Journal of Belgian History, LIV, 2024, 3-4
This double thematic issue on Belgium and the Cold War, edited by guest editors Michael Auwers (CegeSoma/State Archives) and Widukind De Ridder (CegeSoma and KU Leuven), contains nine articles, fourteen doctoral summaries, and sixteen reviews.
As guest editors, Auwers and De Ridder first contribute a historiographical introduction. Giles Scott-Smith (Leiden University) places the Belgian case in an international context to present new perspectives for Belgian research. Thomas Briamont (University of Liège) presents his research on the role of the Communist Party of Belgium (CPB) in commercial relations between East and West. Doctoral researcher Manuel Herrera Crespo (KADOC-KU Leuven) authored an article on Belgian-Romanian relations between 1984 and 1990. Anse De Weerdt’s (UAntwerp) article focuses on the Belgian poet and journalist Yvonne Sterk and her reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Jan van der Fraenen (War Heritage Institute) examines Belgian-German relations in the Belgian occupation zone in West Germany between 1945 and 1955. Guest editor Michael Auwers’ article analyzes the reaction of the local press in rural Flanders’ Kempen region to the arrival of British military bases. Idesbald Goddeeris (KU Leuven) presents his new research based on the archives of Polish communist intelligence services. Finally, Widukind De Ridder, Dirk Luyten (CegeSoma/State Archives), and Bart Kerremans (KU Leuven) examine Belgium’s European position in the context of U.S. export restrictions on trade with Eastern Europe