Forging rifles into trowels: Multiple nationalisms in Belgian World War I memorials (original) (raw)

The proposed paper offers a preliminary comparative study of the construction and afterlife of four war memorials that were erected, or initiated at least, by different Belgian war veterans’ associations, reflecting different nationalisms that had slumbered in the trenches of the Belgian front of the First World War. The Belgenmonument in Amersfoort in the Netherlands was built as a job-creating and learning project for interned Belgian soldiers in the Netherlands towards the end of the war. It wanted to express the gratitude of the Belgian nation towards the Dutch people for taking in refugees during the war, but became subject to a diplomatic riot between both nations after the Armistice and was not inaugurated before 1938. The IJzertoren memorial (1925-1930) in Dixmude, a crowdfunded private memorial constructed by Flemish nationalist veterans, evolved into an ambiguous and divisive symbol already during its construction process, and reflected growing tensions between regionalist and belgicist factions in the interwar years. It’s entanglement with collaborationism during the Second World War ultimately lead to its destruction in 1946, and its reconstruction between 1952-1965. The Albert I gedenkteken (1938) in Nieuport, initiated by the National Belgian Veterans Association, was heralded as Belgium’s official memorial but never came close to fulfilling that role. Finally, the Mémorial Interallié (1925-1938) in Liège-Cointe was to represent international solidarity and reconciliation between all former belligerents, but failed to include the defeated nations and instead developed into a memorial of the victorious. It was erected on a symbolic location by diverse international veterans associations. Looking into neutrality, regionalism, nationalism, and internationalism, a quick-scan of these four memorials illustrates the diversified political landscape of the interwar years that had emerged in circles of war veterans, and hints towards the divisive nature of post-war commemoration, which would resonate until deep into 20th-century society. Furthermore, this study unveils the until now underexposed agency of war veteran associations within the material and memorial culture of the First Word War.