Partition of Belgium (Scotland says "Yes")

The Partition of Belgium was the breakup of the Kingdom of Belgium in 2015. It originally gained interest in the 2007-2011 Belgian political crisis, and gained strength again in 2015. It resulted in the seperation of Belgium into several states.

Background
The territories roughly corresponding to the Netherlands, Luxembourg and former Belgium. They first emerged at the end of the Middle Ages as a series of independent and quasi-independent fiefdoms, linked to the Kingdom of France and Holy Roman Empire. The southern part of this region (Southern Netherlands, Prince-Bishopric of Liége, Imperial Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy and the Duchy of Bouillon) was divided both politically and linguistically. The feudal borders did not match the linguistic borders, and many fiefdoms were divided into both French and German regions. After the creation of the independent Dutch Republic in 1581 in the Northern Low Countries, French emerged in the Soutern Netherlands under Habsburg nobility, and French Invasions.

With the independence of Belgium in 1830, the divisions between French and Dutch speakers increased. Amongst European tensions, the Franco-Dutch state of Belgium gained independence as a buffer state between France and the Netherlands, though French became the sole official language, which Dutch speakers pushing for equal rights through the 19th and 20th centuries.

In the 1960's, seperatist regions were created along the nation's linguistic division, causing local minorities to be disenfranchised. As such, alongside the usual left-right political division, there was also a linguistic division, causing a double party system, complicating coalition creation on the national level.

In 2007 there was difficulty forming a government, coupled with a problem of the Brussels-Halle-Vivloorde electoral district and the rise of extremist political parties. Untill 2014, however, support for a unified state remained high, claiming the monarchy, national institutions and the linguistically and ethnically mixed Brussels served as unifying factors, and that a partition would be a blow the European Union's model of diverse cultures working together.

2015 Crisis
However, in 2014, support for independence rose again in Flanders. The recent independence of Scotland, and the success of Spanish Independence Movements, lead to increased tensions.