Belgian general strike of 1913

The general strike of 1913 (French: grève générale de 1913, Dutch: algemene staking van 1913) was a major general strike in Belgium. It was the third general strike aimed at forcing electoral reform and, like the general strike of 1902, was particularly aimed at ending the system of plural voting. It officially lasted between 14 and 24 April and brought out between 300,000 and 450,000 workers on strike.^[1] Despite its large participation, it was relatively peaceful.^[2]

Unlike the poorly organised 1902 strike, the general strike of 1913 was led by the Belgian Workers' Party (POB-BWP) and meticulously planned. The POB-BWP spent ten months in planning during the aftermath of the 1912 election and instructed workers to put aside money in advance. The party was also able to maintain control throughout the strike, preventing flare-ups of violence between strikers and police.^[3] The magnitude of the strike varied by economic sector and company but was strongest among coal miners in Wallonia.^[1] It was supported financially by a number of leading Belgians Liberals, including Émile Francqui and Raoul Warocqué, who believed that the only way to stop continued Catholic Party dominance was to end the plural voting system.

The failure of the 1902 general strike was partly due to the consensus between Catholic and Liberal politicians to block further electoral reform. In 1913, however, there was no agreement between parties and the Catholic prime minister, Charles de Broqueville, was willing to compromise.^[4][2] A commission was created, officially to review the franchise for municipal and provincial elections, in the expectation that it would recommend the suppression of plural voting. The German invasion of Belgium in August 1914 and the subsequent occupation delayed the implementation of the commission's proposal. Plural voting was finally abolished in 1919 and universal suffrage, giving the vote to all Belgian women, was only introduced in 1948.

See also

• General strikes in Belgium
• Belgium in the long nineteenth century
• 1913 Exposition universelle et internationale at Ghent which began on 6 April

References

Bibliography

• Dumoulin, Michel (2010). L'Entrée dans le XX^e Siècle, 1905-1918. Nouvelle Histoire de Belgique. Brussels: Cri Éd. ISBN 978-2-8710-6545-6. 
• Strikwerda, Carl (1997). A House Divided: Catholics, Socialists, and Flemish Nationalists in Nineteenth-century Belgium. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780847685271. 
• Witte, Els; Craeybeckx, Jan; Meynen, Alain (2009). Political history of Belgium from 1830 onwards (New ed.). Brussels: ASP. ISBN 978-90-5487-517-8. 

Further reading

• Flagothier-Musin, L. (1983). "La grève générale de 1913 dans l'arrondissement de Liège : analyse quantitative". Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis. 13 (2/3): 313–38. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1913 General Strike (Belgium).

• De grootste stakingen uit de Belgische geschiedenis at De Standaard