'Remember Belgium' was a theme used in many Irish recruiting posters and speeches. For Irish Nationalists, Belgium as an independent, largely Catholic state, served as a model of what they thought Ireland under Home Rule could develop as. Ulster Unionists had strong commercial links with Belgium through the linen industry pre-war. Mainstream Nationalists and Unionists pledged their support for Belgium and provided homes and funds for Belgian refugees. The advanced Nationalist press, essentially allying itself with German from early in the war, suggested that stories of German atrocities in Belgium were fabricated.
Conference room, Town Hall (2nd floor) , Cloth Hall, Grote Markt 34, 8900 Ieper.
Part of the In Flanders Fields and University of Kent seminar series 2014-15.
More information: Dominiek.dendooven@ieper.be
