Liberation Government (Luxembourg)

The Liberation Government was formed on 23 November 1944, when the government in exile came to Luxembourg from London and felt forced to include members of the Unio'n vun den Fraiheetsorgansatiounen, the umbrella group of the Luxembourgish Resistance which had been maintaining order since the liberation by American troops on 10 September 1944, in order to tame its critics.

On 23 February 1945 Robert Als and the aide-de-camp to the Grand-Duchess, Guillaume Konsbruck were added, as well as on 21 April 1945 Nicolas Margue, who was returning from resettlement.

One problem was that out of 55 pre-war Deputies, only 25 remained. The rest had been killed, resettled, or were suspected of collaboration with the Nazis. The government only wanted to organise new elections to the Chamber of Deputies when the war was over and people had returned from deportation. It therefore took decisions based on the laws of 1938 and 1939, which gave it increased powers in times of crisis. This provoked heavy criticism, so the government established a Consultative Assembly, which apart from the remaining Deputies also included members of the resistance.

21 October 1945 saw the first elections since the liberation, which provided the National Union Government on 14 November.

On 23 September 1944, only two weeks after the liberation of the capital by the US Army, the Luxembourgish government returned from exile. It was confronted with grave material and moral difficulties. The immediate priorities were the population's food supply, the provision of coke for heavy industry, purges, the repatriation of deported Luxembourgers and reconstruction.

Before the liberation of the country's territory, the Allies had recognised the Luxembourgish government in London as the sole legal representative of the Grand Duchy. However, after their return from exile, the four ministers found their authority greatly limited, even contested. On the one hand, politicians had to bow to the military interests of the Allies as long as the war against Nazi Germany was still ongoing. The Allies sent a mission of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, composed of American, British, Canadian and Luxembourgish officers. After the Liberation, this commission was de facto the supreme military and civil authority in Luxembourg. On the other hand, the Resistance movements, who sought moral legitimacy, contested the government's powers. To remedy the authorities' lack of power, the Unio’n's militia maintained order and arrested collaborators, which gave rise to abuses. The Resistance movements which were gathered in the Unio’n saw themselves as existing outside and above the traditional parties. In an appeal to the Grand Duchess, they demanded a new government. They accused the "London men" of being sluggish and unenthusiastic in their efforts to repatriate deported countrymen, and to punish collaborators. In response, Pierre Dupong decided to enlarge his government by including men who had lived in the country during the occupation. On 23 November 1944, Pierre Frieden joined the government to replace the minister for education, Nicolas Margue, who was still abroad after having been deported in the war. On 23 February 1945, the public prosecutor Robert Als was appointed minister for the interior and took over from Victor Bodson the difficult portfolio of purges. Guillaume Konsbruck, an officer and aide de camp to the Grand Duchess, became minister for agriculture. After his return from deportation, on 21 April 1945, Nicolas Margue rejoined the government, taking over the departments of agriculture and repatriation.

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