JULES DESTREE
(Jules Destrée)
Belgium is comprised of an amalgam of two separate nations and cultures, Walonia and Flanders. They spoke a different language and had very different economies and world views. Destree was distressed that few people saw themselves as Belgians—They were either Flemish or Waloons. There was at the time no concept of a nation even though there was a king and the rest of the world recognized one country.
Jules Destrée was a Walloon lawyer, cultural critic and socialist politician. The trials subsequent to the strikes of 1886 determined his commitment within the Belgian Labour Party. He wrote a Letter to the King in 1912, which is seen as the founding declaration of the Walloon movement. He is famous for his quote "Il n'y a pas de Belges" (There are no Belgians), pointing to the lack of patriotic feelings in Flemings and Walloons, while pleading for some kind of federal state.
