Answer

The end of the nineteenth century greets the introduction of the language laws, but they actually come too late to change the tide in Brussels. This is because nearly half of all inhabitants already speaks or can speak French in 1846 and the >Frenchification process has a snowball effect. As the upper layer of society speaks French, the middle section follows. Brussels is also the capital of Belgium, where the government has its seat and which attracts many government officials and industrialists. The language spoken in their positions is more or less exclusively French. So learning French is the only way to climb the social ladder. In Flanders, a new Dutch speaking intellectual elite gradually emerges in the nineteenth century, which adds prestige to the Dutch language. At the same time, the elite in Brussels remains exclusively French and Dutch remains the language of the lower classes. 

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