The Rhine is the only true natural border between France and Germany

The Rhine is the only true natural border between France and Germany.

Germany shouldn't exist tbqhwyatotb

oui oui cherie helemaal juist

more like between france and poland

Belgian wanting to be french?
After all the jokes they make about you being stupid?

Where's Belgium?

This is a thread of outstanding quality

They do the same for us, it's just light banter

all true

we created France

and it's even not our final form yet

*The Maas

And one we always struggled to keep.
So much for a natural border.

Actually, the separation of Belgium from France and the Netherlands was an invention of (((Britain))), wasn't it?

No that's a meme. The Southern Netherlands were more apart either on itself or under Burgundian, Austrian or Spanish hegemony, than it was ever united with the Northern Netherlands.

Hence the UKN 1815-1830 was the artificial buffer state created by the Brits after Napoleon. Not Belgium which separeted in 1830, backed by the French.

But the Franks were germans, they lived after the Rhine before they crossed it.

You are literally worshiping the people who raided and steal the land of your ancestors

what's a germany?

Not at all. The Rhine is a true ethnic border (the Seine too btw) which can't be said for our NL/F language border let alone the Maas or Schelde.

why does Belgium exist?
It's ALMOST good

Franks were franks. Germans, french, belgians and dutch didn't existed at that time. But they are the sons of the Frankish Empire

Franks were a confederation of tribes, meaning "the free ones" (those who don't want to pay taxes to the Romans), tribes living in Belgium and the southern Netherlands mainly. Along both sides of the Rhine lived tribes of similar composition, often had Gaulish names (eg.: Tencteri is Gaulish for "the faithful" ; Usipetes is Gaulish for "good riders") and/or a Gaulish nobility. Gaulish was spoken as late as the 4rd century here, and Belgae tribes helped finance the Franks to build an army so fast, mainly by salt production (Menapii and Morini) and trade (Nervii, often retired cohorts in the Roman army).

You have to consider that in those days Romans were turning into Italians, and due to excessive civil wars and internal bickering, and no real protection against outsiders or Bagauds, paying taxes to the Romans as "free Roman citizens" wasn't actually very fulfilling.

The real Germans are the other confederations formed later as Saxons and Allemanni.

btw the official heraldic motto of Flanders has always been Vrank en Vrij (Frank and Free)

Interesting, I really didn't know that. Seems to be an interesting topic to research and write about.

I read the De Bello Gallico Vercingetorix was one of the few true heroes of mankind. He should have a holiday on France and Belgium.

It is, one name that is quite good on this when it comes to recent academic sources is Lauran Toorian. Too bad not all his papers are published in english though.

I love reading De bello Gallico too, especially when he talks about local happenings here. What you say about Vercingetorix is certainly true. There's also a lesser local hero called Ambiorix who led an uprising of the Eburones. He failed though and had to flee across the Rhine. Caesar claimed he killed and enslaved most of the Eburones, by inviting neighbouring tribes to take their land. Yet they soon turned against the Romans too, also the Tungri and the Toxandrii who were named as living in the land of the Eburones were just returnign Eburones (they were quite a populous tribe and had land over the Rhine too) or related fellows. Eburon means taxus tree (yew tree) in Gaulish, while toxas means that in Germanic. So both Eburones and Toxandrii meant "taxus people".

What happened after the Roman victory is that over 2-3 centuries Latin became the lingua franca of the free citizens living in cities, while Gaulish, before a language of nobility, as spoken by peasants. Meanwhile Germanic influence grew a lot, and it took over Gaulish as language.

Hence why Belgae tribes as the Nervii and the Treveri, considered by Caesar as the most fierce and most conservative (Nervii didn't allow import of wine and meditteranean luxury goods because fear for degeneracy), suddenly in Tacitus' days (2nd century) began touting their Germanic heritage.

You'll read in Caesar too that most Belgae tribes were considered "germani cis-rhenani"; Germanics who earlier crossed the Rhine, settled here, and intermarried with Gauls, took their language. Because before the Romans, Gauls were stronger than Germanics. Hence why it was the aristocracy's language even up to Denmark (Kimbri and Teutones) at some point. After Romans came the tables turned.

Only the coastal Belgae tribes Menapii & Morini were of pure Celtic stock.

French are a creole nation.

Split it up between Italians and Germans

>t. creole nation of Ainu and Chinks

why don't we just split up Japan into two parts ?

the north : communist and closed
the south : liberal, capitalist, USA allied and open on the world

Alsace-Mozelle needs to be a sovereign country.

>he denies that it's now part of Le Grand Est.

Belgium is the yellow country I guess

Meh, we've been part of their funny little empire in the late 1700s to early 1800, mixed feelings overall. Being Département #100 was kinda dope though, who else gets dubs like that

Only correct answer