BELGIUM 



675 



stubborn resistance elicited the admiration of 

 all civilized peoples. Ypres, near the French 

 boundary, was pounded repeatedly by heavy 

 artillery and "ground to powder"; some of the 

 heaviest fighting of the war was here, in which 

 Canadians and Australians particularly distin- 

 guished themselves 



Not only did Belgians suffer unspeakable per- 

 sonal horrors, but the Germans, determined to 

 destroy the country which had so offended them 

 by resistance in 1914, systematically plundered 

 the industries of the people. Machinery was 

 taken out of factories to the value of many mil- 

 lions of dollars and shipped to Germany; what 

 could not well be transported was destroyed. 



The peace conference could not hope to force 

 Germany to pay full cash value for the billions 

 of dollars lost through wanton destruction of 

 civilian property, but it provided that the first 

 2,500,000,000 francs ($500,000,000) exacted 

 should be paid to Belgium. 



Other Items of Interest. In the sixteenth 

 century Antwerp was the richest and most 

 splendid city in the world, its harbors often shel- 

 tering more than two thousand ships. 



The battle ground of Waterloo is about nine 

 and one-half miles from Brussels. It is marked 

 by a Heroes' Mound two hundred feet in 

 height, on the top of which there is a huge lion. 



Two of the really great painters of Europe, 

 Rubens and Van Dyck, and a number of minor 

 ones belong to little Belgium. 



In normal years the deep-sea fisheries of 

 Belgium are valued at about $1,000,000, about 

 one-seventh as much as those of Massachusetts. 



If there be no male heir to the throne, the 

 king has the privilege of nominating his suc- 

 cessor, with the consent of the legislative 

 chambers. 



There are no publications relating to Belgium 

 from American presses, but English books are 

 available. Consult Holland's The Belgians at 

 Home; Smyth's The Story of Belgium; Scuda- 

 more's Belgium and the Belgians. 



Related Subjects. The reader who is inter- 

 ested in Belgium will find the following articles 

 helpful : 



CITIES AND TOWNS 



Antwerp Louvain 



Bruges Malines 



Brussels Namur 



Ghent Ostend 



Liege Ypres 



Meuse 



Aix-la-Chapelle, 



Treaties of 

 Congo 

 Gaul 

 Succession Wars 



RIVERS 



Scheldt 



Utrecht, Peace oi: 



Vienna, Congress of 



Walloons 



War of the Nations 



Coal 



Glass 



Iron 



Lace 



Lead 



LEADING PRODUCTS 



Linen 



Pottery 



Silver 



Steel 



Zinc 



BELGRADE, belgrayd', the capital of Ser- 

 bia, situated on a promontory formed by the 

 confluence of the Danube and the Save rivers. 

 It is a strongly fortified city, and no other 

 fortress in Europe has witnessed more battles 

 than have been waged round the walls of 

 Belgrade. In ancient days it formed a strong 

 outpost, protecting the West against the ad- 

 vancing Turks who named Belgrade "the home 

 of wars for the faith." With varying fortunes 

 the city was a buffer, constantly changing own- 

 ers, now captured by Turks, now relieved by 

 Austria, and it was not until 1866 that the city 

 was finally handed over to the Serbians. 



Modern Belgrade dates from its evacuation 

 by the Turks. An ancient mixture of East and 

 West has quickly grown into a modern city 

 with wide, clean streets, fine buildings, electric 

 lighting, and electric street cars. The educa-' 

 tional institutions are of the best, and there 

 are a royal palace, many churches, a cathedral, 

 national and public libraries and modern bus- 

 iness houses. It carries on extensive commerce 

 and has manufactures of machinery, cloth, 

 boots, cigarettes,, carpets, silk stuffs, pottery 

 and cutlery. During the preliminary stages of 

 the War of the Nations, beginning in 1914, 

 Belgrade was captured by the Austrians, but 

 was quickly retaken by the Serbians. For 

 some months thereafter Belgrade was almost 

 forgotten in the rush of events in Belgium, 

 France and Russia. Late in 1915, however, an 

 Austro-German invasion of Serbia occurred, 

 and the Serbians were again driven out of their 

 capital, October 9, 1915. Population, previous 

 to the war, 90,890. See SERBIA. 



BELIZE, be leez' , a city that has been noted 

 for more than three hundred years as the 

 center of the mahogany and logwood trade of 

 the world. It is the chief seaport and the 

 capital of British Honduras, in Central Amer- 

 ica, and it is situated at the mouth of the 

 southern arm of the Belize River. It has a 

 harbor available for small vessels, but ocean- 

 going steamers have to anchor a mile or more 

 from the river mouth and land their cargoes 

 by lighters. Besides mahogany and logwood 

 the city exports rosewood, cedar, cocoanuts and 



