The Annexation of Eupen-Malmedy : Becoming Belgian, 1919-1929

"This book examines the history of Belgium's annexation of the former German territories of Eupen and Malmedy during the interwar period. Focusing on Herman Baltia's transitory regime and Belgium's ambivalence about the fate of its new territories, the book charts the strained relations between Baltia's regime and Brussels, the regime's path to dissolution, and the failed retrocession of the territory to Germany. Through close analysis of primary source material, Vincent O'Connell investigates the efforts of Baltia's provisional government to assimilate the region's inhabitants into Belgium. The ultimate failure of that assimilation, he argues, may be traced back not only to incessant pro-German agitation, but to flawed Belgian policy from the outset. Framed in the context of a post-Versailles Europe, the book offers an interesting case study not only of the ebbs and flows of international politics across the frontier zones of Europe in the interwar years, but of how populations react to changes in national sovereignty"--Back cover Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction (Vincent O’Connell)....Pages 1-24 On the Threshold of Transition: Eupen-Malmedy in 1919—Between Occupation and Annexation (Vincent O’Connell)....Pages 25-73 ‘Sounding Them Out’ Herman Baltia and the Installation of the Eupen-Malmedy Government (Vincent O’Connell)....Pages 75-123 Farce and Tragedy in Eupen-Malmedy:The Public Expression of Opinion and its Discontents (Vincent O’Connell)....Pages 125-168 ‘Making Good Belgians’: Political Incorporation and National Assimilation 1920–1925 (Vincent O’Connell)....Pages 169-232 ‘Road to Abandonment’: Belgium’s Approach to Eupen-Malmedy, 1925–1929 (Vincent O’Connell)....Pages 233-285 Back Matter ....Pages 287-316 This volume examines the history of Belgium's annexation of the former German territories of Eupen and Malmedy during the interwar period. Focusing on Herman Baltia's transitory regime and Belgium's ambivalence about the fate of its new territories, the book charts the strained relations between Baltia's regime and Brussels, the regime's path to dissolution, and the failed retrocession of the territory to Germany. Through close analysis of primary source material, Vincent O'Connell investigates the efforts of Baltia's provisional government to assimilate the region's inhabitants into Belgium