Question

Can someone tell me shortly why Belgium speaks french?

I understand they speak french and flemish but I mostly looking for the entire backstory when/why Belgium became a country with french as their official language. And please don't add too much extra stuff, keep it as simple as possible lol

Answer 1

Politically the country was once polarized on matters of religion and it has faced new divisions over differences of language and unequal economic development. This ongoing antagonism has caused far-reaching reforms since the 1970s and repeated governmental crises. It is now divided into three regions: Flanders (Dutch-speaking) in the north, Wallonia (French-speaking) in the south, and bilingual Brussels in the middle. There is also a German-speaking population along the border with Germany.German is the third official language of Belgium.

Answer 2

The capital city of Brussels originally shifted to speaking predominantly French for the same reasons the newly independent Belgium did: because it was considered the most prestigious language in Belgium at one time, both for getting access to higher education and well-paying jobs