From Explorer Ships to Partnerships -- A Voyage through US-Belgian Relations

Foreword

While we celebrated 175 years of official relations in 2007, the ties between us go back more than 400 years.  From Pierre Minuit buying Manhattan Island on 1626 to Saint Damien's noble work in Hawaii, Belgians have played a prominent role in building the United States of America.  Nearly 3,000,000 immigrant traveled from the Port of Antwerp to Ellis Island en route to new homes in the U.S.

We have been friends and allies in times of war and peace.  Thousands of young Americans died along with their Belgian allies fighting for freedom in two world wars.  Their sacrifice made possible the achievements that followed the liberation of Europe: the Marshall Plan, the NATO alliance, and the shared prosperity and security that flowed from each.

Period 1: Pre-Independence 1609-1830

Explorer ships proved the world was round and set off the race for colonies and explorations of the New World.  In 1609 The Dutch East India Company sent Henry Hudson to explore the North American continent.  Following him explorers, missionaries and settlers came from all over Europe.  By the mid-1600s the English, Dutch, Swedish, French and Spanish had established colonies in North America with Belgians, in particular Peter (Pierre) Minuit, among the founders of both New Netherlands and New Sweden.  By the end of the century the many English, Dutch and Swedish colonies along the east coast had coalesced into 13 English colonies

Revolution was in the air at the end of the 18th century as the Americans assisted by the French fought for their independence from Great Britain. That was followed closely by the French Revolution in 1789 and the short-lived Brabant Revolution of 1790 against Austrian control gave Belgium it first taste of independence.

The catalyst for changes at the beginning of the 19th century was Napoleon and his quest for empire. By 1795 Belgium had been annexed by France.   To continue his wars in Europe Napoleon needed money, so in 1803 he sold New France (the Louisiana Purchase) to the U.S. doubling the size of the country and expanding its borders from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. The need for sailors and ships to fight the French caused the British to force American sailors into their Navy setting off the War of 1812 whose peace treaty was signed in Ghent in 1814.

Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo in 1815, reshaped the map of Europe and led directly to full independence for the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and eventually to the creation of the Kingdom of Belgium in 1830. At long last Belgium’s dream of independence was finally realized. 

Period 2: New Nations 1832-1880

The United States was one of the first nations to recognize the new Kingdom of Belgium.  After the exchange of diplomatic envoys in 1832, Hugh Legare for the Americans and Baron Behr for  the Belgians, the new nations regularized their trading relations through a series of treaties of trade and commerce.  Besides the trade in goods like linen and tobacco, this period saw the founding of several businesses which continue to be important to the transatlantic relationship today.   The invention by Solvay brothers Ernest and Alfred of a new process for producing sodium carbonate revolutionized how Americans with little access to yeast on the frontier made their bread.  Sodium carbonate was imported by the Dwight and Church families and turned into sodium bicarbonate, baking soda.  From those humble beginnings was born the Solvay Group with companies worldwide and Arm and Hammer brand baking soda found today in every American home for uses from baking to laundry, health and pet care.  Another early trade good was Standard Oil, today Exxon, petroleum carried across the Atlantic on clipper ships and delivered through the streets of Belgium by dogcart.

Belgians remained fascinated with the ever-expanding United States.  Thousands settled in the Midwest and founded new communities which they named after their Belgian hometowns like Antwerp, Ohio and Namur, Wisconsin.  The settlers also brought with them their skills and talents and were responsible for building the glass industry in the U.S.  To keep up with the news, Belgian settlers in Detroit established the Gazette van Detroit which even today publishes part of each edition in Flemish.

Besides settlers, several prominent priests traveled to the U.S. to minister to the native people.  Father Damien is remembered for his work with those suffering from leprosy on the island of Molokai, Hawaii.  Father De Smet worked with the American Indians in the Rocky Mountains and Archbishop Seghers traveled to Alaska.  So strong was this link between Belgian and American Catholics that the American College, the first seminary to train priests for the American Catholic Church outside of the U.S., was established in Leuven.

Watch part 1 of the video clip: Periods 1 and 2

Period 3: To a New Home 1880-1924

The invention of steamships cutting the sea voyage from Europe to the United State from 44 to 9 days gave birth to history’s most massive peaceful emigration of people from one continent to another.  Pulling them to the U.S. was the completion of the transcontinental railroad giving access to the vast unsettled lands in the west and the need for factory workers in industrializing America.  Pushing them from their homes was poverty, crop failures, persecution and social upheaval in Europe.  Between 1870-1930 twenty million people immigrated through New York City alone. At the height of the period over 20,000 people a day came to Ellis Island in New York Harbor hoping to become new Americans.  At Ellis Island they underwent physical examinations and interviews to ensure that they would not become a public burden.  Those needing medical treatment were sent to the excellent hospital on the Island until they could join their families, take the ferry from Ellis Island to New York City and begin their lives as Americans.

Although they left from many ports throughout Europe, around three million came through the Port of Antwerp on ships of the Red Star Line.  This shipping line offered a unique combination rail-sea ticket, rail from their homes in Eastern Europe to Antwerp then by sea to America.  The Red Star Line specialized in transporting Eastern Europeans, especially those of the Jewish faith to America.  As history later proved, this focus saved millions of Jews and other minorities from the horrors of WWII.

Massive immigration slowed significantly during WWI.  Fear that the troubles of Europe would reach American shores through the immigrants and the sense of being overwhelmed by the millions of immigrants again pouring through Ellis Island gave rise to restrictions on immigration.  In 1924 a system of quotas by national origin was enacted and with it a fundamental change in immigration policy.  No longer were immigrants processed when they arrived in America, instead the U. S. Consular Service was established to process would-be immigrants in their home countries.  Successful applicants received immigrant visas and were then allowed to immigrate, thus ending the era of mass immigration via steamships from Europe.

The legacy of this period of massive immigration profoundly altered the fabric of American life.  These immigrants not only brought their skills and talents to the U.S. but also enriched their new land with their writings, music and culture.  While some became world-renown like composer Irving Berlin, scientists Albert Einstein and Hyman Rickover, and politician Golda Meier, the vast majority were farmers, steel workers, railroad builders, craftsmen and all those other trades which were needed to build a modern, industrialized nation.   In large part, it was the labor of these millions of new Americans which gave the U.S. the economic power to feed Belgium during WWI and feed and supply much of Europe after WWII

Period 4 Freedom from Want….. Freedom from Fear 1914-1945

The summer of 1914 marked the beginning of a dark period in world history. The First World War set Europe aflame. There was no escape for Belgium, whose forces could not withstand the overwhelming onslaught. The people of Belgium not only faced the turmoil of war but also certain starvation when their civic institutions closed down and a blockade prevented food supplies from entering the country.  American and Belgian statesmen took the lead on saving the Belgian people.  The Commission for Relief in Belgium was able to provide food and clothing throughout the war and proved once again how strong the ties were between both nations.

American aviator Charles Lindberg visited Belgium in 1927, after his historic solo transatlantic flight. On Memorial Day, he flew over the American military cemetery, Flanders Fields, in Waregem and dropped a scarf and flowers in honor of those buried there..

The peace was, however, short-lived, as the Second World War for Belgium started in 1940.  During the occupation, many Belgians risked their lives saving allied soldiers and pilots. The D-Day landings in Normandy, France began the liberation of Europe but the fiercest fighting was yet to come in Belgium and Luxembourg. The Battle of the Ardennes, known as the Battle of the Bulge in the U.S., was one of the bloodiest battles of the war with 19,000 American soldiers killed. Belgians and Americans fought together, shoulder to shoulder, against the forces of tyranny and won.

Today, there are 24 U.S. military cemeteries around the world. Three of these are in Belgium. Every year, on Memorial Day, Belgians and Americans commemorate the fallen and pass the tradition on to future generations so that the sacrifices of both world wars will never be forgotten.

Watch part 2 of the video clip: Periods 3 and 4

Period 5: (Re)Building Europe 1945-1990

In 1945 as much of Europe lay in ruins the partnership between Europeans and Americans which had ended the war now faced a more challenging task of rebuilding a continent where over 50 million people had been killed, thousands of homes, offices, bridges and churches, and more importantly, civic institutions and civil society itself had been destroyed.  There were shortages of food and shelter, unemployment, a public health crisis, and dislocation of millions of people. In a speech at Harvard University in 1947, Secretary of State George C. Marshall set forth his idea:

“It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist.”

“It would be neither fitting nor efficacious for this Government to undertake to draw up unilaterally a program designed to place Europe on its feet economically. This is the business of the Europeans.”

Thus the Marshall Plan, officially the European Recovery Program (ERP) was born. Never before had any nation organized an economic rescue effort of this magnitude— one that even promised to rebuild former enemies. With American funding, materials brought over by supply ships and cargo planes and a massive publicity campaign which included posters, films and puppet shows, Europe began the arduous task of rebuilding.

Among the goals of the Marshall Plan three were of vital importance 1. to help Europeans quickly rebuild their nations and lives, 2. to check the spread of communism and 3. to put an end to the devastating wars which had ravished the continent for centuries.  To administer the Plan the US created the Economic Cooperation Administration and the Europeans, the Organization for European Economic Cooperation. The OEEC became the testing ground for cooperation, the place where Europeans learned to work together.

The Plan also required that West European governments work together, which created habits of cooperation, where few had ever existed.  One of its key mandates was to put in place a system that called for regular consultations on economic matters. Eventually it became the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the OECD, today a vital part of the transatlantic community.

Building on the successful cooperation of the Marshall Plan, in 1951 Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, France, Italy and West Germany formed the European Coal and Steel Community.  The ECSC, created by the vision of French statesmen Jean Monet and Robert Schumann was the first step in the creation of today’s European Union.

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, created in 1949, also owes its birth to the spirit of cooperation that came into being as a result of the Marshall Plan. NATO remains today the primary institution bringing together the nations of Europe and North America to form a single community of freedom, democracy and market economics.

By 1958 Europe had rebuilt her cities through the Marshall Plan, her spirit through European integration and secured her peace through NATO, now it was time to celebrate.  Brussels, heart of the new Europe, was chosen to host the first World’s Fair in 18 years.  It was hugely successful with over 42 million visitors and left two major building to posterity: the Atomium, symbol of Brussels and the American Theater.  

Period 6: Ties That Bind 1990-the future

As we approach the 400th anniversary of the first Belgian voyages to America the world and our nations have changed dramatically, but the threads which have connected us throughout those years have become stronger and inexorably interwoven.  The same dreams of justice and freedom which led to our revolutions today inspire our diplomats and militaries to work towards a better world through peace-keeping operations, nation-building, world security programs and humanitarian assistance.  Where once we explored a new continent together, today our scientists are partners in finding cures for deadly diseases and environmental problems here on earth and probing the infinite possibilities of space.

From those early treaties of trade and commerce our economic ties have grown so that  there are now over 1000 U.S. companies in Belgium with 1 out of every 12 Belgians working for an American firm.  Belgium is the 11th largest trading partner of the U.S. and the U.S. Belgium’s 3rd largest foreign investor.  Almost 500 Belgian firms have branches in the U.S.  Container ships carrying over 4000 containers a day make Antwerp the most important port in the world for transport of goods to and from the United States.

Today our people are still explorers and settlers in each other lands.  Not like those of the 17th century though, today’s explorer and settlers are sojourners living in each other lands temporarily as business people, students or visitors.  Every time we raise the level of sports through friendly competition, share the joy of musical traditions, learn about each other society through travel, language or regional studies we add to our understanding of each other and enrich our own lives.  We may not always agree on the immediate steps forward but the friendships and partnerships which have been forged through the years between our two peoples are ever strong.  Our shared values and common heritage lead us as people and as nations towards a common goal, to create a world more secure, peaceful, healthy and happy for future generations.

Watch part 3 of the video clip: Periods 5 and 6