From the start of Belgium until the first World War, the official language in the Belgian army was French and most officers were monolingual French-speaking. During World War I, a lot of soldiers were recruited to fight in the trenches. The majority of those soldiers were Flemish. The estimates of the number of Flemish soldiers who fought in the trenches range between 65% and 80% of the number of Belgian soldiers.[1] During the war, this resulted in the Flemish Movement, and the demand for more Flemish rights.
