La Belgique entre la France et l'Allemagne, 1905-1914
Institution:
Paris 1Disciplines:
Directors:
Abstract EN:
Belgium seemed to be a field of competition between france and germany. It was an area sometimes favorable toward economic cooperation but was more often a site of political and commercial rivalry between the two neighbouring powers. The business relations, well-developed in this particular case, were characterized by certain dissymmetries. Encouraged by a commercial treaty, the trade between germany and belgium grew rapidy; whereas trade between belgium and france was greatly disturbed by several customs disputes. More than the french, the germans ware able to grow their influence through some banks and several holding companies founded in brussels. The decade befor the first world war was market by tensions between the two rival blocks. The belgium government tried hard to remain neutral and keep an egual balance between its two neighbours. This was in spite of press campaigns which influenced public opinion and french propaganda which was more activ than the german.
Abstract FR:
Entre la france et l'allemagne, la belgique apparait comme un point de rencontre, terrain parfois propice a la cooperation economique et, plus souvent, ,enjeu dans les rivalites politiques ou commerciales entre les deux grandes puissances voisines. Les relations d'affaires, exceptionnellement developpees, sont caracterisees par certaines dissymetries. Encourages par un traite de commerce, les echanges germano-belges s'accroissent rapidement tandis que les rapports avec la france sont genes par une longue guerilla douaniere. Les allemands plus que les francais parviennent a exercer une influence a travers certines banques et surtout quelques grands holdings bases a bruxelles. Dans la decennie d'avant-guerre marquee par les tensions entre les deux blocs rivaux, le gouvernement belge s'efforce de maintenir la neutralite et de garder la balance egale entre ses deux voisins, en depit des campagnes de presse qui agitent l'opinion publique et de la propagande encore plus active cote francais que cote allemand.