2357: Franco-Belgian Border Stones Jun 1, 2021

A story broke the news recently of a Belgian farmer moving a border-stone into France, thereby shrinking France by a few square meters. The stones were officialized by the 1820 Treaty of Kortrijk but on the stones is written a few things which don't seem to go along with that. First, the stones say 1819 not 1820, but this is just because the stones were set before the treaty was finalized in March of 1820. They also have written on one side 'F' and on the other 'N'. It isn't 'north' and anyway the 'F' is for 'France'. Instead, when this treaty was signed, even though the borders remained mostly the same afterwards, Belgium was not a country and the territory it now comprises was for the most part within the borders of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.