Defending French In Flanders 1880 1975

This dissertation examines the ultimately unsuccessful efforts of French-speaking populations in Flanders -- who had long constituted an elite group within Flemish society -- to maintain a place for French in the Flemish public realm, namely administration, the judiciary, and education. It spans the period from the late nineteenth century and the first concerted legislative efforts to (re)introduce Dutch into the overwhelmingly Francophone administrative and educational institutions of Flanders, to the 1970s, when a combination of legislative measures and socioeconomic pressures erased the last vestiges of French in Flemish public life. By examining the periodical press, debates in scholarly publications, political pamphlets and posters, parliamentary speeches, and private correspondence produced by these Francophones, I question how and why their arguments in favor of a legal presence for French in Flanders changed over time. At first, many Francophones appealed to the universality and utility of French language and culture, and argued that individuals should enjoy "free choice of language" in the public realm. Such arguments reflected the dominant status of French in the Western world as well as the prevailing anti-statist sentiments among the Francophone elite of Flanders. During the period between the world wars, and again during the 1960s, however, some Francophones who wanted French-language rights in public services constructed an identity as a minority and made claims in terms of minority rights. This rhetorical shift came about for several reasons. The growth of a mass-based Flemish Movement made elitist and classically liberal appeals to the "free choice of language" politically untenable. During the interwar period, "minority rhetoric" had become common across Europe among previously-elite groups like the German-speakers of Poland and Czechoslovakia; it is likely that the Francophones hoped that their use of such would make their claims more legitimate in the eyes of both the Belgian state and the international community. Finally, the decline of French as an international language, especially after World War II, made the Francophones less likely to appeal to its "universality" when arguing in favor of a place for the French language in Flemish public life.