The monument was "dual use" from the get go
"No more war" was one, the other was, very clearly, "no more dead Flemish soldiers due to Walloon officers". The latter was a myth but as time went on, "no more war" faded in the background and the myth was used to whip up an ever uglier nationalist fervor at the annual commemoration pilgrimage.
By the time it was becoming clear that "no more war" was a utopia, the movement had become one of collaboration with the Germans as they saw them as the best ever opportunity to finally break free of the "French speaking oppressor". From 1942 on, the monument and the meeting became recruiting tools to get volunteers to join the Waffen SS on the eastern front.
The resistance movement attempted to demolish the tower just before the end of hostilities in Europe but did not succeed. The army had more "go boom" left and finished the job in 1946.
Charlottesville did trigger some soul searching, however. There is now a movement afoot to find and rename the streets still named after some of the collaborators.
By the time it was becoming clear that "no more war" was a utopia, the movement had become one of collaboration with the Germans as they saw them as the best ever opportunity to finally break free of the "French speaking oppressor". From 1942 on, the monument and the meeting became recruiting tools to get volunteers to join the Waffen SS on the eastern front.
The resistance movement attempted to demolish the tower just before the end of hostilities in Europe but did not succeed. The army had more "go boom" left and finished the job in 1946.
Charlottesville did trigger some soul searching, however. There is now a movement afoot to find and rename the streets still named after some of the collaborators.