I only so good, like my sources, Belgium schoolbook, natives, Wikipedia
if they wrong, so do i...
And I‘m a German, not Flemish Nationalist
OK, well I guess it would be good to diversify your sources then. I really wonder from when your Belgian schoolbooks date; up until the seventies / eighties, quite a few Flemish nationalist myths had indeed made their way into textbooks. There has been since then a remarkable generation of Flemish historians who have done a great job to dispel many of these myths. Let me quote for instance Sophie De Schaepdrijver, Bruno De Wever or Herman Van Goethem. I would really advise you to read some of their books if you'd like to develop a more balanced and up-to-date perspective.
Regarding Wikipedia, well, we all know it can be the best and worse of sources. Some topics may be taken hostage by "contributors" who are more keen to defend a certain opinion than to present an accurate rendition of facts. Unfortunately, this is the case for quite a few themes that are dear to a certain type of Flemish nationalists, as I have experienced myself when I have tried to correct certain biased articles. I would therefore urge strong caution when using this source when it touches sensitive topics of Belgian history.
Now, very specifically about Flemish rights before and during WWI. While it is absolutely true that the Dutch language has been disparaged in Belgium since Independence in 1830, the so-called "Law of Equality" has been voted in 1905 (a decade before the conflict), and made Dutch equal to French as an official language and a language for the Administration. It is correct that in practice, there was still work to do to implement this law and many details were to be worked out, but real progress was being made. A sensitive point of contention was the lack of a University where classes were fully taught in Dutch.
When the Germans invaded Belgium, they did indeed try to play on that resentment. Now, that was not an altruistic move to support their Flemish brethren in their just struggle, but rather a cynical ploy to durably weakan the Belgian State. The internal proceedings of the Von Bissing administration make that ampy clear. The two main measures were the creation of a Dutch language University in Ghent, and the split of the Belgian administration between a Flemish and a Walloon branch. Regarding the university, most Flemings, even if they thought such a measure was overdue, did not want to receive such a gift from the invader, and the "Von Bissing University" (the sneer under which it became to be known) only counted a few dozen students.
Now against those marvelous benefits granted by the benevolent German occupier, that is the right to go to University in Dutch (which concerned only a very small share of the population in the time), and the right for a number of public servants to write their internal memos in Dutch instead of French, what was there:
- The bombing and destruction of magnificent old cities, such as Louvain, Antwerp or Ypres...
- Bloody massacres of civilians, like in Aerschot or Louvain
- Mass starvation (in this respect, WWI was much more worse than WWII for the Belgian population)
- Skyrocketing unemployment following the looting of Belgian industry
- Forced deportation of tens of thousands of workers towards Germany
- None of basic rights fully enjoyed in what was one of the more advanced democracies in Europe pre-war, such as free speech, free press, freedom of association, petition, reunion, etc.
So, where do you believe the trade-off laid with the Flemish population? Do you realize how distorted, if not insulting, it may come across to state that Flemings enjoyed so many more rights under German occupation?
In fact, the German occupation delayed the process of further putting the two languages on an equal footing, since the fact that certain measures had been granted by the German occupiers was seized by the people who opposed Flemish emancipation to brand them as unpatriotic. For instance, the University of Ghent was finally made into a Dutch-language university only 1932, whereas the discussions were well-advanced already in 1914. The war was really a setback in that respect. This, in turn, fed bitter feelings with many Flemings, who felt that they were poorly rewarded for their loyalty to the Belgian state and all the sacrifices they had made during the war. And in retrospect, this did nourish a number of myths I've already mentioned. But that is the correct order in which things happened. In 1918, the Flemish population rejoiced the departure of the Germans and demanded exemplary punishment of those who had collaborated with them.