french: Parti Communiste de Belgique , abbreviation = KPB-PCB , colorcode = , leader1_title = Historical leaders , leader1_name = Joseph Jacquemotte

Julien Lahaut Julien Lahaut (6 September 1884 – 18 August 1950) was a Belgian politician and communist activist. He became leader of the Communist Party of Belgium after the First World War. A dissident during the German occupation of 1940–44, he became ...

Louis Van Geyt Louis Van Geyt (24 September 1927 – 15 April 2016) was a Belgian politician. Van Geyt was the last chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium, from 1972 to 1989. He was also the last MP of the party representing Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, from ...

, founder =

, founded = , dissolved = , merger = Communist Party

Belgian Communist Party french: Parti Communiste de Belgique , abbreviation = KPB-PCB , colorcode = , leader1_title = Historical leaders , leader1_name = Joseph JacquemotteJulien LahautLouis Van Geyt , founder = Julien Lahaut , founded = , dissolved = , merge ...

, successor = Kommunistische Partij
Parti Communiste , headquarters = Brussels , newspaper = ''De Roode Vaan'' (Flemish)
''Le Drapeau Rouge'' (French) , youth_wing = Communist Youth of Belgium , wing1_title = Paramilitary wing , wing1 =

Partisans Armés The Armed Partisans (french: Partisans armés, or PA) was a faction of the Belgian Resistance, resistance in German occupation of Belgium during World War II, German-occupied Belgium in World War II. The group was affiliated to the Belgian Communi ...

(1940-43) , membership_year = 1965 , membership = 11,000 (peak) , ideology = Communism
Eurocommunism , position =

Far-left Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...

, international =

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

(1919–1943)
Cominform (1947–1956) , european = , europarl =

Communist and Allies Group The Communist and Allies Group was a communist political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1973 and 1989. History The "Communist and Allies Group" was the first communist group in the European Parliament, founded on 16 October 1 ...

(1973–1989) , colours = Red , country = Belgium The Communist Party of Belgium ( nl, Kommunistische Partij van België, or KPB; french: Parti Communiste de Belgique, PCB) was a political party in Belgium from 1921 to 1989. The youth wing of KPB/PCB was known as the Communist Youth of Belgium. The party published a newspaper known as ''Le Drapeau Rouge'' in French and ''De Roode Vaan'' in Dutch.

History

The Communist Party of Belgium was formed at a congress in

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

, Brussels on 3–4 September 1921. KPB/PCB was formed through the unification of two groups, the Communist Party led by

War Van Overstraeten Eduard (War) Van Overstraeten (8 May 1891, Wetteren – 9 December 1981, Bruges) was a Flemish communist activist and painter. He was one of the founders of the Communist Party of Belgium. At the end of the First World War, he was a member of the ...

and the Belgian Communist Party led by Joseph Jacquemotte, following a split from the

Belgian Workers Party The Belgian Labour Party ( nl, Belgische Werkliedenpartij, BWP; french: Parti ouvrier belge, POB) was the first major socialist party in Belgium. Founded in 1885, the party was officially disbanded in 1940 and superseded by the Belgian Socialist P ...

. At the time of its foundation, KPB/PCB had around 500 members. KPB/PCB became the Belgian section of the Communist International. The party gained parliamentary presence in 1925, as both Van Overstraeten and Jacquemotte were elected to the Chamber of Representatives. By 1935 KPB/PCB had 9 deputies in the Chamber and 4 members in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. In 1938 it had a membership of about 8,500. During the Second World War, the party had to go underground during German occupation. The party was also closely affiliated with the

, a resistance group during the occupation, however in 1943 much of the party leadership was arrested by German forces. After the end of the war, the party was strengthened and obtained 25% in the parliamentary elections. The party participated in a coalition government with the socialists and the liberals from 1946 to 1947. On 18 August 1950 the party chairman,

, was assassinated. In the mid 1960s the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

estimated the party membership to be approximately 9,890. KPB/PCB lost its parliamentary presence in 1985. In 1989 KPB/PCB was divided into two separate parties, Kommunistische Partij in Flanders and Parti Communiste in Wallonia. Several foreign communist parties, American, British, German, French and Dutch, had branches in Belgium.

Chairmen of KPB/PCB

1945–1950 *

Ernest Burnelle Ernest Burnelle (12 July 1908, Liège – 5 August 1968) was a Belgian politician, member of the Communist Party of Belgium (PCB), and part of the Walloon Movement. The son of a worker who was an anarchist, Burnelle was first a teacher and th ...

1954–1968 *

Marc Drumaux Marc Drumaux (10 May 1922 – 15 November 1972) was a member of the Belgian Resistance, a leader of the Communist Party of Belgium (CPB) and a member of the Belgian federal parliament. Youth Born into a large family of railway workers, after le ...

1968–1972 *

1972–1989

General Secretaries of KPB/PCB

Edgard Lalmand Edgard may refer to the following: * Edgard, Louisiana *Edgard Félix Pierre Jacobs *Edgard Varèse See also *Eadgar (disambiguation) *Edgar (disambiguation) *Edgardo Edgardo is an Italian-language form of the name Edgar. It may refer to: *Edgar ...

1943–1954

Notable members

Bert Van Hoorick Bert Van Hoorick (31 January 1915 – 19 February 2000) was a Belgian politician and writer. He was a member of the Belgian parliament from 1946 up to 1949 and from 1958 until 1976. When 18 years old, he joined the Belgian socialist party ...

* Edward Gierek * René Magritte *

Charles Plisnier Charles Plisnier (13 December 1896, Ghlin – 17 July 1952, Brussels) was a Belgian writer from Wallonia. Biography He was a Communist in his youth and briefly belonged to the Trotskyist movement in the late 1920s. He disavowed communism, ...

Communist burgomasters (mayors)

Marcel Levaux Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian s ...

(1926–2006), last mayor of Cheratte (

Liège province Liège (; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is the easternmost province of the Wallonia region of Belgium. Liège Province is the only Belgian province that has borders with three countries. It borders (clockwise from the north) the Du ...

) from April 1971 to December 1976 (in 1977 this commune was absorbed into Visé), deputy from 1968 to 1981 *

René Noël René (''born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name (Renée being the feminin ...

, last mayor of

Cuesmes Cuesmes (; wa, Cweme) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Mons, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The famous artist, Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Du ...

(

Hainaut province Hainaut (, also , , ; nl, Henegouwen ; wa, Hinnot; pcd, Hénau), historically also known as Heynowes in English, is a province of Wallonia and Belgium. To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders (clock ...

) from 1965 to 1971 (in 1972 this commune was absorbed into

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

), senator from 1949 to 1950, then again from 1954 to 1974 * Marcel Mereau, mayor of Hensies (

) * Elie Hoyas, mayor of Le Roeulx (

) from 1976 to 1982 *

Marcel Couteau Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian s ...

, mayor of Le Roeulx (

) from 1982 to 1985, deputy from 1968 to 1974 *

Henri Glineur Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the 'List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Montm ...

, mayor of Roux (now a part of

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

) from 1947 to 1950, senator from 1946 to 1954 * René Mathy, last mayor of Vyle-et-Tharoul (in 1977 this commune was absorbed into

Marchin Marchin (; wa, Mårcin) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Marchin had a total population of 5,114. The total area is 30.00 km² which gives a population density of 170 inhabitant ...

) * Paul Carette, mayor of Warchin (in 1977 this commune was absorbed into

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

)

Election results

In the 1971 and 1977 General Elections, the Communist Party used separate lists for both Flanders and Wallonia, despite remaining a single party
It is unclear whether the Communist Party decided not to run separate lists for the 1974 General Election or the data for regional lists is simply not available

Sources

Geschiedenis van de Belgische KP

References

{{Authority control Belgium Defunct communist parties in Belgium Political parties established in 1921 Political parties disestablished in 1989 1921 establishments in Belgium 1989 disestablishments in Belgium