BELGIUM: Explosive Crisis

Europe's most explosive crisis last week was in Belgium. The man who might detonate it. King Leopold III, was in St. Wolfgang in the Austrian Alps. Reports that he might come home sent angry citizens swirling through the streets, shouting: "Down with Leopold!'' "Hang the King!" Defiant Walloons (French-speaking Belgians) threatened to bar his reentry into the country with their bodies. Socialist Premier Achille van Acker threatened to resign if King Leopold set foot on Belgian soil. There were rumors that Britain might intervene to restore Leopold to his throne.

Loud Resentment. Except for the Catholics, all Belgian parties of...

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