Wallonie Libre

The Rattachist flag

Wallonie Libre (French; literally Free Wallonia) is a small political movement in Belgium.

It is believed to have been founded on 18 June 1940 on site of the Battle of Waterloo in the Province of Brabant where Napoleon was defeated in 1815 by a British–Prussian army. Wallingants, the Walloon nationalists, used this battlefield during the Interbellum for propaganda and demonstrations. Wallonie Libre claims to have been the first Belgian resistance movement created during the German occupation in World War II.

Wallonie Libre organised the so-called Combat Wallon, the Walloon combat, leading to the 1980 Congress where the movement began to call for complete Walloon independence. It was notably involved in the Royal Question, the organization of the annual National Walloon Congress, and the Belgian general strike of 1960-61.

In 2005, Jacques Rogissart, the then national leader of Wallonie Libre, decided to join the Rassemblement Wallonie-France ("Wallonia-France Rally"), led by Paul-Henry Gendebien. He created a counter-organization called Nouvelle Wallonie Libre ("New Free Wallonia"). He was replaced by Jacques Dupont.

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