1950 in Belgium

none 1950 Events from the year 1950 in Belgium Incumbents Monarch: Leopold III Regent: Prince Charles, Count of Flanders (to July 20) Regent: Prince Baudouin, Duke of Brabant (from August 11) Prime Minister: Gaston Eyskens (to 8 June) Jean Duvieusart (8 June to 16 August) Joseph Pholien (from 16 August) Events 12 March – Royal question: 1950 Belgian monarchy referendum A referendum on the monarchy shows 57.7% support the return of King Leopold III from exile to resume exercise of his constitutional powers, 42.3% against. The King has said he would abdicate if he did not receive 55% support, and that the final decision would be for the federal parliament. 18 March – The Belgian government collapses, after the March 12 referendum.https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/18/newsid_2840000/2840237.stm BBC News 1950: Government falls as Belgians vote for king 18 March 1950 15 April – After negotiation with politicians, Leopold announces that he would be willing to delegate his authority temporarily.Van den Wijngaert Mark Dujardin Vincent Nouvelle histoire de Belgique 2006 Éd. Complexe Brussels 2-8048-0078-4 La Belgique sans Roi, 1940–1950 142 4 June – 1950 Belgian general election. The result is a victory for the Christian Social Party and Jean Duvieusart becomes Prime Minister. This election is the last in Belgian history where a single party achieves an absolute majority. 20 July – Prince Charles, Count of Flanders, Prince Regent of Belgium since 1944, returns the authority of the throne to Leopold III. 22 July – Royal question: King Leopold III returns after a decade in exile, provoking a general strike, particularly in Wallonia.Ramón Arango E. Leopold III and the Belgian Royal Question 1963 Johns Hopkins Press Baltimore 5357114 30 July – 4 workers striking over the Royal question are shot dead by the Gendarmerie, at Grâce-Berleur near Liège.Witte Els Craeybeckx Jan Meynen Alain Political History of Belgium from 1830 Onwards 2009 ASP Brussels 978-90-5487-517-8 New 242 1 August – Royal question: King Leopold publicly announces that he will abdicate in favor of his son, Baudouin. 6 August – Monarchist demonstrations lead to a riot in Brussels. 9 August – Philipp Schmitt, 47, the German SS Sturmbannfuhrer who oversaw the deportation to Germany of prisoners from the Fort Breendonk concentration camp, near Antwerp, is shot by a firing squad in Antwerp, becoming the last person to be executed in Belgium.Schmitt The Oxford Companion to International Criminal Justice Cassese, Antonio Oxford University Press 2009 904 11 August – Baudouin of Belgium, Prince Baudouin, Duke of Brabant is administered the oath to become Prince Royal, exercising all of the powers of his father, Leopold III, who retains the title of King of Belgium. The Senate and Chamber of Deputies have approved Leopold's decision to relinquish power, 349–0 with eight abstentions.Baudouin Becomes Belgian Ruler Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 12 August 1950 1 Leopold will formally abdicate on 16 July 1951.Baudouin Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia Bernard A. Cook Taylor & Francis 2001 85 16 August – Joseph Pholien becomes Prime Minister of Belgium. 18 August – Communist anti-monarchist Julien Lahaut is assassinated in Seraing; no-one is brought to justice for the crime.Gérard-Libois Jules Lewin Rosine La Belgique entre dans la guerre froide et l'Europe: 1947–1953 1992 Pol-His Brussels 978-2-87311-008-6 148 25 August – Belgium creates the Corps Voluntaires Corea to fight in the Korean War, and sends 900 men in the 1st Belgian Battalion, who will arrive in December. They will have 102 men killed.Michael Varhola Fire and Ice: The Korean War, 1950-1953 Basic Books 2000 127-147 Publications Guido Gezelle and Karel van de Woestijne, Lyra Belgica I: Two Flemish Poets in English Translation, translated by Clark and Frances Stillman (New York, Belgian Government Information Center)https://archive.org/details/LyraBelgicaITwoFlemishPoets Lyra Belgica I; Two Flemish Poets 1950 New York, Belgian Government Information Center Births 19 February – Frie Leysen, festival director (died 2020) 23 October – Guy Bleus, artist 20 November – Véronique Caprasse, politician Deaths 14 April – Jean-Marie Van Cauwenbergh (born 1879), bishop 12 May – Anna De Weert (born 1867), painter 9 July – Charles Théodore Bernier (born 1871), engraver 18 August – Paul Peeters (born 1870), Jesuit References 1950 Belgium Category:Years of the 20th century in Belgium Category:1950s in Belgium Belgium