A Brief History on Belgium

    Germany decided that at the start of WWI, they would overrun France by doing a swing through Belgium. Although Belgium was, and still is, tiny, they fought very powerfully against Germany. The Germans were hoping that Great Britain would stay out of this attack, but they did not. Thus, Germany was fighting a war on two fronts; this was not something that they wanted to do.
     As for WWII, Germans occupied Belgium until 1944. When England freed the Belgians, the Germans bombed Antwerp (the city I am in) because the Germans had built the city to be a powerful port city. They did not want this in the hands of any other country, so they destroyed it. 
    When Antwerp was rebuilding, it did so by incorporating the old styles with the new styles.  The Belgians were able to save some of their buildings, but most were destroyed. A lot of the buildings still retain their historical value, and the street plan is also the same as it once was in medieval times.
    During WWII, King Leopold III was the ruler of Belgium. He was not very popular with the people because he surrendered Belgium in 1940 to the Germans. His unpopularity was so severe, that he was forced to abdicate in 1951. While he was emperor however, he acquired land in the Belgian Congo (Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo). In 1960, the Congo gained independence.