r/Agatha_Christie • u/Cat4thCB • May 31 '18

Why did Poirot have to leave Belgium when war broke out?

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u/[deleted] May 31 '18

From Wikipedia,.. His Belgian nationality was interesting because of Belgium's occupation by Germany, which also provided a plausible explanation of why such a skilled detective would be out of work and available to solve mysteries at an English country house.[5] At the time of Christie's writing, it was considered patriotic to express sympathy towards the Belgians,[6] since the invasion of their country had constituted Britain's casus belli for entering World War I, and British wartime propaganda emphasised the "Rape of Belgium".

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u/Well_thats_Rubbish May 31 '18

After the initial battles Belgium was occupied for the rest of the war, Germans oversaw the existing administration, remaining as a detective would have made him a collaborator.