Party of the Right (Luxembourg)

The Party of the Right (Luxembourgish: Rietspartei, French: Parti de la droite, German: Rechtspartei), abbreviated to PD, was a political party in Luxembourg between 1914 and 1944. It was the direct predecessor of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), which has ruled Luxembourg for all but five years since.

The conservative PD was founded on 16 January 1914. Present at the founding were Émile Reuter, Émile Prüm, Mgr. Schiltz, Albert Philippe, Pierre Dupong, Joseph Bech and Mgr. Jean Origer. The founding of the party in 1914 was a reaction to the formalisation of the other ideological alliances within the Chamber of Deputies. The Socialist Party formed in 1902, whilst the dominant Liberal League was founded in 1904. The party's foundation also took part in a climate of Kulturkampf. When the Education Law of 1912 was passed by a majority in the Chamber of Deputies, several right-wing figures became convinced that it was necessary to organise themselves into a political party.

The name "Catholic People's Party" had initially been suggested, but was later rejected in favour of the term "Party of the Right", so as to be able to appeal to non-Catholics as well.

The PD benefited from the break-up of the Socialist-Liberal alliance after the death of Paul Eyschen, and soon became the dominant party, strengthened by the introduction of universal suffrage in 1918. The leader of the Party of the Right would serve as the Prime Minister from the end of the First World War until the start of the Second, except for a fourteen-month period in the mid-1920s.

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