Why do the Belgians (esp. the Flemish people) dislike the Dutch?
Ruben Decrop, CEO at Chessdevil Consulting (2012-present)
Updated Nov 22, 2018 · Upvoted by
J. AB Sennef, works at International Relations (1993-present)
Last week I was sitting in a train packed with people. A guy asked to the audience: “does somebody knows the joke about a Dutch couple that went for a weekend to Brussels?“. Next to him a woman protested: “Excuse me, I am Dutch” . “Don’t worry”, replied the guy “I will tell the joke very slowly, and I will repeat it if necessary.”
It all started with the religious war in the 16th and 17th century in the Low Countries (Belgium and the Netherlands combined), at that time controlled by the Spanish. The Protestants formed the independent Netherlands in the north, while the Catholic south (Belgium) only became independent in 1830.
Up to the split we were a single country with a single culture. From the 17th century onward the 2 countries diverged in culture, so we developed our own identity. The Dutch are more open and blunt, and to them the quantity of the food and drinks is important. The Belgians are more closed and amiable, and to us the quality of the food and drinks is important.
Bedankt voor de toelichting, meneer Decrop , maar dat wisten we al een tijdje.
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