The language planning activities undertaken by Belgium's government suggest that the goals of linguistic legislation have changed over time, reflecting the evolution and complex interplay of social, cultural, political, and economic characteristics. Initially, language legislation stemmed from the desire of Flemish militants to protect and promote their language in the northern provinces; but they neither questioned nor jeopardized francophone language rights. Once the right to use Netherlandic in Flanders had been granted, the government was pressured into instituting territorial monolingualism in Flanders and Wallonia while trying to protect the bilingual status of Brussels. This legislation eventually led to eradication of francophone privileges in the northern provinces. During the third wave of language planning activities, language legislation became embodied in the nation's constitution. Due to growing strength of the Flemish and Walloon movements, the state was restructured and French and Netherlandic ethnolinguistic communities were granted some power over language planning activities. In current language planning, there is neither complete delegation of powers nor total centralization of legislative powers. Belgium is now constitutionally divided into four linguistic territories, three linguistic and cultural communities, and three economic regions. (MSE)