Monument Count Charles de Broqueville

On Avenue Broqueville is the memorial, inaugurated in April 1965 :
"To Count de Broqueville
Minister of State, head of the Belgian
Government during World War I"
His political career with years is listed below.
On the medallion on the left is his statement:
"Vaincus peut-être
Soumis jamais!" (August 1914)

In November 1912, de Broqueville was Secretary of War.
In 1913 he passed a law that generalized military service. At the same time, he proceeded with a structural reorganization of the army so that Belgium could absorb the shock of August 1914.
On August 4, 1914, as head of the government, he appealed to the courage of the Nation in a landmark speech in parliament refusing to abide by the German ultimatum and thus drawing Belgium into the war. He ended with the words:
"…this people may be defeated, but never subdued."
When the government had to withdraw to Antwerp, he was one of the first to understand that they should not be surrounded because of the superiority of the enemy artillery.
During the Battle of the Yser, he settled in Dunkirk to constitutionally support the monarch's decisions and to fight any proposal for withdrawal in the General Staff.
In 1917 he was given the portfolio of Minister of Foreign Affairs and later that of National Reparation.
He was a fierce opponent of language disputes and proposed reforms concerning the use of Dutch in the fields of the army, education and the administration of justice.
In 1918, after the liberation, he became Minister of the Interior.

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Source

• Text: Marie-Christine Vinck
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck