Guys, an independent southern Netherlands isn't
THAT crazy. I mean, it had been part of the Burgundian, Austrian, and Spanish Empires for centuries, usually separate from the city-states and later United Provinces to the north.
It was only the radical Dutch Revolution from 1789-1804 when the Southern Netherlands became an inseparable part of the Netherlands. Further, only by the 1870s were they completely indistinguishable from say, Holland or Friesland; that was mainly a result of compulsory assimilation into Dutch language and culture. Otherwise, "Belgium", as silly as it might sound was a conceivable nation.
Could this country not come into being if the Netherlands mostly fall into the German sphere, and then some sort of buffer is needed between that German sphere and France? I could see it working as a neutral state. A bit like a coastal Swiss state. If they make it heavily decentralised, like the swiss example, it could easily work. If they try to make it too unitary, it will soon split into two halves.
Very plausible. Plus, if the Swiss today adulate the Ancient Romans and call themselves the "Helvetic Republic" after the ancient Helvetii, I don't see why some country couldn't revive say "Belgian" identity after the Belgae.