User:Dr Gangrene/Luxembourg crisis of 1919

End of the war
By the autumn of 1918, Germany's position in the war was becoming untenable. The massive Spring Offensive had been an unmitigated disaster, whereas the Allied counter-attack, the Hundred Days Offensive, had driven Germany back towards its own borders. On 6 November, General von Tessmar announced the full withdrawal of German soldiers from Luxembourg. Five days after von Tessmar's announcement, Germany signed an armistice treaty, which brought an end to the war of four years. One of the terms of the armistice involved the withdrawal of German soldiers from Luxembourg, along with the other occupied countries.

The Allied Powers agreed that the German withdrawal from Luxembourg would be observed by the United States, and that the USA would receive the honour of liberating the captive country. On 18 November, General John Pershing issued a proclamation to the people of Luxembourg, stating that the United States' newly formed Third Army would move through Luxembourg to occupy the German Rhineland, but that the Americans would come as allies and as liberators:

"After four years of violation of its territory, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is to be fortunately liberated. ... American troops enter the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg as friends, and will abide rigorously by international law. Their presence, which will not be extended longer than is absolutely necessary, will not be a burden upon you. The operation of the government and institutions will not be impeded.  Your lives and livelihoods will not be disturbed.  Your person and your property will be respected."

The following day, American soldiers crossed the Franco-Luxembourgish border, and were greeted as liberators by the Luxembourgish population. Finally, on 22 November 1918, the German army completed its withdrawal from Luxembourg, ending its occupation.

Germany's defeat created the perfect opportunity for the Allied powers to resolve the Luxembourgish question once and for all. By removing Luxembourg from Germany's sphere of influence, they hoped to guarantee its continued independence, and thus preserve the peace they had won. On 19 December, at the instigation of the British and French governments, the Luxembourgish government announced its withdrawal from the Zollverein and an end to the railway concessions that Luxembourg had previously granted Germany.

Rebellion and the monarchy
Although the Allies were satisfied at this remedy, at the time, the Luxembourgish government was threatened by a communist insurgency. After the retreat of the German army, revolutionaries established Russian-influenced Workers' councils across Luxembourg. On 10 and 11 November, shortly after Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg had declared a 'socialist republic' in Germany, workers' and farmers' councils were formed in Luxembourg City and in Esch-sur-Alzette, at the instigation of the Cercle d'études socialistes; also on 10 November, communists in Luxembourg City declared a republic, but this only lasted for a matter of hours. These councils' goals were to abolish the monarchy, establish a republic, introduce universal suffrage and the 8-hour working day, nationalise key sectors of the economy (railways, steel, banks), and to make army officers electable by soldiers. It is difficult to evaluate how much popular resonance these movements had, but the parties of the left, which were initially taken by surprise, soon took up several of these demands to be achieved through the parliamentary route.

The socialists had been fired up by the behaviour of Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde, whose interventionist and obstructive streak had stymied even Paul Eyschen. On 12 November, socialist and liberal politicians, finding their old commonality on the issue, called for her abdication. A motion in the Chamber of Deputies demanding the abolition of the monarchy was defeated by 21 votes to 19 (with 3 abstentions), but the Chamber did demand the government hold a popular referendum on the issue.

In the face of these disturbances, the national union government headed by Emile Reuter (Party of the Right) had to make concessions, since the German army had departed without being replaced by another force to keep order. The government agreed to introduce the 8-hour day (enacted 14 December), and elected workers' representatives in every business, to negotiate with management (enacted 26 April 1919). A constitutional revision, voted on 15 May 1919, introduced universal suffrage. Luxembourg thus became one of the first countries to introduce suffrage for all men and women over 21.

Reuter proposed on 11 November, with the Grand Duchess' consent, to decide the dynastic question by a popular vote. However, the anti-clerical parties (socialists and liberals) demanded a vote in the Chamber from 13 November. A parliamentary motion to abolish the monarchy failed because of 3 absentions and 3 votes of the Freie Volkspartei. Although the left's early attempts at founding a republic had failed, the underlying cause of the resentment had not been addressed, and, as long as Marie-Adélaïde was Grand Duchess, the liberals would ally themselves to the socialists in opposition to her. The French government also refused to cooperate with a government led by a 'collaborator,' as they viewed Marie-Adélaïde; French Foreign Minister Stéphen Pichon called cooperation 'a grave compromise with the enemies of France'.

More pressing than either of these troubles, on 9 January, a company of the Luxembourgish army rebelled, declaring itself to be the army of the new republic, with Émile Servais (the son of Emmanuel Servais) as 'Chairman of the Committee of Public Safety'. However, by January, the vacuum left by the German withdrawal had been filled by American and French soldiers. President of the Chamber François Altwies asked French troops to intervene. Eager to put an end to what it perceived to be pro-Belgian revolutions, the French army crushed the would-be revolutionaries.

Nonetheless, the disloyalty shown by her own armed forces was too much for Marie-Adélaïde, who abdicated in favour of her sister, Charlotte. Belgium, which had hoped to either annex Luxembourg or force it into personal union, grudgingly recognised Charlotte on 13 February. The dynasty's fate remained in question until September 1919, when the referendum on the future of the Grand Duchy found 77.8% in favour of continued rule by the House of Nassau-Weilburg.

International dimension and annexationism
Despite the armistice ending the war, and the end of the revolts, Luxembourg's own future remained uncertain. Belgium was one of the countries hit hardest by the war; almost the whole of the country was occupied by Germany, and over 43,000 Belgians, including 30,000 civilians, had died as a result. Belgium sought compensation, and had its eye on any and all of its neighbours; in November 1918, Lord Hardinge, the Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Office, told the Dutch ambassador in London, "The Belgians are on the make, and they want to grab whatever they can."

Annexationist currents had existed in Belgium since the partition of 1839, but manifested themselves more and more openly during and after World War I. Some Luxembourgish liberals were not opposed to this, while some Luxembourgish socialists and the Tageblatt were oriented towards France. Solely the Party of the Right clearly supported the monarchy and national independence. When several Luxembourgish ministers traveled to Paris on 23 December 1918 to discuss the country's future, the French foreign minister, after Belgian diplomatic intervention, refused to receive the "ministers of the Grand Duchess".

From early 1919, Belgium engaged in a propaganda campaign to promote its vision of annexation. At the Paris Peace Conference, the Belgian delegation argued in favour of the international community allowing Belgium to annex Luxembourg. However, fearing loss of influence over the left bank of the Rhine, France rejected Belgium's overtures out of hand, thus guaranteeing Luxembourg's continued independence.

The resulting Treaty of Versailles in June 1919 set aside two articles (§40 and §41) to address concerns for Luxembourg's status. The main article, §40, revoked all special privileges that Germany had acquired in Luxembourg, with Germany specifically renouncing advantages gained in the treaties of 1842, 1847, 1865, 1866, February 1867, May 1867, 1871, 1872, and 1902. The effects of these treaties' revocation were then explicitly stated; Luxembourg would withdraw from the Zollverein, Germany would lose its right to use the Luxembourgish railways, and Germany was obligated to recognise the termination of Luxembourg's neutrality, thus validating the actions of the Luxembourgish government since the armistice. Furthermore, to prevent an economic embargo after the end of the customs union, the treaty allowed Luxembourg an indefinite option on German coal, and prohibited Germany from levying duty on Luxembourgish exports until 1924.

Economic partner
The Luxembourg government had denounced the German Zollverein, but the Grand Duchy's economy could not subsist in isolation from its neighbours. This meant that in the referendum of September 1919, the Luxembourgish people also had to choose their preferred economic partner. The outcome would be determined by political and economic reasons:

Over the months before the referendum, strong anti-Belgian sentiments developed in Luxembourg due to the barely veiled annexationist propaganda by Belgian diplomats. For several years, and especially since the start of the war, the latter had been making illusions over the feelings of the Luxembourgish population. They had not stopped taking potshots at Marie-Adélaïde, convinced that if the unpopular Grand Duchess fell, the Grand Duchy would join Belgium. During the whole war, Belgian diplomats tried to get France to declare its lack of interest in the Grand Duchy. In 1919, Belgium persuaded the Big Four to move back the date of the Luxembourgish referendum, but could not prevent it from happening, the principle of self-determination being one dear to the heart of US President Woodrow Wilson. The attitude of the Belgian authorities -- and their long-time refusal to recognise Charlotte as Marie-Adélaïde's legitimate successor -- provoked widespread anti-Belgian sentiments in Luxembourg, as shown in a protest on 17 April 1919 after the Allies intervened to move back the referendum's date.

With the exception of the wine-growers of the Mosel region and the farmers of Clervaux, most Luxembourgers favoured an economic partnership with France. The hope was that, with Lorraine now in French hands again, the region would supply iron ore to Luxembourg's steel industry, and France would buy the country's wheat. This much had been the unanimous conclusion of a commission of Luxembourg's leading economic actors on 2 January 1919. At the September 1919 referendum, the electors by a vast majority (73%) chose a union with France instead of Belgium.

Despite this Luxembourgish vote, French interest in an economic union with Luxembourg was negligible. France was only using the Grand Duchy to put pressure on Belgium to obtain a Franco-Belgian military convention, and in order to gain control of the Guillaume-Luxembourg railway lines, essential for its relations with the occupied Rhineland. This was why France had neither demanded Luxembourg for itself, nor consented to it being annexed by Belgium.

After the French refusal of an economic union, the Luxembourgish government had to approach Belgium. The latter had hoped for, at best, a complete annexation of Luxembourg, or otherwise a personal union of the monarchy, or a close economic and military union. In the end, after the Franco-Belgian military union was concluded, Belgium had to content itself with a customs union, the Union Economique Belgo-Luxembourgeoise, signed on 25 July 1921 and ratified on 5 March 1922. In 1935 the customs union was completed by a monetary union. Luxembourg was even able to maintain a system of agricultural subsidies, even though Belgium was an advocate of liberalism. This was a particular success for the right-wing Luxmbourgish government, which did not want to see rural areas depopulated, as this was where it drew its electoral support from.

Post-war economic crisis
The end of the Zollverein was to have grave consequences for the Luxembourgish steel industry, such as a lack of ore and coal, and a loss of markets. These grew into a general economic crisis, to which the UEBL only promised a long-term solution, not an immediate one. The population's discontent grew: the wartime lack of food persisted even after the armistice, prices remained high, and the decline in purchasing power was made worse by wage reductions and lay-offs. All of this provoked work stoppages and protests: in 1919-1920 there were no fewer than 27 local strikes. On 13 August 1919 the workers of Esch besieged the Chamber of Deputies in Luxembourg, where a ????. Parts of the working classes employed in Luxembourgish factories were influenced by the events of the Russian Revolution. The sale of businesses confiscated from German owners, to Belgian and French shareholders, only fuelled this discontent. The unions wanted to profit from the occasion to present their demands: recognition of unions by management, a minimum wage, maintaining employment even in times of crisis, preference for Luxembourgish workers, and paid holidays. A general strike was agreed in November 1919, but was cancelled by the unions.

This radicalisation of the workers' movement brought about a move to the left of the Berg- und Hüttenarbeiterverband, which merged on 29 February 1920 with the Metallarbeiterverband. The resulting Berg- und Metallindustriearbeiter-Verband (BMIAV) was led by socialists such as Pierre Krier and Nicolas Biever, and may be considered the precursor of the current OGBL. The Christian workers of the old neutral union, on the recommendation of the clergy, refused to condone this move to the left. Instead they founded the Letzebuerger Chreschtleche Gewerkschaftsbond (LCGB) on 21 January 1921. Ever since, the Luxembourgish trade union landscape has been ideologically divided in two camps.

In the face of massive lay-offs in early 1921, the socialist union organised in March 1921 a large strike and occupations of factories. As the business owners justified their draconian measures with the drop in sales, the union demanded the right to inspect the accounts. Managers responded with a lock-out: all workers, including non-strikers, were shut out, and blacklists prevented the ringleaders from finding work with other businesses. The strike failed, partly due to the disastrous economic situation, partly because the LCGB (and the Luxemburger Wort) as well as the railway workers did not cooperate with the strike. The Reuter government once again proclaimed its neutrality, under the pression of business owners and the French ambassador who feared a spread of labour unrest over the borders. The government even had to abolish the workers' delegations it had recently established. (These were re-created in 1925.) French troops, which were still present, intervened to put an end to the factory occupations.

Since this failure, and the loss of members this caused, the Luxembourgish unions tempered their demands, and started a policy of collaboration and consensus with government and business owners, abandoning the rhetoric of class war. The creation of professional chambers in 1924 assured legal elected representation for the principal social categories: traders, artisans (?), workers, employers, private employees and farmers. (Civil servants received their own chamber in 1964.) But it was not until 1936 that the two unions, working together in a demonstration of 40,000 workers, managed to bring about the abolition of article 310 of the penal code, which forbade the formation of unions. From the same year, they were able to negotiate collective contracts with businesses.