Introduction The united and strong Europe – reformed along the principles introduced previously (see Enlightened Europism) – is going to be able to defend and promote its achievements globally only through a wise and decisive foreign policy with clear strategic aims. However, in my view, the necessary precondition of a successful foreign policy and diplomacy […] The post Reform #5: Armed forces appeared first on Enlightened Europism.
In: Armed forces & society: official journal of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society : an interdisciplinary journal, Volume 2, Issue 4, p. 477-494
Before 1914 the Belgian military held a relatively privileged position in Belgian society at each social level. The introduction of universal suffrage in 1919 encouraged veterans of WWI to become more vocal in stating demands, though they were generally still extremely well treated. The surrender of 1940 destroyed the prestige of the Belgian army, leaving Belgian soldiers, since 1960, feeling inferior to military personnel of other nations. In 1961 an association for the protection of military men's interests was founded; it occupies ambiguous status between that of a union & that of a charity, but it has been fairly active in Belgian politics. In 1975, new regulations were adopted for military personnel conduct which allowed trade unions but forbade strikes. By 1972 all military personnel were already represented by a single combined union. Some psychological & sociological aspects of military unions or syndicates are reviewed. 1 Table. W. H. Stoddard.
