Belgium is a Tier III nation located in Europe 
. It shares borders with 
Luxembourg, 
France, 
Germany and the 
Netherlands.
Background
The country of Belgium gets its name from the original settlers of the area. They were a Celtic tribe called the Belgae. The Belgae lived in the area of Belgium until they were conquered by the Roman Empire in 100 BC. The area became a productive province of the Roman Empire for the next 300 years.
When the Roman Empire began to fade, Germanic tribes invaded Belgium and took over. Northern Belgium became very German during this time, learning the language and culture. The southern part of Belgium continued to act more Roman and spoke Latin. Over the next several hundred years Belgium came under the rule of many different dynasties and empires. For a while they were under the rule of the Spanish and then later the Habsburg Empire of Austria. Belgium's location made it the center of many European industries including textiles, commerce, and art. Great cities such as Brussels, Antwerp, and Ghent rose up to be leaders in the world. Belgium's central European location also made it the site of many wars, including being invaded by Germany in WWI and WWII.
In 1795, after years of Habsburg Austrian rule, Belgium became part of France after being captured during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1798, after heavy French conscription, the French became very unpopular in the region. After the wars it became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. This didn't last for too long, however, as the Belgian people rose up and rebelled against the Dutch. After the war, Great Britain made a guarantee that Belgium would keep its independence, later becoming the casus belli for Britain to join WWI. In 1830, they gained their independence. The Berlin Conference of 1884 granted the Belgian king, Leopold II, control over the Congo. He named it the Congo Free State and was meant to be an international free trade zone, but tens of millions of Congolese were killed. Lèopold also established the Congo Free State. After his death in 1908, the Congo Free State became part of the 
Belgian Empire. When WWI struck, the 
German Empire invaded Belgium to get through France. Tens of thousands atrocities were committed by the German Army. After WWI, Belgium was granted Eupen-Malmédy and 
Rwanda and 
Burundi. They owned a small occupation zone in Germany. When the Nazis came to power, they remilitarized the Rhineland. In 1939, Nazi Germany swept through the Low Countries, where their tactic, blitzkrieg (lightning war in German), rose to world attention. The Germans invade Belgium once again. The Belgians surrendered in just 18 days, but many Belgian troops and citizens were able to escape and formed the Free Belgian Forces in the UK. Tens of thousands of Belgian Jews were massacred by the Nazi regime. A Belgian resistance was formed which lasted 4 years from 1940 to 1944. The country was liberated by the Allies during the Ardennes Offensive, ending the horrendous occupation. Belgium became a founding member of NATO, the Benelux Community, and the European Union.
Because of the differences in cultures in Belgium, there is a formal border within the country that divides the country into different languages. They even have fairly different governments. In the north is the Dutch speaking area and in the South is French speaking. There is also a smaller area in the east that speaks German. In the very southeast, near Luxembourg, there is a minority that speaks Luxembourgish.
Base Statistics
Economy
Belgium has a subpar economy, but not for its size. It has a net income of $332,130, With the only expenses being the infantry homeguard of 30,000 costing $60,000
Resources
Belgium produces no resources.
Military
Belgium gains 598 manpower per tick. It's manpower capacity is 92,825. It has a 30k home guard in the capital, Brussels.
| Base Manpower Capacity of Belgium per Conscription Law | |
|---|---|
| The following columns below present the manpower capacity from lowest (Disarmed) to highest (Required). RP stands for "Recruitable Population". | |
| Disarmed [1% RP] |
|
| Volunteer [2% RP] |
|
| Limited [5% RP] |
|
| Extensive [10% RP] |
|
| Required [25% RP] |
|
Geography
Terrain
Belgium is completely flat, it is encompassed by the Great European Plains, This also makes it defenseless as it doesn't have any natural defenses.
Biome
Belgium is encompassed by Mild Winter from December until February, where it becomes temperate again. This still makes Belgium hard to defend.
Borders
Belgium borders the following countries with releasables. They are listed below.
With releasables:
Cities
Belgium has 10 cities, making it one of the smallest countries in Europe. It has one square city, Which is Brussels, and it also has Antwerpen a potential square city, These 10 cities make up the population of Belgium, which happens to be 4,641,244.
Politics
Ideology
Belgium starts off as a non-aligned nation at the start of the game.
Formables
Belgium has three formables and 1 mission:
Releasables
Belgium has 2 releasables which take up the majority of the country's land, when both released only the captial is left. Those releasables are:
Threats
- Netherlands and a skilled Luxembourg wanting to form
Benelux. (RARE) - France and Germany wanting to form the
Frankish Empire or attack you. (EXTREMELY COMMON) - France trying to form the
Napoleonic Empire. (RARE) - Any european nation trying to form the
European Union. (UNCOMMON-RARE) 
Austria and 
Liechtenstein trying to form the 
Holy Roman Empire. (RARE)
Italy requires your territories to form the 
Roman Empire. (EXTREMELY RARE)
United Kingdom invading you to get a foothold in mainland europe. (COMMON)
United States invading you to get a base in europe. (COMMON-UNCOMMON)- An expansionist
Russia. (COMMON)
Strategy
Belgium is a hard nation to play as due to the constant threat of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. A good way to counteract this is to attempt an alliance with the French player; thus getting the Netherlands off your back and any other foreign invader to think twice, and fortify Brussels. You need to build 2 electronics factories and buy the resources to produce, thus gaining money off selling. After this, it is advised you get ~150k troops and a military leader with at least +12% Defense. Put them both into a group. buy a single artillery unit and put that behind your mainline. Now, Germany attempts to tank rush you, Brussels will be defended from them.
Trivia
- Belgium is the only nation in the world to go without a government and somehow survived. It has also beat its own record of how long a nation can go for governmentless.
- French fries are Belgian, not French.
- There is a town with a population of 9381 which is owned by both Belgium and the Netherlands
- For Belgium it is called Baarle Hertog with a population of 2306 people
- For the Netherlands it is called Baarle Nassau with a population of 7075 people
