Nice Neutrality, Would Be A Pity If Something Happened To It

Those poor Belgians

A narrative of Belgium as the linchpin of 20th Century conflict history. 

1 - Colonial violence in the Congo

2 - German invasion to get at France

3 - German invasion to get at France again

4 - NATO based in Brussels

In each of the first three conflicts, "sovereignty" is the key problem. The Belgian sovereign held the Congo as a personal property, then Congo struggled to establish a sovereign state; Belgian sovereignty was a barrier to two sides getting at each other, twice; the post-WWII order of western Europe was headquartered in Brussels, circumventing the sovereignty problem of mutual defense at last.