German Invasion Of Luxembourg (1914)

From August 1914 until the end of World War I on 11 November 1918, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was under full occupation by the German Empire. The German government justified the occupation by citing the need to support their armies in neighbouring France, although many Luxembourgers, contemporary and present, have interpreted German actions otherwise.

During this period, Luxembourg was allowed to retain its own government and political system, but all proceedings were overshadowed by the German army's presence. Despite the overbearing distraction of the occupation, the Luxembourgish people attempted to lead their lives as normally as possible. The political parties attempted to focus on other matters, such as the economy, education, and constitutional reform.

The domestic political environment was further complicated by the death of Paul Eyschen, who had been prime minister for 27 years. With his death came a string of short-lived governments, culminating in rebellion, and constitutional turmoil after the withdrawal of German soldiers.

Background

Since the 1867 Treaty of London, Luxembourg had been an explicitly neutral state. The Luxembourg Crisis had seen Prussia thwart France's attempt to purchase the Grand Duchy from the Netherlands. Luxembourg's neutrality was accepted by Prussia's then-Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, who said, "In exchange for the fortress of Luxembourg, we have been compensated by the neutrality of the country, and a guarantee that it shall be maintained in perpetuity."

Since the 1860s, Luxembourgers had been keenly aware of German ambition, and Luxembourg's government was well aware of the implications of the Schlieffen Plan. In 1911, Prime Minister Paul Eyschen commissioned an engineer to evaluate Germany's western railroad network, particularly the likelihood that Germany would occupy Luxembourg to suit its logistical needs for a campaign in France. Moreover, given the strong ethnic and linguistic links between Luxembourg and Germany, it was feared that Germany might seek to annex Luxembourg into its empire. The government of Luxembourg aimed to avoid this by re-affirming the country's neutrality.Thewes (2003), p. 56

In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the thrones of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated by pan-Slavic nationalists, leading to a sudden deterioration in relations between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Austria-Hungary was supported by the German Empire, while Serbia had the backing of the Russian Empire. On 28 July, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, which, in turn, required the mobilisation of Russia, hence of Germany, thanks to its responsibilities under the Dual Alliance.
Anticipating a retaliatory declaration of war from Russia's closest western ally, France, Germany put into action the Schlieffen Plan. Under this military strategy, formulated by Count Schlieffen in 1905, Germany would launch a lightning attack on France through the poorly defended Low Countries. This would bypass France's main defences, arranged to the south. Germany's army would be able to encircle Paris, force France to surrender, and turn its full attention to the Eastern Front.

Invasion

On 1 August 1914, Germany declared war on Russia. On the outbreak of war with its eastern neighbour, Germany put the Schlieffen Plan into action, and Luxembourg's government's fears were realised. Initially, Luxembourg was only a transit point for Albrecht von Württemberg's Fourth Army. One of the railways from the northern Rhineland into France passed through Troisvierges, in the far north of Luxembourg, and Germany's first infringement of Luxembourg's sovereignty and neutrality was the unauthorised use of Troisvierges station.

The next day, while French troops were still at a distance from the German frontier, Germany launched a full invasion. German soldiers began moving through south-eastern Luxembourg, crossing the Moselle River at Remich and Wasserbillig, and headed towards the capital, Luxembourg City. Tens of thousands of German soldiers had been deployed to Luxembourg in those 24 hours (although the Grand Duchy's government disputed any precise number that was suggested). Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde ordered that the Grand Duchy's small army, which numbered under 400, not resist. On the afternoon of 2 August she and Eyschen met the German commander '' Oberst'' Richard Karl von Tessmar on Luxembourg City's Adolphe Bridge, the symbol of Luxembourg's modernisation. They protested mildly, but both the young Grand Duchess and her aging statesman accepted German military rule as inevitable.

On 2 August, German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg justified the complete occupation of Luxembourg in terms of military necessity, arguing that France was ready to invade Luxembourg itself.Telegram from Bethmann-Hollweg to Eyschen (in German), 2 August 1914. The French minister in Luxembourg dismissed this argument, claiming that it would not have considered violating Luxembourg's neutrality unless Germany had done so first. Bethmann Hollweg attempted to prove his country's regret by offering Luxembourg compensation for the losses due to the military presence. On 4 August, Bethmann Hollweg told the Reichstag:

However, when it seemed that Germany was on the verge of victory, the Chancellor began to revise his statements. In his '' Septemberprogramm'', Bethmann Hollweg called for Luxembourg to become a German federal state, and for that result to be forced upon the Luxembourgish people once Germany achieved victory over the Triple Entente. However, the British and French halted the German advance at the Battle of the Marne in mid-September. This resulted in the indefinite continuation of German occupation.

Eyschen government

Just as the war was in the balance on the Western Front, so the fate of Luxembourg was see-sawing back and forth. It was clear to all that the good conduct of the Luxembourgish government, if fully receptive to the needs of the German military administrators, could guarantee Luxembourg's continued self-government, at least in the short-term. Eyschen was a familiar and overwhelmingly popular leader, and all factions put their utmost faith in his ability to steer Luxembourg through the diplomatic minefield that was occupation. On 4 August, he expelled the French minister in Luxembourg at the request of the German minister, followed by the Belgian minister four days later and the Italian minister when his country entered the war. To the same end, Eyschen refused to speak ill of the German '' Zollverein'', even though he had talked openly of exiting the customs union before the war began.

On occasions, Eyschen rebuked the occupying forces. On 13 October, a Luxembourgish journalist named Karl Dardar was arrested by the German army for publishing anti-German stories. He was then taken to Koblenz, and tried and sentenced by court-martial to three months imprisonment. Eyschen was outraged that the Germans had kidnapped a Luxembourgish citizen and tried him for an extraterritorial offence, and Eyschen did nothing to hide his indignation. Eyschen told the German minister in Luxembourg that the action was a 'direct injury to the Grand Duchy's national sovereignty'.

Similar complaints were made, by both Eyschen and Victor Thorn, when a railway worker was arrested in January 1915 for allegedly working for French military intelligence, and subsequently tried and sentenced in Trier. As Minister for Justice, Thorn was incensed that the Luxembourgish legal system had been treated with such disdain. Such objections were not received well by the German authorities. Although they were tired of Eyschen's stubborn ways, he remained a useful tool to unite the various Luxembourgish political factions. On 23 June a letter was sent to the Luxembourg government stating that the Germans considered Luxembourg to be a theatre of war and that the population, therefore, was subject to military law.

Eyschen was not the only person to be politically active during the occupation. In the summer of 1915, Eyschen pushed to further reduce the role of the Catholic Church in the state school system. Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde objected. A fervently religious Catholic (as was most of the country, but not her late father, who was Protestant), she was reputed to have said, "I will not allow their most precious heritage oman Catholicismto be stolen while I have the key." Marie-Adélaïde refused to budge, inviting Eyschen to resign if he could not accept her decision. Eyschen nearly resigned, but decided not to. Nevertheless, he died shortly after.

After Eyschen

Eyschen's death

On 11 October, Luxembourg's political system was thrown into disarray by the death of Paul Eyschen.Thewes (2003), p. 64. When war broke out, Eyschen had been 73 years old, but his premiership of 27 years was the only government that most Luxembourgers had known. Throughout the first year of German occupation, he had been a rock for the Luxembourgish people. He had also been of great importance to Marie-Adélaïde; the Grand Duchess had never been groomed for the position, was 53 years Eyschen's junior, and was considered both politically naïve and dangerously partisan for a constitutional monarch. The recent strains were relatively cosmetic.

Critically, Eyschen had the confidence of the Chamber of Deputies, and he had managed to hold together a government containing all major factions, seemingly by force of personality alone. To make matters worse for national unity, the strain of occupation had broken apart the pre-war anti-clericalist alliance between the socialist and the liberal factions, thus depriving both the clericalists and anti-clericalists of a legislative majority

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases