Belgian National Movement

Belgian National Movement Mouvement National Belge Belgisch Nationale Beweging
Participant in the Belgian Resistance (World War II)
Active	December 1940-September 1944
Ideology	Centre right: Liberal or Catholic[1]
Leaders	Aimé Dandoy Camille Joset
Headquarters	Brussels
Strength	15,200 (total)

The Belgian National Movement (French: Mouvement National Belge or MNB, Dutch: Belgisch Nationale Beweging, BNB) was a major group in the resistance in German-occupied Belgium during World War II.

History

The MNB was founded in Brussels in December 1940 by Aimé Dandoy.^[2] It focused on evacuating allied airmen, sabotage and intelligence gathering. Most of its members were recruited from the French-speaking middle classes, and maintained a center-right political stance which was more moderate than the powerful Belgian Legion group (later the Secret Army).^[3]

In September 1942, the group signed an agreement with the large left-wing Front de l'Indépendance group in order to co-ordinate their operations, however the groups were mutually suspicious and shared very different political ideologies which reduced their scope for greater collaboration.^[4]

In February 1944, most of the leaders of the group were arrested by German forces, effectively halting almost all the activities of the group, though the newspaper was still published until the Liberation of Belgium in September 1944.^[4]

Activities

The group ran the "Mill" intelligence network and was also active with the "Comet" Escape Line.^[4] It was also active in publishing a clandestine newspaper, La Voix des Belges.

References

1. Moore 2000, p. 52.
2. Dujardin & Van den Wijngaert 2010, p. 73.
3. Dujardin & Van den Wijngaert 2010, pp. 73-4.
4. Dujardin & Van den Wijngaert 2010, p. 74.

Bibliography

• Moore, Bob, ed. (2000). Resistance in Western Europe (1st ed.). Oxford: Berg. ISBN 1859732798.
• Dujardin, Vincent; Van den Wijngaert, Mark (2010). La Belgique sans Roi: Nouvelle Histoire de Belgique, 1940-1950. Brussels: Le Cri édition. ISBN 978-2-8710-6520-3.