BELGIUM 57 



dary between the area of Flemish dialect in the north 

 and that of Walloon in the south corresponds rather 

 closely with the division between the dominance of 

 Nordic and Alpine races. The Flemish, like the 

 Dutch, are tall, fair and long-headed ; the Walloons 

 are shorter, darker and round-headed. It seems 

 as if the highlands of Luxemburg (which is racially 

 strongly Alpine), the hilly wooded country of the 

 Walloons and the swamps of the Rhine delta had 

 acted as fastnesses, preserving the Alpine race from 

 the intruding Nordics. 



Belgium offers a remarkable example of the con- 

 fusion between race, language and nationality that 

 has done so much to obscure political issues. The 

 Flemish language is a form of Low German, allied to 

 the Dutch language. Intercommunication between 

 the Flemings and Germans along the frontier is 

 therefore relatively easy, and none the less Belgium 

 nationality has transformed an arbitrary line on the 

 map to a real frontier. Even before the invasion of 

 Belgium, it was a common saying among the Flemish 

 peasants, when they had licked a platter clean : 

 " At least there will be nothing left for the Prussians." 

 The Walloons speak a language closely akin to French 

 and therefore Latin rather than Teutonic. Although 

 the national crisis has shown all Belgium to be a 

 unanimous nation, resolute in the defence of its 

 freedom, there remain traces of a rivalry, almost 

 amounting to mutual distrust, between Flemings 

 and Walloons, partly based on the belief of the 

 Walloons that the Flemings were too ready to be 

 Germanized, and of the Flemings that the Walloons 

 were too susceptible to French influence. The 



