, Belgium will defend herself with all of her strength against the invader. In these tragic hours which my country is undergoing, I am addressing myself to Your Excellency, who so often has demonstrated towards Belgium an affectionate interest, in the certainty that you will support with all of your moral authority the efforts which we are now firmly decided to make in order to preserve our independence."

"On July 31, 1950, I accepted to hand over the royal powers to my son. It was my will to renounce the throne for good as soon as it turned out that all Belgians would have united themselves around Prince Baudouin. I now establish that this unanimity has been achieved. The last words I wish to say as king of the Belgians will strongly indicate that the future of the fatherland depends on your national solidarity, I swear to agree to you, God protect Belgium and our Congo."

"I have no other desire than to leave Belgium bigger, stronger and more beautiful."

"It is not the first time that Belgium has had to undergo a dangerous ordeal. But never has the situation been more serious than today! … Freedom, honor, the very existence of the fatherland is at stake."

"Small country, small people."

"If I do not promise Belgium a splendid government like that which founded its independence, nor a great King like him whom we mourn, then at least i believe to be a Belgian King in heart and soul, whose whole life belongs to the country."

"Belgium is a boiler that needs valves."

"There exists but one country in the civilised world where every strike is eagerly and joyously turned into a pretext for the official massacre of the Working Class. That country of single blessedness is Belgium! the model state of continental constitutionalism, the snug, well-hedged, little paradise of the landlord, the capitalist, and the priest. The earth performs not more surely its yearly revolution than the Belgian Government its yearly Working Men’s massacre. The massacre of this year does not differ from last year’s massacre, but by the ghastlier number of its victims, the more hideous ferocity of an otherwise ridiculous army, the noisier jubilation of the clerical and capitalist press, and the intensified frivolity of the pretexts put forward by the Governmental butchers."

"Belgium does only pure philanthropy."

"This is no proof that our Belgian people are not as foolish as some think, and that there are few in Belgium who voluntarily play soldier."

"Cuba and Belgium are both countries of modest size, surrounded by large, powerful and often hostile powers."

"Belgium had no prior history in the slave trade, nor of African slaves. Léopold could fight against slavery without any hint of hypocrisy, even of the ahistorical type advanced by Hochschild. And it was slavery, not rubber operations, that contemporary observers viewed as the biggest threat to the people of the Congo."

"[...] The image superimposed on Ricci's field of view by his visor display showed a pair of guards in hooded parkas, goggles, and wool scarves taking relaxed strides along their patrol of the building's north side. Their shoulder-slung FN P90 assault weapons fired the same ammunition as his FN Five-seveN pistol: small rounds, big punch. [...]"

"Besides the ammunition it fires, the P90 has a number of very unusual and unique features that make it stand out in the field of firearms. The bullpup layout of the weapon makes the P90 the most compact fixed-stock submachine gun made... The physical layout of the P90 is very unusual the first time an operator sees it. The grips underneath the weapon are oddly curved with elongated holes above them to allow the fingers to wrap over the grip. Once the weapon is picked up, the style of holding the weapon dictated by the layout of the grips becomes automatic."

"Edward had replaced his own Heckler & Koch MP5 with the new FN P90. It was very science fiction looking, but he swore once I fired it, I'd trade in my MP5. He'd said the same thing about the mini-Uzi that had been the gun that the MP5 had replaced for me, so I didn't argue. Edward knew more about guns than I ever would."

"Massimo: What do you got that goes through a vest? Rich: What are we talking? Close range, long distance? Massimo: [shrugs] 5 or 10 yards. Rich: Bring that PS90. [henchman brings the gun to Rich] Rich: P90 carbine, uses 5.7-millimeters. Rich: [pulls cocking handle] Designed to penetrate Kevlar helmets, vests, and CRISAT protection. [fires at a Kevlar vest mounted on an adjacent wall] [bullet impact creates a large hole in the vest] Rich: [laughs] Extremely low recoil, virtually no muzzle climb, resulting in every shot on target. [destroys the vest with several more shots] Rich: [waving gun] It's the shit right here."

"Get your boys ready. However this turns out, there'll be trouble—and they'll need more than tear gas and pepperballs to deal with it." "I see," Assad said, unhappy. A nod to the ASPS, and the soldiers opened more cases, taking out compact FN P90 submachine guns. "Another contingency," he told Nina and Macy. "I really hope we don't have to use them, Mr. Chase."

"Two guards armed with Fabrique Nationale Herstal P-90 submachine guns stood at the entrance beyond the helipad, their presence negating any possibility of unauthorized access. Bolan hadn't expected to waltz through the laboratory's front door, but he wanted to view it nevertheless. He took the opportunity to examine his opponents' hardware. In addition to their submachine guns, the sentries wore shoulder holsters carrying FN Five-seveNs. Weighing a mere 1.6 pounds, the Belgium-made pistol used the same 5.7 mm ammunition as the P-90, fed from a clip holding 20 rounds. Although the lightweight handguns lacked the punch that a 9 mm Glock or a Smith & Wesson .45 might deliver, its bullets were available in a version with steel-hardened tips that penetrated Kevlar, making them the ideal choice when anticipating an assault by law-enforcement personnel."

"A six-man goon squad charged up one of the sweeping staircases to the VIP area. They weren't Turkish muscle. They were in suits and brandishing the FN Personal Defensive Weapons so prized by the Mexican cartels. Their weapons had laser sights, and the green beams played over the milling, screaming throng searching for their target. Bolan gave each of the two men leading the charge a double tap to the chest to no apparent effect. The men were armored. Bolan's pistol racked open on empty, and he threw himself flat as the enemy returned fire. Their weapons snarled on full-auto and scythed through bystanders as they sought Bolan."

"Load everything you can lay your hands on," Bolan instructed. He helped himself to a black FN P90. There were several of them in one of the bags. The SMG featured a clear plastic magazine that was mounted on top of the weapon, in parallel formation. The clear magazine allowed the user to make a quick visual check on how many of the fifty 5.7 mm rounds were left. A manual selecter allowed semi- or full-auto fire, depending on the extent of trigger pull. Bolan helped himself to a number of extra magazines. "Poliokof likes to give his boys nice weapons," Kowalski said, helping herself to one of the P90s. "Money's no object, I guess. Who wants to bet that he got them from Cameron?"

"The Executioner moved up, well within the two-hundred-yard effective range of the P90. He raised the weapon and fired a short burst that hit the first of the Russians who broke through the gap. The 5.7 mm slugs jerked him halfway around, his suddenly bleeding body jamming the gap, so his partners were forced to physically drag him clear. Bolan had kept moving forward. He could see the other two men attempting to move their fallen buddy. The soldier angled the P90 and let go with a concentrated burst on full-auto, raking the gap and hitting home on the two men. Their screams almost blocked out the sound of the P90's chatter."

"The Uzis might have fired at 600 rounds per minute. But the P-90, made by the FN Herstal company in Belgium, fired at an astonishing 900 rounds per minute. Indeed, with its rounded hand guard, internal blowback system, and incredible hundred-round magazine mounted above the barrel, it looked like something out of a science fiction movie."

"[...] Anyone who might think of attacking them would also probably recognize that they were armed. She smiled slightly; all three of them actually had valid concealed-carry permits for the Belgian FiveseveN specials under their jackets. Although not for the P90 machine pistols in the attaché cases, and some of the stuff in the vehicle would be right out of it. Semtex, timers, detonators, cans of gasoline and thermite bombs, for example. Even if the invoice reads "Cleaning supplies" back at HQ."

"Did the rapid-response teams go in?" Murray asked. "Why don't they just take over?" "They didn't go in at all," Drew said. "They called me first and I waved them off. You think it's a bad situation now, try bringing in eight P90-toting goons wearing biosuits and watch the press jizz all over themselves."

"For palace guard duty, in the wake of the recent civil disorder, Earl-Major Riordan had begun to reequip his men with FN P90s. A stubby, oddly melted-looking device little larger than a flintlock pistol, the P90 was an ultracompact submachine gun, designed for special forces and armored vehicle crews. Helmut's men were so equipped, and as the misguided young blood ran at them they opened fire. Unlike a traditional submachine gun, the P90 fired low-caliber armor-piercing rounds at a prodigious rate, from a large magazine. In the stone-walled hall, the detonations merged into a continuous concussive rasp. They fired for three seconds: sufficient to spray nearly two hundred rounds into the crowd from less than thirty feet."

"The Five-seveN has been loved and hated in the years since its introduction. It is one of the most controversial handguns of our time, and was so even before the Fort Hood atrocity... There was some brilliant use of polymer applied, and the result is a physically large pistol which, with magazine removed, weighs only 20.5 ounces on my scale. That’s less than the weight of a snub-nose Colt Detective Special, but depending on the magazine, the Five-seveN carries ten, twenty, or even thirty rounds of 5.7mm, compared to six rounds of .38 Special in the snubbie... Suffice it to say that from the pure "gun" side of it, the Five-seveN is a fascinating design that deserves a place in modern gun collections, and which has written a fascinating and complex chapter in the evolution of modern handguns."

"THE FNH FIVE-SEVEN ODG 5.7X28MM IS A LOW RECOIL AND LIGHTWEIGHT SELF-DEFENSE PISTOL BOASTING 20 SHOTS OF FIREPOWER!"

"Put on a bullet proof vest, and we'll fire the [FN Five-seven] weapon at him, and see what happens. He should put his body where his mouth is."

"[...] The image superimposed on Ricci's field of view by his visor display showed a pair of guards in hooded parkas, goggles, and wool scarves taking relaxed strides along their patrol of the building's north side. Their shoulder-slung FN P90 assault weapons fired the same ammunition as his FN Five-seveN pistol: small rounds, big punch. [...]"

"Ansara was sprinting up the tunnel, increasing the gap, but Moore was beginning to slow as he heard the thundering boots of men coming down the staircase behind them. He stopped, spun around, and dropped onto his belly as, lit by the flickering light from the tunnel entrance, a figure rushed forward, arm extended. For just a heartbeat Moore glimpsed his assailant's face: the cartel truck's driver. Propped up on his elbows now, Moore fired once into the figure's chest, the round booting him sideways into the panels before he fell onto his back. From behind him came two more men, the rest of the weapons-transfer crew, their Belgian-made cop-killer pistols flashing, the shots booming through the tunnel as one 5.7x28-millimeter round struck the pipe near Moore's elbow."

"The Draeger could be dangerous at depths much below thirty feet, so Juan planned to stay close to the surface. In a slim waterproof pouch strapped under his right arm he had a minicomputer, a flashlight, and a Fabrique Nationale Five-seveN double-action automatic. The pistol fired the new 5.7mm ammunition. The advantage of the small, needlelike cartridges was that the matte-black weapon's grip held twenty rounds with one in the chamber. Also, the bullets were designed to blow through most ballistic vests while at the same time not overpenetrate a target."

""So it's here or never, eh?" " 'Fraid so." Cabrillo braked the big truck far enough from the makeshift roadblock so the car could pass him once the cops were satisfied. In a concealed pocket to the right of his seat he could feel the butt of his preferred handgun, the Fabrique Nationale (FN) Five-seveN. The military-grade SS190 rounds had unbelievable penetrating power, and, because of their small size, twenty could be loaded into a comfortable grip magazine. He left it for the moment."

"Linda's angle was all wrong to hit the gunman, so as the window lowered she thrust her upper body out of the truck, bracing herself by gripping the big side mirror with her left hand. She then fired. She was cycling the trigger so fast the distinctive whip-crack of the Five-seveN sounded like a string of firecrackers."

"It's just plain common sense that this weapon [the FN Five-seven] poses a great threat."

"[...] He immediately crossed to the other side of the road placing as little weight as possible on his left leg. His hand reached for his fanny pack. Inside was a FN Five Seven pistol. The weapon carried twenty 5.7 x 28mm armor-piercing rounds. Rapp unzipped the fanny pack and kept his left hand near the opening. Every move was second nature, done almost completely without thought. [...]"

"The Five-seveN® is an autoloading, single-action pistol which stands for the highest level of reliability, consistent performance and functional design and which provides the operating precision and safety expected from a sporting handgun."

""Check this out," his partner said. "It's an FN Five-seven. Don't see these every day." "Good thing, too," Ric said. The gun was nicknamed the "cop killer" because of its ability to penetrate Kevlar. Black passed the pistol to Ric. He admired the olive drab finish, the tightly checkered grip, the tactical light beneath the barrel. Ric had never seen one of these up close, but he knew a lot of SWAT guys who liked them. "Nice," Ric said, although everyone in the room knew that was a gross understatement. He handed back the weapon."

"[...] At the entrance to the alleyway Ozols glanced over his shoulder, an amateurish move, too obvious to trip up a shadow, too quick to register one if he did. In Victor's experience people often paid more attention to what could be behind them, instead of what lay ahead. Ozols didn't see the man standing in the shadows just a few yards away. The man who was there to kill him. Victor waited until Ozols had passed out of the light before squeezing the trigger with smooth, even pressure. Suppressed gunshots interrupted the early morning stillness. Ozols was hit in the sternum, twice in rapid succession. The bullets were low powered, subsonic 5.7 mm, but larger rounds could have been no more fatal. Copper-encased lead tore through skin, bone, and heart before lodging side by side between vertebrae. Ozols collapsed backward, hitting the ground with a dull thud, arms outstretched, head rolling to one side. Victor melted out of the darkness and took a measured step forward. He angled the FN Five-seveN and put a bullet through Ozols's temple. He was already dead, but in Victor's opinion there was no such thing as overkill. The expended cartridge clinked on the paving stones and came to rest in a puddle shimmering with sodium-orange light. A quiet whistling from the twin bullet holes in Ozols's chest was the only other sound. Air was escaping from the still-inflated lungs—the last breath he never had a chance to release."

"[...] He had the pathologist's report in hand. He glanced over the details to where it described the bullet wounds. There were two more to the chest. He gestured. "Show me." The mortician looked around nervously before carefully gripping the white stain-proof sheet. He folded it backward from the body's neck to reveal the torso. Alvarez examined the two neat holes in the sternum. "They look small caliber to me. Twenty-twos?" "No," the mortician answered. "All three wounds. Two to the chest, one to the head. 5.7 mm rounds." "Interesting." Alvarez leaned forward for a closer look. "What kind of range are we looking at?" "No powder burns so it wasn't point blank, other than that I can't tell you. Listen, I'm just an assistant here. I'm not a ballistics expert. I... I don't know very much." No shit, Alvarez thought. He considered for a moment. That the rounds were 5.7 mm meant an FN Five-seveN, one of the world's slickest and most expensive handguns. He pictured the scene in his head. Double-tap to the heart, then, as the victim was prone, head to one side, the killer put one extra through the frontal lobe. Not taking any chances. Alvarez was no stranger to professional killings, and this execution was about as professional as they came. He blinked the image away."

"Lieutenant Ben Harp: We just got another shooting. Detective Neil McKay: Where? Harp: Out by Frankfort; weird thing is, it looks like it ties into O'Bannon. McKay: Oh yeah? How so? Harp: Ballistics matched the slugs we took out of O'Bannon and his bodyguards. [Glancing down at his papers] We've ID'd them as something called a 5.7-millimeter. McKay: [Hesitating] Really? Harp: You know something? McKay: The Five-seven's only been on the market a few years. It's nasty shit: super accurate, screamin' hot velocity, the kind of stuff you find on the battlefield, not in your backyard. Harp: [Shaking head] That's just great."

"Douglas had been sitting quietly on a thick branch with his legs bent and his back propped up against the massive trunk of the old tree. He was not carrying his M40 high-powered sniper rifle. Today's mission was to observe, not to kill. But he had decided to pack his FN Five-seveN, just in case. He would feel naked without a firearm, and he loved that gun. It held twenty rounds and, with a weight of not quite eight hundred grams, was extremely light, comfortable to carry, and easily concealed."

"[...] The two guards, now blocking my exit, are firing their weapons indiscriminately, hoping to land a lucky shot. I have no choice but to act offensively. I duck behind a table, draw my Five-seveN and release the safety. It's the Fabrique Nationale Herstal tactical model with a single-action trigger and a twenty-round magazine that holds 5.7x28mm ss190 ammunition. The rounds offer good penetration against modern body armor while keeping the weapon's weight, dimensions, and recoil at reasonable levels. The damage the rounds do to unarmored bodies is something to behold. It's a weapon I don't like to use in full-scale firefights, though. It has a fairly limited range, so I mostly use it in situations where I know I'll have the advantage. Like this one."

"Two guards armed with Fabrique Nationale Herstal P-90 submachine guns stood at the entrance beyond the helipad, their presence negating any possibility of unauthorized access. Bolan hadn't expected to waltz through the laboratory's front door, but he wanted to view it nevertheless. He took the opportunity to examine his opponents' hardware. In addition to their submachine guns, the sentries wore shoulder holsters carrying FN Five-seveNs. Weighing a mere 1.6 pounds, the Belgium-made pistol used the same 5.7 mm ammunition as the P-90, fed from a clip holding 20 rounds. Although the lightweight handguns lacked the punch that a 9 mm Glock or a Smith & Wesson .45 might deliver, its bullets were available in a version with steel-hardened tips that penetrated Kevlar, making them the ideal choice when anticipating an assault by law-enforcement personnel."

"Wang pulled a pistol out from under his jacket. "You know what this is? Boland eyed the large, uniformly gray, space-gun-looking Belgian weapon. "FN Five-seveN." "No, it's a mata policias." "Cop killer." Wang nodded. "Every Mexican criminal wants one of these. [...]""

"Bolan's AKMS assault rifle came equipped with a stubby GP-25 40 mm under-the-barrel grenade launcher, and he carried a variety of munitions to feed it. His 75-round drum magazine gave him extended firepower for the Kalashnikov, backed up for closer work by a Belgian FN Five-seveN semiauto pistol, chambered for the high-powered 5.7 mm cartridge tailored for long range and superior penetration, with a 20-round box magazine and no external safety. [...]"

"Bolan set his AKMS rifle on the stony ground and drew his FN Five-seveN pistol. One of his cargo pockets gave up a six-inch suppressor, threaded to fit the weapon's muzzle. Once he had it snug in place, Bolan duck-walked around Gorshani, toward the right side of the boulder that concealed them from the lookout. It took a minute, but he found the vantage point that he was looking for. Water and wind had worn the boulder smooth, and some calamity in bygone aeons had chiseled a round corner off the stone, tumbling its pieces down to form a series of natural steps. Bolan mounted that rude staircase, testing each step before committing his weight, and soon reached a point where he could observe the guard without being seen. Thirty feet was close to point-blank range for the Five-seveN's high-powered 5.7 mm cartridge. All Bolan had to do was aim and fire. He aimed. He fired."

"The backyard guards were easy. Bolan found them smoking on a patio behind Bahaar Jadoon's house, underneath a yellow light designed to ward off flying insects. Trusting in the light to spoil their night vision, he cut the chain-link fence instead of scaling it—less noise—and tied the flap open with twists of wire to make it simpler for Gorshani, bringing up the rear. When he was thirty feet from contact, still outside the pool of yellow light that bathed the patio, he drew the black Five-seveN pistol. Even with its fully loaded magazine, the gun weighed barely a pound and a half, thanks in equal part to its plastic grip and the fact that its twenty 5.7 mm rounds weighed only half as much as standard 9 mm Parabellum cartridges. Recoil was likewise reduced from the typical niner, despite the 5.7 mm's powder load, which enabled the bullets to penetrate Kevlar. Also, like the military M-16 projectiles, they were designed for maximum internal damage without a hollow point round's expansion or the explosive fragmentation of a frangible bullet."

"Olson and Kahler stood there while I went through my head process. Olson knows me well enough to let me go and Kahler demonstrated a level of experience that showed he'd been through this with investigators before. Sometimes you've just gotta let the processing happen. "Okay—I've been thinking that this must have been done with a little .22 handgun. If that were the case, you should have found the bullet in the remains, or under the body. You didn't, so it must have been something a little bigger than a .22—maybe a 5.7. That might get a through-and-through at close range." The FNH—Five-seveN—was a relatively new gun that had developed a devoted following. Reportedly being used now by the U.S. Secret Service, it is a super lightweight handgun that shoots a 5.7mm round that looks a lot like a rifle round with its stepped neck cartridge. But its popularity with law enforcement is largely due to the fact that the bullet is a tumbler and not a penetrator. That means that it won't go through people and hit other things you don't want to hit—that, and the 20-round magazine. [...]"

"Nobody uses something like this [FN Five-seven] to hunt. Nobody uses something like this for self defense. There's no reason it should be on our streets."

"Joey loved firearms. He adored the feel, the smell, the added weight a gun lent to his hand. His current preoccupation was the new Five seveN pistol, a twenty-round Fabrique Nationale offering that chambered the miniscule 5.7-millimeter round. He was busily polishing its Glock-ish contours when Merendino called."

"[...] Anyone who might think of attacking them would also probably recognize that they were armed. She smiled slightly; all three of them actually had valid concealed-carry permits for the Belgian FiveseveN specials under their jackets. Although not for the P90 machine pistols in the attaché cases, and some of the stuff in the vehicle would be right out of it. Semtex, timers, detonators, cans of gasoline and thermite bombs, for example. Even if the invoice reads "Cleaning supplies" back at HQ."

""To hell with that, Jim," she said. "I'm the Bad Girl of the Rolfes, remember? I'll ride in with you, and we can have the chopper pick the birds up, bring them back here, load the rest and be back at the Gate before sunset." He hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "All right," he said. "Never could stand to be left out of the boys' games, eh?" She shrugged. "I'm not Little Miss Cindy Lou Magnoliablossom," she said dryly, patting the FN FiveseveN automatic holstered high on her right hip."

""I'm Hawkins," he said. He was a burly man, in his mid to late twenties, with the curly reddish-blond hair and the broad, open face of a Welsh farm boy. His fatigues had no insignia, but his right hand twitched as he suppressed the urge to salute. John noticed that, too. He waited until we were out of earshot, carrying our cases of delicate electronic equipment to the van, then murmured: "Who dares, wins." I nodded, recognizing the SAS motto, agreeing with John's assessment, wondering who owed Mac a favor. "I'll lay odds he's carrying a new five-seven in that underarm holster," John continued. "I suppose it would be cheeky to ask to see it." FN Herstal's 5-7, touted as one of the most powerful handguns in the world, was capable of penetrating forty-eight layers of laminated Kevlar armor at a range of two hundred meters. The handgun was lightweight, with virtually no recoil. An effective weapon when confronting terrorists wearing body armor. An effective weapon when confronting a cop wearing body armor. The thought came out of nowhere, brought with it a chill that had nothing to do with the outside temperature. The 5-7, so new to government organizations in the UK, was already sold illegally on the streets of the United States. Too easy to imagine the face of a particular police officer who could be threatened by that gun."

"It has been acquired by myriad special police groups, but in the military it is used by Belgian pilots, Cyprus special forces, Mexico, Nepal and Spain. This is quite a feat as it has always been a difficult task to launch a new calibre on the military market, especially for handguns."

"[T]he Five-seveN might not be the best choice for an inside-the-house gun. For farm or ranch, though, it would be fine. Obviously, it’s perfect for law enforcement. In fact, it is the primary sidearm for quite a number of SWAT units. A final assessment, yes, it’s a little weird…but it’s a nice weird. I like it."

"Leopold II was able to push through his imperial wish and obtained that the fate of what would then be called the Congo Free State was linked to his own. He gave Congo its shape and dimensions, as well as a financial-capitalist structure. However, the debt burden that had become too heavy meant that the king handed over his colony to Belgium, a gift that the parliament was hesitant about but did not dare to refuse."

"This part of the State, that is to say the east of the Congo, is inhabited by happy blacks who often and without bringing them there, compared before me the happy present with the misery and the terror of when the Arabs had established themselves as slave traders in the region."

"The Tambatamba, Bokusu, Batetela, and other followers of Arab families are congregated at Stanley Falls on both banks as far down as'La Romee. These two latter tribes live in large mud wall houses, detached, with yards or courts. They are both farmers and stock breeders. The former are clean, clothed, and polite, while the latter are like the Arabs, superior in appearance, dress, and manners in fact, the aristocracy of the land. Their fields are tilled by women and dependents and slaves. They are not true Arabs, though there are a few of these too among them. In all things except religion the Tambatambas follow their Arab conquerors of earlier days, but of religion they have only the superstitions without the bonds, rules, or system of worship of the Mahommedans."

"The Belgians were there to educate the negroes, for the agriculture, for everything. But missionaries are also to blame; It's their fault there are so many children there. Condoms didn't exist either, but the women put the pill in their guy's soup."

"They always smile, even in the face of adversity. They are enthusiastic people who are affectionate."

"One of the consequences of the Second World War was the collapse of the colonial system. All the old colonies, often under pressure, obtained the recognition of their independence. Belgium also granted autonomy to Congo."

"Although the celebration on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Belgian colony did not occupy the motherland for long, the significance of 50 years of Belgium in Africa can hardly be overestimated. It means that for half a century the black tribes have not been able to kill each other, however much they would like to do it today. It means they are no longer starving to death, rotting away from syphilis or dying from sleeping sickness. It means that schools, dispensaries, bridges, harbors were everywhere, in short, the beginning of the infrastructure of a modern state. It means that the grandsons of the losers, who were sold on the slave market by Tippo Tip and his Arabs, are now studying at university, Roman bishop, judge, journalist and mayor, and tomorrow doctor, lawyer and engineer."

"It is clear that the white man did not only come to the Congo out of sheer philanthropy. Large companies settled there to earn a lot of money. But that capitalism immediately realized grandiose social works, from which hundreds of thousands of blacks now profit. Native friends in Leo and elsewhere agree that the balance for the black is not completely in deficit, but, they added, the time has now come for us to hand over the helm."

"Who sees his life's work in jeopardy before it stands on solid ground. While Minister Buisseret and Governor-General Pétillon endear themselves to the blacks by expressing themselves energetically in this sense, the best of the whites argue that the Congo is far from ripe for independence, moreover they believe that a too strong emphasis on the emancipation policy will deter the white element, which is still so desperately needed, to such an extent that it will inhibit and damage further evolution. Ultimately to the detriment of the short-sighted, hot-headed blacks themselves."

"Belgium has partially failed in its role as guardian. While the French and British took their duty to safely channel the urge for independence that arose after the Second World War, we remained passive. Hence the not entirely unfounded doubt and fear of letting the pupil walk on his own two feet now. A Congolese nation never existed. Once upon a time there was an old kingdom of Congo, but the borders of that negro kingdom did not coincide with those of “our” Congo. The whites have done little or nothing, beyond the strong tribal consciousness, to create a general Congolese mentality, a Congolese sense of nationality. What we still call Belgian Africa today is a construction of the whites, a conglomerate of very different areas and peoples, put together as it was customary in the days of the colonial touts around the green conference tables of Wiesbaden and Berlin."

"In 1885, the whole of Africa was colonized or placed under trusteeship, but Congo climbed to the podium of the three existing sovereign countries. The borders that have been, since 1894, the crucible of Congolese identity were acquired, by treaty, by Leopold II. Thus, Congo has absolutely no debt to Belgium for its international existence. Later, it was through a bilateral treaty, between two sovereign states, regularly ratified, that the Kingdom of Belgium became the metropolis of the Belgian Congo (1908-1960). The little-known truth is that in 1960, Belgium did not grant Congolese independence, but it returned it."

"Belgium should become the capital of the Belgian Empire, which, with the help of God, will consist of Borneo, islands in the Pacific, some places in Africa and America, and also areas of China and Japan. I am the only one pursuing this for now, but by over-exposing the national fever, I will find support and create apostles."

"A few years ago, these two authors produced a stimulating essay on the state of the art and the future perspectives of colonial historiography in Belgium, introducing a special issue of the Belgian review of contemporary history, consisting of several articles on Belgian colonial history. This is certainly the symptom of the fact that something is indeed changing in the Belgian historical world. But in comparison to other former imperial countries, Belgian colonial historiography is lagging behind. The heavy institutional and political weight attached to the Leopoldian heritage had something to do with this. Much remains to be done, but luckily, new perspectives and approaches (anthropology, cultural studies) undoubtedly will fertilize historical work on colonial Congo. The new generation of Belgian historians has never known colonialism. They do not want to “prove” anything and do not have any special feelings of guilt, nostalgia or justification towards what happened in the Congo under Belgian rule. In their eyes, there is only one thing left in eulogy and in national pride: these old fetters, which have influenced so deeply the beginnings of colonial historiography, have themselves become objects of scientific enquiry. Understanding and explaining colonialism, a complex phenomenon of societal contact: this is the huge task that lays ahead. If their new approach and the resulting new insights percolate through to public opinion, politicians and school children, these historians will not have wasted their time. If Vanthemsche is right, than perhaps we will be better able to know how long and fateful the shadow of Leopold I influenced Leopold II and Belgian colonialism."

"As early as 1855, the thought of the Duke of Brabant (Leopold II) seemed to be fixed on the subject of the initial form that any expansionist or Belgian colonial attempt must take: that of an international commercial company."

"His Majesty has long been imbued with the immense utility which would result for Belgium from the possession of some commercial establishment outside her territory, outside the European continent. This thought constantly preoccupied the King."

"Should it not, this essentially producing country, search all parts of the globe and seek to fight with other nations, by exploring in advance the countries likely to favor industries, by studying local needs and resources, by indicating the nature and time of the shipments to be made, etc.?"

"The best way to create opportunities is to send, from time to time, expeditions to countries with which there is a chance to establish commercial relations."

"The economic crisis which weighs on Europe since the industry took such a big development, carries the nations towards the colonial companies. Belgium could not remain a stranger to this movement without seriously compromising its material interests; our King (Leopold II) understood this, and this is what determined him to substitute his individual initiative for the persistent inaction of the government and the nation."

"One of the most industrialized countries in the world throughout the nineteenth century, Belgium needed the global market to export the products of its industry. Unlike most Western nations, and despite the ambitions of King Leopold II who, in a personal capacity, rushed into the colonization of Congo Free State, Belgium did not carve out a colonial empire for itself through military expeditions and “politics of the gunboat.” Based on capital, knowledge and engineering, Belgian imperialism was peaceful, such as the various universal and international expositions organized in Brussels, Antwerp, Liège and Ghent."

"Belgium had no prior history in the slave trade, nor of African slaves. Léopold could fight against slavery without any hint of hypocrisy, even of the ahistorical type advanced by Hochschild. And it was slavery, not rubber operations, that contemporary observers viewed as the biggest threat to the people of the Congo."

"The result of all these considerations is that the Government of Belgium has no interest in favoring the emigration of Belgian families to Texas, whether it be to produce more ample resources to them or to obey the instincts of the few rare ones who crave for adventurous undertakings."

"Mexico entered the controversy by pointing out that she was about to liberalize her trade relations with Belgium, but would not do so if Belgium persisted in her dealings with Texas."

"Belgium, in the Texas affair, does not have all the liberty of action she desires. Considerations such as the pending negotiations with the Mexican and American Governments dictate the avoidance of potential evils… abandoning any measures with Texas completely."

"Although Pirson’s mission to Texas was not apparently known in Guatemala, the lesson of the Texas Rebellion was fresh on the minds of the opponents of the Belgian grant. “What was Texas when it began,” they asked. “and what is it today? Was it not a colony formed under the same illusions, with the same hopes, and with the same desire of accelerating time that has moved us in the approval of the contract with the Belgian company? And is it not today the cancer, the opprobrium, and the crowning evil that afflicts Mexico? Who assures us that our colony will not be for Guatemala what Texas has been for Mexico?”"

"It is interesting to note however, that Leopold’s penchant for secrecy was also evident in the Texas project. Pirson was under strict orders not to reveal anything about his mission other than that he was sent to Texas to study the potential commercial and economic advantages of trade between the two countries. There was to be no mention of the colonial or loan aspects of his mission. “…(your ) mission must maintain a confidential character as much as possible…"

"Constitutional government, especially in a small country, takes a great deal of time, and causes sight to be lost of the questions, which lone can secure to the country a political future. I have many a time that I saw you feeling more and more interest therein, and I am very anxious that it should be so, for it is time to be seriously occupied with those questions; otherwise Belgium will find herself at the tail of all other countries. I have heard that an association of German princes is actively occupied in an attempt at colonization in Texas…"

"Because of the general fear that foreign colonists would ultimately wish to establish their independence on the pattern of Texas, the government insisted that all immigrant settlers in the future abjure the protection of their home governments and become Guatemalan citizens."

"Santo Tomas was based on emigration and was therefore bound to fail, Belgians do not emigrate."

"There is some disagreement as to the actual number of colonists that settled in Santo Tomas. This is partly due to the ships’ manifest listing families as opposed to individuals. The population of the settlements is often given without differentiating between Belgians and Guatemalans."

"For the present time, I see only certain ruin for the settler; for the European who is not used and cannot get used to living like the natives, animal life is very expensive. 'He also insisted on the scarcity of cash and the resulting difficulty for traders who did not failed to get paid. The Belgians could sell Linen, sheets and cottons in Central America provided that they were manufactured in such a way as to withstand the English competition as much by their lightness and their smoothness as by their good."

"He concluded that the Verapaz, despite its fertility, did not present a good or secure future for colonization. The District of Santo Tomas, on the other hand, offered the same agricultural advantages as the interior province as well as additional advantages for commerce. He opined that a Belgian colony at Santo Tomas could avoid the mismanagement and disaster which had befallen the English at Abbottsville."

"The temperature is hot, but the country is healthy. Europeans can easily acclimatize there, live well there, and maintain their activity."

"Any family of settlers, he wrote, on arriving in Santo-Tomas, must find their home and their plantations. Men who leave their homeland to go and work in a foreign land always create more or less illusions for themselves; some precautions that we take to protect them against this tendency, some warnings that we give them, we cannot prevent them from imagining an Eldorado, at least one country where without great difficulty we find the comfort we enjoy in Europe."

"Disappointed expectations, naturally follow-up of nostalgia, the rigor of the old direction, the excessive and forced work, the military exercises right in the sun during the intended hours to rest and factions during the humid nights without the least shelter against rains, the bad food regime, the discouragement, the moral constraint, the deprivation during a certain emergency time of the religion, the total absence of distractions, the bad choice of a big number of colonists under the report of health and the constitution (imagine that one sends into a newly established colony, where the question of the healthiness is not entirely resolute, of families, of people reaches of the caries, idiots, the rickety, the lame, blinds, asthmatics and dunces?), the clutter and the humidity of homes, the big heats to which the most was not accustomed, the long and extraordinary rains, the stagnant puddles due to the defect of out-flow, different natural poisonous fumes that result from it, the poor state of roofing, the dirtiness, as much inside as outside, poverty and finally, in excesses of drink and food."

"Behr's (special diplomatic agent to Guatemala Baron de Behr) general impression of the colony was devastating. He wrote Brouckére (Belgian Foreign Minister) that the Belgian government had been ignobly deceived and misled by all reports. The colony was only a miserable village whose inhabitants lived for the most part from fishing. The actions of the Company agents had generated disgust everywhere and had disgraced the name of Belgium. All of the public works—roads, wharves, canals, municipal buildings were a mere fiction. The Company had squandered 3,200,000 francs without a trace. Any money put up by the Belgian government would disappear in the same fashion. The stocks backed by land lots in portfolio which the Company offered as guarantee against monies borrowed, were, in Behr's opinion, worthless. He thought that the Company courted Belgian government intervention in a speculator's venture which had miscarried."

"At the time when the government intervened in the Guatemalan affair, the European colonies were closed to Belgian trade by prohibitive laws or high differential duties ... We therefore had to think about creating our own bases of operations for trade. national. From this point of view, we can only applaud the idea of ​​forming a Belgian colony on the vast American continent. Since this initiative, which our lack of initiative and perseverance alone failed, the situation has changed completely. Under the impetus of the great economic reform, led by the illustrious Robert Peel, ideas about free trade have gained ground in Europe, and the time may not be far off when all the powers will remove the barriers with which they have surrounded their transatlantic possessions. Therefore, the need to create agricultural colonies to promote the development of trade and national industry will no longer exist to the same degree."

"First plan, the mineral and commercial exploitation and, only in the second plan, the establishment of an agricultural colony alongside the Itajaí Grande."

"The grant from the Brazilian government specified a 6,000,000 francs capitalization which the company never was able to raise."

"Santa Catarina is established under the patronage of his majesty king of the Belgians and the strong protection of his majesty the emperor of Brazil."

"If some colonies are still available, someone will populate them. I am sure that these colonists, although isolated, will thank your majesty. They will find some Belgians among them who work hard and persevere to advance the country despite the fact that distance to the market place reduces of their harvest the value by half."

"If life in Europe was difficult because of the various conflicts and poverty faced by European families, life in the Brazilian interior was anything but easy in the early decades of colonization, given the climatic conditions, the wildlife and the many snakes."

"Philippe Fontaine burned all the colonial correspondence and all documents in 1847. Subsequently, the area was hit by floods several times, including in 1911. The church, built in 1845 by Van Lede, was spared. But she did not survive the next flood of 1925 and was completely destroyed. There are few visible traces. In this part of Brazil, the Belgians belong to the past but have not been forgotten. The adventures of Charles Van Lede and the Belgian-Brazilian Society for Colonization are still well known. The opening sentence of the advertising brochure of the town of Ilhota refers to the Belgian roots. Some street names have Belgian names and it was even the intention to establish a Belgian museum. Here too, the descendants of the Belgian settlers are the most important remains! They proudly use their typical Belgian surnames, such as Maes, De Gand or Castellain. In this way it remains a hard-to-erasable legacy of the Belgian-Brazilian adventure of the XIXth century, which is automatically passed on from generation to generation."

"The Belgian Ludgero José Nelis has committed himself to founding a small colony of his compatriots in the province of Rio de Janeiro, the main purpose of which is the cultivation of flax, cannabis and oil plants, as well as livestock; to then set up industrial production for the raw materials produced here. For the establishment of the colony, the entrepreneur received the necessary land from the President of the Province, and the Imperial Government provided his company with assistance by the constant manner of conditions approved by Decree of June 6 of last year​."

"In November 1887, the government bought land in the municipality of Porto Feliz with an area of 1,601 hectares, to allocate it to this settlement, at a cost of 23,000$000. According to the contract of November 18, 1887 by the government with Father João Baptista Vanesse, this land is intended for the housing of Belgian immigrants, whom the priest will recruit. The government commits itself to demarcate the land in lots of 25 to 30 hectares, as well as to carry out other works such as the construction of a building for divine worship, a school, temporary housing for the settlers, restoration of the existing residence for the residence of the director and Vanesse priest, and the construction of the necessary roads and paths."

"The Ministry of Agriculture has ordered the Treasury to make the following payments, effective May 1. to the priest João Baptista Vanesse, a monthly bonus of two hundred thousand journeys."

"The twenty-five original families were chosen in their homeland by the priest Jean Baptiste Vanesse, who signed a contract with the Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil. This priest has been criticized from the very beginning, leaving him largely to blame for the colony's failure. He is accused of being authoritarian, despotic and drinking way too much. It is a fact that most of the settlers had a background in their homeland in the service sector, trade or industry, and had little affinity with agricultural activities. They were unfamiliar with the Brazilian weather, the jungle that surrounded the colony, and the hard work of felling reeds. Most returned to Belgium. A few families remained active in the region in mixed farming, animal husbandry and the production of brandies."

"We left Congo with my family after independence, in 1960”. We returned to Belgium for a few months before choosing to come here to Brazil in 1962. We came to work in agriculture, as in Congo. We were used to doing this. That was no longer possible in Belgium."

"The country was bought by Belgium to settle the Belgians returning from Congo at the time of independence"

"I was born in Charleroi. I had lived with my parents in Congo for 8 years. At independence we lost everything and returned to Belgium. It was then that the Belgian government proposed to come to Brazil to start our lives over. Because we had lost everything in Congo, Belgium wanted to buy itself out."

"We called the first avenue of wooden houses where the first Belgians who arrived here lived 'Avenue Louise'. After that, the cooperative made other houses in other streets for those who came after. There was also a shop, bakery, post office and a single telephone with a single number"

"Little by little the village of Monte Alegre grew. In the 60s and 70s we built a gas station, a well, an infirmary, two schools and a meeting room where we celebrated Saint Nicholas or the National Day of Belgium on July 21. We also set up a dairy farm called: BELCO for "Belgium-Congo"."

"This Belgian company made the first pasteurized milk packed in plastic bags in all of Brazil. They also made cheese and butter here before the dairy became a brewery. In the 1980s, the company Cervejaria BELCO produced massive beer while it was still brewed by Belgians. Today the brand has been bought out, but it still exists and BELCO beers are still sold in stores in the state of Sao Paulo."

"When we arrived it was a culture shock. Not because we were Belgians, but because we were Congolese. We were used to the situation in Congo. In Congo, the Belgians were the big masters. And here in Brazil, despite the attention we've attracted... we weren't the big masters. I think that was the biggest shock. Our arrival here was quite an event”"

"When I was in university, there were young people who said to me: 'You come to eat the bread of the Brazilians'”, I had to explain that we got credits from Belgium, that the school was paid for by Belgium, and that one day we have to pay this back, neither the Brazilian government nor the municipality here has intervened financially."

"I adapted very quickly. I immediately started learning Portuguese in the wooden school in Monte Alegre, built by the Belgians. The Brazilian teacher had come directly from the city of Botucatu for this. It was more difficult for our parents to learn Portuguese. Often we, the children, were the interpreters for our parents when they had to communicate with the Brazilians. In Congo we arrived in our country, it was Belgium. here not at all. And the customs were very different also. We had to integrate. We got to know the local customs and the Brazilians wanted to know ours too."

"The land was worth nothing, it was sand. The land here is badly bought. Much of it was difficult to cultivate and there was disappointment. For example, my father left the fazenda to work in a factory in Itapetininga."

"After a few years, the financial aid stopped. Some cooperatives have bought back their land. Others bought it and then sold it before leaving the place. Of the approximately 130 Belgian families who had settled in Monte Alegre, only a handful of houses still have descendants. The others have rebuilt their lives in Belgium or elsewhere in Brazil."

"The need was developing for oil for industrial machinery, but there was a very heavy trade imbalance in favor of the Rio Nunez."

"The area was a strip of land along both sides of Rio Nunez from the coast and included the two small towns of Victoria and Rapass, also spelled Ropass."

"Our operations will be aimed at principal orders and consignments, we shall give all our care there. The creation of new networks of important plants on both continents."

"The Foulahs come from the high mountains of the interior of the country where the big rivers, Senegal, Gambia, have their source. Those are the most beautiful Negros that one meets on the coast. They are reddish brown, have many Arabic features and resemble them by the shape the shape of the skull and the development of their intelligence. They are superior to all Negro types. One would be able to call them the Indians of Africa, as one gives the name Indians to the Redskins of America."

"All the most disadvantageous conditions one might think of can be found together in the land adjacent to the Rio Nunez. This is especially so in the area around Debocca, where the bed of the river, narrow and snaky, is densely compacted between two very heavily wooded banks which comprise an insurmountable barrier to the gentle winds of the open sea…It is this that causes a rejection of any idea to undertake at some point on this coast, the formation by Europeans of an agricultural colonization center. Attempts that one would make towards this goal would only serve to condemn some poor wretches sent to this inhospitable place to an unavoidable death. The formation of a commercial establishment would be far from presenting the same dangers and would be able to have some chances of success. The rivers of the Rio Nunez by virtue of the importance and the variety of their products, by the easiness of communications that they offer with the central market of Africa, with the different points of the coast, could become for Belgium a source of income as well as an important outlet. But again, in this case the care of the maintenance of those of our nation that agreed to go into this fatal climate to serve as pioneers to Belgian trade, would call for all the government's concern. We take for granted the proposition that Belgium judges it appropriate to establish in the Rio Nunez either a commercial counter or military stations. In both cases, it would be good not to send to occupy and especially to found these establishments anything but the absolutely minimum necessary number of Belgians. The first work to clear the area could be performed by natives under the direction of some capable men, appointed to this position by the government. Would one not also be able to use for rest of the work, which Blacks would be unfit, some of the numerous convicts that clutter our prisons? If the government judged it necessary to protect our trade on the river by the establishment of military posts, it would be easy to recruit among the natives, of the islands of Cape Vert, the necessary soldiers to form the garrison of these posts. This method of recruiting would have the double advantage of procuring for us men already acclimated to the climate and sparing the health of our nationals. It would be sufficient of put at the head of these posts a small number of Belgians to maintain our influence on the river. In general, men of a weak constitution should be separated out. Those that one would send into the Rio Nunez…"

"Mistrust of the foreigner is still at the bottom of the minds of the Chinese. One way if not to destroy, at least to mitigate these prejudices, would be to put the study committee under a neutral banner. The committee would be made up of capitalists and industrialists eager to prepare for the success of lucrative enterprises or of politicians willing to serve the cause of civilization with their help."

"I'm still working, but we have to start by putting forward a diplomatic arrangement. This point obtained, we would have a good chance of success. For the moment, the Belgian shipping word in China should not be used at any price."

"The civil ministers, supported by the main newspapers of the country, were of the opinion that it was difficult to reconcile with the international statute of neutrality which was that of Belgium."

"Although China attracted Belgian investors and missionaries from the 1860s, it is especially after 1900 that major investments began to take place in various industrial, financial and commercial sectors, such as banking, railways, metallurgy and real estate. The most famous companies were the Banque sino-belge, the Compagnie financière belgo-chinoise, the Société belge d’entreprise en Chine, the Compagnie générale des chemins de fer en Chine and the cfeo. The Beijing-Hankou (present Wuhan) railway line, the mines of Lincheng, the trams of Tientsin and the steel mills of Hanyang were among the most successful results of the Belgian “informal empire.”"

"For three or four Chinese coppers, I could ride in a rickshaw from my home, in England, to Italy, Germany, Japan, or Belgium. I walked to France for violin lessons; I had to cross the river to get to Russia, and often did, because the Russians had a beautiful wooded park with a lake in it."

"Mr. Devaux said His Majesty had repeatedly spoken to him on the subject and he himself looked upon the project as undesirable and unpractical and had stated that opinion very frankly to the King. It was with great satisfaction he found that it coincided with the views expressed in Your Lordship’s letters, the arguments in which were so convincing and unanswerable that he was certain they would put an end to the scheme at once."

"Everything you say about Tonkin is very fair. This one is a dangerous toy."

"The King decreases his alms. All of this. All the money saved goes to Africa. What will it be like when you have conquered Tonkin?"

"Beyens for Tonkin, certainly did not encourage him, he just obeyed."

"Did he believe in Tonkin, and in the advantages it could offer for Belgium? It is permissible to doubt it, and even to believe the contrary."

"The Philippines was the gateway to China and Japan! No one would allow a great Power to come and settle there."

"The stay in Madrid having made me lose the few illusions I still had about the Philippines affair, I asked and already obtained, several months ago, permission to no longer deal with it and since then, I had never heard of it again."

"But it would not be reckless to say that from the start the King dreamed of founding a Belgian colony. Many times I have heard him say, when the Independent State emerged from its swaddling clothes like a newborn baby trying to walk: "I work there for Belgium"."

"This part of the State, that is to say the east of the Congo, is inhabited by happy blacks who often and without bringing them there, compared before me the happy present with the misery and the terror of when the Arabs had established themselves as slave traders in the region."

"The Tambatamba, Bokusu, Batetela, and other followers of Arab families are congregated at Stanley Falls on both banks as far down as'La Romee. These two latter tribes live in large mud wall houses, detached, with yards or courts. They are both farmers and stock breeders. The former are clean, clothed, and polite, while the latter are like the Arabs, superior in appearance, dress, and manners in fact, the aristocracy of the land. Their fields are tilled by women and dependents and slaves. They are not true Arabs, though there are a few of these too among them. In all things except religion the Tambatambas follow their Arab conquerors of earlier days, but of religion they have only the superstitions without the bonds, rules, or system of worship of the Mahommedans."

"Having a proper sense of her duty, and the means to carry it out, Belgium has mapped out her own course, and intends to keep to it. It entails a policy of humanity and progress. To a nation whos only aim is justice, the mission of colonization can only be a mission of high civilization: a small nation proves it greatness by carrying it out faithfully. Belgium has kept her word."

"Brilliant reception at the station. Children are tidied up as soon as they enter the mission grounds. There is perfect order. The mission makes a big impression."

"The reception was enthusiastic and brilliant. The city appears largely mapped out, too bad there are so many ugly buildings that make it look like a city in the American Far West."

"A real city, well laid out, with pretty houses, 1500 whites, it makes an excellent impression, better than Elisabethville. Here they are serious people, harnessed to a grandiose enterprise."

"Visit of the incomparable and impressive installations of Union Minière. We go up the hill. The sight is prestigious: the station, one of the most important in Africa, the buildings, the Europeans with the houses surrounded by gardens, the vast chessboard of the native city. The Negro workers that we see do not look unhappy, they are in good health."

"The chief comes to greet us, he is a handsome Baluba negro, dressed as a European with a white helmet; shame."

"What a beautiful breed these Wagenias and how friendly."

"I am struck that quite a few black workers do not greet us and watch us pass by with folded arms. There are dances in the evening, not very lively. We feel that the strain of hard woodworking weighs on the morale of the natives."

"The companies are complaining, but they have not done what is necessary to retain their workforce. They have relied too much on the obligation that the administration placed on the population."

"The negro workers are still unaware of the force that can give them union organization; happy industrialists."

"It is indisputable that the blacks have benefited from certain benefits of civilization."

"In short, there is a great deal of stagnation among the settlers and the medium-sized enterprises. The native there is often mistreated, exploited and has no medical care. In the Menteau farm, we observed a considerable number of varicose ulcers, which hardly exists at UM and La Forminière. There is no dispensary on this farm. The small settler can succeed in the Congo, one can doubt it, he lives by the exploitation of the native whom he makes work like a convict and moreover, he takes back his meager salary by selling him bad goods. The settler is often doubled as a trafficker, they complement each other, the system truck. Besides, the whole colonial edifice rests on the negro's shoulders. He alone is the source of profit, thanks to the excessive exploitation of which he is the object. In a colony, where there are few transport routes, where those that exist demand exorbitant prices, where there is little or no mechanical handling, no workhorse, only the degradation of the workforce - work can maintain the commercial level of the cost price. Large companies have the merit, through their tools, their medical assistance, their works of providing more treatment and of not wasting manpower."

"In view of the rapid changes taking place in the world today, it seemed to me desirable to preserve in picture and sound some reflection of the surviving vestiges of the ancient life of the Congo, there is a communion between the man of the forest and his natural surroundings which inspires us in a sense of respect a recognition of spiritual heritage, I thank all those who have helped me to achieve this task which combines beauty and scientific truth."

"Production is ensured by the native working no longer as an employee, but as a free peasant, owner of his land."

"For eighty years Belgium has sent your land the best of her sons, first to deliver the Congo basin from the odious slave trade which was decimating its population. Later to bring together the different tribes which, though former enemies, are now preparing to form the greatest of the Independent states of Africa."

"The Belgians are setting about the task of combating the shortage of labour with almost Teutonic thoroughness and far-sightedness."

"The natives while working on the mines are very well treated. They live in compounds, which appeared to be run on model lines. I was told that there had been cases of brutality and ill-treatment, but the compound managers concerned had been instantly dismissed. The Union Minière are strongly opposed to anything in the nature of brutal treatment of the natives."

"Speaking generally, it may be said that the authorities of the Union Minière are in advance of the Mining Companies in this Territory [Rhodesia] in the care and attention they give to recruited labour."

"One of the consequences of the Second World War was the collapse of the colonial system. All the old colonies, often under pressure, obtained the recognition of their independence. Belgium also granted autonomy to Congo."

"Our mission has been favorably impressed by the material develpment brought about the native welfare fund. I have personaly observed how the native population apreciates Belgium"s efforts in this direction and how it has understood the benefits of derived by Ruanda-Urundi from the activities of this institution."

"After having elaborated a vast plan of action for the benefit of the native but, to a large extent, outside his knowledge and comprehension, we must gradually obtain his acceptance and make him ever more conscious of it, as well as actively engaged in his own uplift. Gaining the native conscious and active acceptance of our civilizing ideal must be the primary object of our task of teaching and education in Belgian Africa."

"The British exploited differences between the Hindu and Muslim communities in the sub‐continent, creating deep resentments and divisions that persist today due to the 1947 Partition. Similarly, differences between the Hutus and Tutsis that led to the Rwandan genocide were created and exploited by Belgian colonizers."

"Burundians, Rwandans, and outside specialists of the region disagree almost totally on the nature of precolonial social…[and on] the impact of colonization...There is no scholarly consensus on answers to these questions."

"All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own language are called “Celts,” in our language “Gauls,” the third. All these differ from each other in language, customs and laws. The river Garonne separates the Gauls from the Aquitani; the Marne and the Seine separate them from the Belgae. Of all these, the Belgae are the bravest, because they are furthest from the civilization and refinement of [our] Province, and merchants least frequently resort to them, and import those things which tend to effeminate the mind; and they are the nearest to the Germans, who dwell beyond the Rhine, with whom they are continually waging war; for which reason the Helvetii also surpass the rest of the Gauls in valor, as they contend with the Germans in almost daily battles, when they either repel them from their own territories, or themselves wage war on their frontiers."

"They did not allow traders to come amongst them; they permitted no wine or any other luxuries to be imported, because they believed that these weakened the spirit and reduced courage."

"The whole race which is now called both Gallic and Galatic is war-mad... Although not otherwise simple... And therefore, if roused, they come together all at once for the struggle, both openly and without circumspection, so that for those who wish to defeat them by stratagem they become easy to deal with."

"When Caesar inquired of them what states were in arms, how powerful they were, and what they could do, in war, he received the following information: that the greater part of the Belgae were sprung, from the Germans, and that having crossed the Rhine at an early period, they had settled there, on account of the fertility of the country, and had driven out the Gauls who inhabited those regions; and that they were the only people who, in the memory of our fathers [i.e. as far as we can remember], when all Gaul was overrun, had prevented the Teutones and the Cimbri from entering their territories; the effect of which was, that, from the recollection of those events, they assumed to themselves great authority and haughtiness in military matters."

"Driven off from all parts; the corn not only was being consumed by so great numbers of cattle and men, but also had fallen to the earth, owing to the time of the year and the storms; so that if any had concealed themselves for the present, still, it appeared likely that they must perish through want of all things, when the army should be drawn off. And frequently it came to that point, as so large a body of cavalry had been sent abroad in all directions, that the prisoners declared Ambiorix had just then been seen by them in flight, […] but he rescued himself by [means of] lurking-places and forests, and, concealed by the night made for other districts and quarters, with no greater guard than that of four horsemen, to whom along he ventured to confide his life."

"It was an enormous struggle to destroy the Belgic nation."

"And so, by the disposition of God who orders all things, the art of war, the flower of knighthood, with horses and chargers of the finest, fell before weavers, fullers and the common folk and foot soldiers of Flanders, albeit strong, manly, well armed, courageous and under expert leaders. The beauty and strength of that great [French] army was turned into a dung-pit, and the [glory] of the French made dung and worms."

"I thought about it carefully and I remained convinced that there is no place in Belgium that it could be more desirable for me to represent than Antwerp. ... I have always been imbued with the conviction that matters which particularly affect the prosperity of Antwerp should have a large part in the care of the government. Belgium had its era of commercial activity, because at that time it had ready-made means of selling the products of its manufactures. I think that the efforts of the government must tend to restore life to maritime trade, to multiply the means of exchange with overseas countries, to replace the colonial outlets which we have lost, to facilitate commercial relations with a liberal legislation."

"I don't want a Muslim as mayor of Antwerp. But I'm afraid that will happen sooner or later."

"While in 1960 barely 7% of the Antwerp population had an immigration background, in 2021 this has evolved to 59.7% of which the vast majority has a non-European background: 39.6% of Antwerp residents are of non-European descent. Knowing that in 2020 49.4% of the mothers of newborns were of non-European nationality, the bill was quickly settled. In a maximum of 20 years Antwerp will have a majority of residents of non-European descent, the majority of whom will be Muslims. The population is moving at a rapid pace. The flexible Belgian nationality legislation has become a kind of “Fast Belgian factory”. Foreigners disappear from the statistics and officially become Belgians, but of course ensure the further multiculturalization of Antwerp. Along with the ethnic transition, a cultural shift is also taking place, with all its consequences. The native Flemings and their culture and way of life threaten to become a minority in the long run, ripe for the reserve…"

"We are exhausted in Antwerp and have endured so much that this war seems without purpose.. ..[and that it seemed] strange that Spain, which provides so little for the needs of this country... has an abundance of means to wage an offensive war elsewhere."

"Thanks to the care of the Belgian military authorities, the volunteers returned to their homeland, we were able to find asylum in the barracks in Antwerp."

"Certainly, in such conditions there is enough to seduce those of our young officers whom Belgian neutrality condemns to a rest of which they are somewhat impatient. The honor of carrying with dignity abroad the name of the fatherland and that of defending the august daughter of a beloved sovereign will soon, we have no doubt, fill the ranks of the Belgian-Mexican legion."

"Whatever opinion one forms of the enterprise to which Archduke Maximilian has just devoted his life, it is not possible for us Belgians to forget that the princess who shares the destinies of the new emperor is also the beloved daughter of our king, that she grew up among us, that our homeland is her own, and that she has the right to count on the sympathies and the wishes of her compatriots ."

"It is understandable that a colonial establishment organized under such conditions cannot fail to prosper. We are also convinced that the example of the Empress' s guards will be followed by a large number of our compatriots who, trusting with reason in the new situation in Mexico, will take advantage of all this set of circumstances so exceptionally advantageous, to to go bring the contribution of their arms and their intelligence to the beautiful work of civilization undertaken by the emperor Maximilian and the empress Charlotte, his august companion."

"This is no proof that our Belgian people are not as foolish as some think, and that there are few in Belgium who voluntarily play soldier."

"Almost all the Belgian officers intend to leave Mexico in November 1866, at the end of their military service. They will be followed by many soldiers, because it is all too good for the Belgians in this land of promises!"

"Thanks to the care of the Belgian military authorities, the volunteers returned to their homeland, we were able to find asylum in the barracks in Antwerp."

"The moment the remnants of the Belgian legion are going to return to their country, it is necessary to demonstrate all the folly of the undertaking, not to fall out against the foregoing, but to keep public sentiment on its guard against new undertakings. If one were to attempt such. All the dream images that people had conceived of that adventurous expedition have now disappeared."

"This glorious fight gave the Belgian volunteers a reputation for bravery and dedication that the future will only increase."

"Why is it necessary that this precious blood be shed for a cause without a very avowable character, for a cause for which the faults of the emperor Maximilian who personifies her, removed what they could inspire of real interest and of deep sympathy ?"

"We have said that the catastrophic question of Mexico is only at the beginning: when eighteen hundred Belgians are thrown into the mouth of that monster they call Mexico, there will be a number of consequences that will fall on our country itself.. After the mourning in the families, perhaps the mourning for the national neutrality, which we have tried to preserve since 1830, because it was indeed our great strength."

"The Belgian corps is very weak: it has lost a lot of officers; fighting and disease have thinned our ranks to such an extent that if we are not sent reinforcements from Belgium, our body will merge either with the French corps or with the Austrian corps."

"As for the Belgians, it seems that, since the unfortunate Tacamburo affair, the Belgian service in Mexico is over."

"On the occasion of my 65th birthday, I wish to hand over to the State my properties that contribute to the attractiveness and beauty of the places where they are located."

"The majority of the costs goes to places used by the Royal Family, like the Royal Estate in Laeken and their country residence in the Estate of Ardenne because castles, monumental greenhouses and other parts of Royal Estates have great patrimonial and historical value, it is logical that their maintenance takes up more financial resources than is the case for other properties."

"The Royal Donation is financially completely independent: it is responsible for its own income and expenditure, and manages its own goods and personnel."

"This is undeniably the case: the Royal Endowment has its own legal personality and full financial autonomy. It is completely outside the scope of the federal spending budget."

"Nobody knows how much the property is actually worth. The Royal Trust itself does not know. The last estimate dates from twenty years ago and is still in Belgian francs. In 1999, the assets were estimated by the public finance department at 221 million euros."

"The Court of Audit, for example, analyzes us every year. In the last three years we have received confirmation that the entire administration and the way we work is in accordance with all standards that can be found. But no one ever asked for more information"

"Since castles, monumental conservatories and other parts of royal domains have great patrimonial and historical value, it is logical that their maintenance requires more financial resources than is the case for other properties."

"The bulk of the maintenance costs of the Domain of Laeken relate to the Royal Greenhouses (which are only open to the public three weeks a year, ed.) and the priceless collection of plants whose maintenance has been accepted by the state. In addition, in addition to our own works, government contracts are regularly put out to tender for the renovation of monumental greenhouses. Such as the Congo greenhouse in Laeken, for which around 1.7 million euros has been budgeted in recent years."

"We manage to balance our budget and keep our patrimony in good condition – despite the heavy burdens resulting from the Donation made by King Leopold II – by respecting all the rules that apply to a public institution of the state, under supervision of the Minister of Finance and the Court of Audit."

"The Royal Trust should be able to operate financially autonomously. Now the personal interests of the royal family are too much taken into account. We need to conduct a thorough investigation, after which all options are open, including the cancellation of the Royal Trust and the return of certain domains to the royal family so that they can bear the costs themselves"

"Anyone, whether in public places or gatherings, by utterances, cries or threats, or by any writing, printed matter, pictures or symbols, which are seized, distributed or sold, for sale or displayed before the eyes of the public, is guilty of insulting the person of the King, shall be punished by imprisonment of six months to three years and a fine of 300 to 3,000 francs."

"I am convinced that this country is headed straight for anarchy, not to say revolution."

"Between the Belgian and Dutch minds there is now no more a covenant to be made than between that of evil and that of good."

"Bah! you were there… well, that's good for once, but for the second time I'd advise the Dutchman to stay at home, or we'll deal with him here, as they say the Devil agrees with the Holy Job has done."

"The Flemish, well they are big children."

"Move, brothers! there once more Where, before twenty-five years, Dressed in war garb, we were; Where we, united by one band, As Sons of one Fatherland, Before Prince and Country stood in battle."

"They err who wish to see our fathers everywhere and always clean and spotless."

"To proclaim to distant posterity the praise of a people who... When apostasy and betrayal suddenly tore the Kingdom of the Netherlands apart, and the Belgians, in the swoon of their freedom fever, in bold hubris threatened even the old borders of the Kingdom, cut and remained faithful to his legitimate Prince, from the respected and beloved house of Orange."

"For twenty-five years you Flemings have been misunderstood, oppressed and humiliated', For 25 years the Flemings were addressed in a foreign language, sentenced and tried, for 25 years they had to do with French money, a French court, a French army and a French administration. For twenty-five years you have been strangers in your own land."

"Come, Flemish and Wael brothers, Lie upon Belgium's breast, Unite voice and heart, For your beloved prince."

"A smile of self-satisfaction and pride shines on the face of every citizen, and he lifts his eye in thanks to God, who granted him the small but richly blessed Belgium as his birthplace."

"The discourse of those gentlemen whose clothing glitters with gold trim, of those rough workmen who have donned their Sunday smock, of those women whose long lace caps remind us of the Scheldt River; yes, even of the brussels schoolboys who so boldly push through the crowd. All... bless the name of the King, all speak of his unblemished faithfulness and infinite wisdom..."

"In the midst of all this wealth we have seen something humble, something seemingly small, which nevertheless moved us deeply. It was in a dark alley of the lower town, in front of a little house so low that one could touch its roof with one's hand. An old woman, perhaps eighty years old, was decorating her hut. Her hands trembled with stiffness, her chest hygged with heaviness. She brought an image of the well-beloved King in front of her few windows, an image which might not have cost ten cents. Around it she hung a wreath of cut flowers and tinsel; under a strip of paper on which her waddling hand had written in almost illegible letters. Long live the King! On the other side a stone candlestick, to burn two small candles on it in the evening. This was the patriotic tribute of the poor decrepit widow! Perhaps such simplicity would make others smile; she snatched from us a tear of admiration and compassion..."

"The revolution of 1830 in the Netherlands is and will remain the greatest state error of this year one hundred."

"There is a kingdom on earth where the Walloon willfully lord it over, and deal with 'the Flemish race' 'as if it had been conquered'."

"The people have made the revolution, the people have chased the Dutch from Belgian soil; the people alone, and not the Prince of Orange at all, are at the head of the movement which gave it its independence and which will establish its political nationality."

"The happy revolution which we have just brought to a glorious conclusion under the visible auspices of God has placed the supreme power in our hands. By virtue of this power we have declared ourselves to be free and independent and have deprived and dismissed the former duke, Joseph II, from all sovereignty..."

"Much in these revolutionary activities [in Brabant] brings to mind the Patriot troubles in the Dutch Republic. As in the North, this nationalism was...based on a profound feeling of nostalgia...and closely related to a profound feeling of humiliation."

"They informed Joseph II that his measures might be appropriate for "peoples in the infancy of civilization" such as the Austrians, but not for "a people traditionally civilized, a nation which for six hundred years has refused to submit to any system of blind, arbitrary and oppressive feudal authority"."

"In strictly political terms, Belgium and India have had little to do with each other. Some Belgian seamen were employed by the Portuguese fleet and thus were among the first to colonize some peripheral regions of India, especially Sri Lanka and Goa."

"In 1500 the Portuguese trading posts became the Estado da India, the base of some Flemish travellers, including diamond traders and missionaries who tried to win souls, on site or farther inland. For example, while in prison awaiting his execution, Moghul prince and throne pretender Dara Shikoh reported profound discussions with the Flemish Jesuit Father Busée."

"The Kingdom of Belgium (1830-) had no structural links with India, only a lot of personal and business contacts, with the diamond trade as its crown jewel, and only in the last twenty years, the fast-growing Indian investments in the Belgian industry. When still a prince, Leopold II paid a visit to India in 1865, and Albert I, his successor as king, did so in 1925. It was especially his wife Elizabeth who conceived a lifelong fascination with India . She took up practising yoga and received some well-known yoga masters. Brussels became one of the main centres for introducing yoga to the West."

"The Ghent decision, defining as illegal the practice by the Jehovah’s Witnesses to teach that current members (with the exception of cohabiting relatives) should shun or ostracize those who have been disfellowshipped or have left their organization, is the culminating point of a process that, if left unchecked, will destroy religious liberty and the very notion of freedom as we know it. Basically, the Ghent judges affirmed the principle that the freedom of an organization to self-regulate itself as it deems fit is a lesser right when compared to the freedom of the individual within the organization. They also imply that a person should enjoy the same freedoms within the organization that s/he would enjoy in the society in general. It is not an exaggeration to argue that this deeply subverts concepts about freedom that democratic societies have accepted for centuries. Many have argued that the basic question of Western political philosophy is why we accept to surrender a part of our liberty to join an organization. Wouldn’t it be better to remain free?"

"The [Belgian Court of] Cassation acknowledges that it would be forbidden to “harass, threaten, or bully ex-members,” but states that this is by no means part of the shunning policy of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is true that shunning may lead “to social isolation towards other members of the faith community,” but this should not be confused with a “generalized social isolation.” The Belgian Jehovah’s Witnesses are a “small faith community of about 26,000 members across Belgium,” and those shunned remain free to associate with all the other people living in the country."

"As it is, the decision [concerning Veer Dusauchoit, a woman who wanted to become a deacon in the Roman Catholic Church] is a legal monstrosity. Churches and other religious organizations have the right to organize trainings and courses restricted to certain categories of persons (a man cannot train to become a nun either). The religious liberty of individual devotees such as Dusauchoit is protected by their possibility to leave the Roman Catholic Church and join one among many other Christian churches that ordain women as deacons and even as priests. Nobody compels Dusauchoit to remain in the Roman Catholic Church. But as long as she stays there, she should respect its rules—which should be left to the Holy See and the bishops, not to secular Belgian courts."