ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Belgian authorities’ attitudes toward two controversial episodes in the national past, the collaboration with Germany during Second World War and the colonization of Congo. The Belgian case indicates that the complexity is further increased in a context characterized by three main features: an ongoing federalization process, nationalist tendencies that emphasize particular narratives of the past to justify the need for independence, and relative indifference of the federal State, which does not provide a strong national counter-narrative. Besides the issue of amnesty, one key aspect of Belgian exceptionalism is a result of one of the most serious crises faced by the monarchy: the Royal Question. From 1945 to 1951, there was significant tension between the Belgian government and King Leopold III about his role during the war. While the government went into exile in France, Leopold III remained in Belgium and was taken into captivity in 1944.
