Belgian Labor Party
The Belgian Workers' Party ( French Parti Ouvrier Belge (POB); Dutch Belgische Werkliedenpartij (BWP)) was the all-Belgian , d. H. Socialist political party active in Wallonia and Flanders . Founded in 1885, it was dissolved in 1940 under the German occupation and re-established after the Second World War under the name of the Belgian Socialist Party (fr .: Parti Socialiste Belge ; nl: Belgian Socialist Partij ). In 1978 it split into a Walloon ( Parti Socialiste ) and a Flemish ( Socialist Partij ) party.
history
prehistory
The all-Belgian party is the product of a large number of mergers and affiliations of regional political groups and workers' organizations. The roots of the party lie in the Flemish Socialist Workers' Party ( Vlaamsche Socialistische Arbeidspartij (VSP)) founded in 1877. After merging with several Brussels socialist groups, the party was renamed the Belgian Socialist Party (BSP) in 1880 .
1885–1940: Belgian Workers' Party
In April 1885, the Belgian Workers' Party emerged from the merger of BSP and the Walloon Socialist Party. The establishment was carried out in the café "LeCygne" ("The Swan") in Brussels . The POB was involved in government for the first time in 1916. Between the two world wars, the party continuously provided ministers. From 1928 until his death on December 27, 1938, Émile Vandervelde was in front of the party. Henri de Man took his place in 1939 . After the occupation of Belgium by the German Wehrmacht , the latter dissolved the POB in June 1940, welcomed the occupiers as liberators of the working class and called for collaboration with them. Many former party members went underground and resisted. On the initiative of Achille Van Acker , numerous illegal party offices were founded, first in Flanders and from 1942 also in Wallonia.
1945–1978: Belgian Socialist Party
To mark the new beginning, the party called itself the Belgian Socialist Party after the war . It was able to build on the structures that had emerged underground during the times of resistance.
Historical figures of the Belgian Workers' Party and the Belgian Socialist Party
- Etkar André (1894-1936)
- Edward Anseele (1856-1938)
- Louis Bertrand (1866-1941)
- Louis de Brouckère (1870–1951)
- Henri de Man (1885-1953)
- César De Paepe (1841–1890)
- Jules Destrée (1863-1936)
- Alfred Defuisseaux (1843–1901)
- Camille Huysmans (1871–1968)
- Désiré Maroille (1862-1919)
- Paul Pastur (1866-1938)
- Marc Somerhausen (1899–1992)
- Paul-Henri Spaak (1899–1972)
- Freddy Terwagne (1925-1971)
- Achille Van Acker (1898–1975)
- Émile Vandervelde (1866–1938)
- August Vermeylen (1872–1945)