Split of the Catholic University of Leuven

The

Belgian politics and led to the fall of the government of Paul Vanden Boeynants. It marked an escalation of the linguistic tension in Belgium after World War II and had lasting consequences for other bilingual institutions in Belgium within higher education and politics alike. In 1970 the first of several state reforms occurred, marking the start of Belgium's transition to a federal state

.

Background

The historic library of the Catholic University of Leuven, rebuilt after its destruction by the German Army in 1914, was a symbol of Belgian national identity

Catholic "pillar" and closely associated with Catholic politics and the Church

itself.

During the nineteenth century, the

a Dutch-language university

in 1916. From 1930 teaching at Leuven was provided separately in French or Dutch.

The Flemish Movement made significant advances after

bilingualism to regional unilingualism, a principle recognised by the Gilson laws of 1962

. This made the French and Dutch sections in Leuven effectively autonomous but Flamingants demanded that the university be formally split. These demands became increasingly vocal after 1967.

The 1960s were also a time of unrest among the youth across Europe and the world, characterised by

student unrest in May 1968

. Student dissatisfaction was exacerbated by a rapid increase in the number of students in many universities without an accompanying increase in facilities.

Crisis, November 1967–June 1968

The Leuven issue was raised on 5 November 1967 when about 30,000 Flemish activists marched in Antwerp to demand that the Catholic University become monolingual. They were supported by some parliamentarians from the Flemish wing of the Christian Social Party (CVP). Following the success of the Antwerp demonstration, Flemish students marched in Leuven to advocate similar demands. They carried banners reading "Walloons out" (Walen buiten) and "Flemish Leuven" (Leuven Vlaams) which shocked many French-speaking conservatives. In response, many French-speaking students travelled to the tiny hamlet of Houte-Si-Plou in French-speaking Wallonia to create a satirical "University of Houte-Si-Plou". Violent demonstrations continued in Leuven.

The government of

Bishop of Bruges

, Emiel Jozef De Smedt, gave a public speech advocating a split. This appeared to mark a break in the Church's position. On 6 February, the Vanden Boeynants coalition government collapsed as a result of the crisis.

The

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

(KUL).

Aftermath

Work on the construction of Louvain-la-Neuve began in 1971. UCL relocated to the town soon afterwards, and it remains there to this day.

The Leuven affair marked the start of a series of institutional splits along linguistic lines. The

Christelijke Volkspartij. Similar trends were reflected in other major parties, including the Liberal Party which had divided in 1961 and formally split in 1972. The Belgian Socialist Party survived intact until 1978 when it also split. The Leuven crisis also led to the rapid rise of regionalist political parties, such as the Volksunie in Flanders and the Front Démocratique des Francophones in Brussels

.

In 1970, the Eyskens government passed the first state reform marking the start of Belgium's move towards a federal state. The reforms created three autonomous "communities" with responsibility for cultural issues such as public broadcasting.

Split of the Catholic University of Leuven

Background

Crisis, November 1967–June 1968

Aftermath

See also

Further reading