The general strike of 1932 was a major strike which broke out in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

on 7 July 1932. It began after a spontaneous strike by

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

rs in the

Borinage The Borinage () is an area in the Walloon province of Hainaut in Belgium. The name derives from the coal mines of the region, ''bores'' meaning mineshafts. In French the inhabitants of the Borinage are called Borains. The provincial capital ...

and involved communist agitation amid a severe decrease in living standards and real wages, as well as high unemployment, caused by the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Two people were killed during the strike which only ended on 9 September 1932. The strike served as the inspiration for the 1934

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

Misère au Borinage ''Misère au Borinage'' ( French; ), also known as ''Borinage'', is a 1934 Belgian documentary film directed by Henri Storck and Joris Ivens. Produced during the Great Depression, the film's theme is intensely socialist, covering the poor living ...

'' directed by

Henri Storck Henri Storck (5 September 1907 – 17 September 1999) was a Belgian writer, filmmaker and documentarist. In 1933, he directed, with Joris Ivens, ''Misère au Borinage'', a film about the miners in the Borinage area. In 1938, with Andre Thirifa ...

and

Joris Ivens Georg Henri Anton "Joris" Ivens (18 November 1898 – 28 June 1989) was a Dutch documentary filmmaker. Among the notable films he directed or co-directed are '' A Tale of the Wind'', '' The Spanish Earth'', ''Rain'', ''...A Valparaiso'', ''M ...

External links

La Grève générale de 1932. 'Qu’est ce que cette grève du Borinage sinon le peuple ouvrier qui se met en colère ?'
by Colette Hubert (Centre d'animation et de recherche en histoire ouvrière et populaire). {{Belgian general strikes 1932 Belgian_general_strike 1932 in Belgium Great Depression Socialism in Belgium Communism in Belgium July 1932 events 1932 labor disputes and strikes August 1932 events September 1932 events

Further reading

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