Belgian government in exile
Despite no longer having authority in its own country, the government administered the Belgian Congo and held negotiations with other Allied powers about post-war reconstruction.
Agreements made by the government in exile during the war included the foundation of the Benelux Customs Union and Belgium's admission into the United Nations.
In the days before his surrender, he allegedly attempted to form a new government under the pro-Nazi socialist Henri de Man though this was never realized.
[6] Meanwhile, Germany appointed General Alexander von Falkenhausen, an aristocrat and career soldier, as military governor of Belgium.
Jaspar held talks with Charles De Gaulle, and on 23 June gave a speech on BBC radio, in which he stated that he was personally forming an alternative government to continue the fight.
[5] Jaspar, joined by the Socialist burgomaster of Antwerp Camille Huysmans, along with other so-called "London Rebels" formed their own government on 5 July 1940.
[5] Albert de Vleeschauwer, Pierlot's Minister of the Colonies, arrived in London on the same day as the Jaspar-Huysmans government was formed.
[5] As the only Belgian minister with legal power outside Belgium itself, De Vleeschauwer, together with Camille Gutt who arrived soon after, on his own initiative, was able to form a temporary "Government of Two" with British approval in London.
[12] The offices of the Belgian government were situated close to other governments-in-exile, including Luxembourg, in Wilton Crescent,[13] and the Netherlands in Piccadilly.
[21] In March 1941, the Americans also sent an Ambassador, Anthony Biddle Jr., to represent the United States to the governments in exile of Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Norway.
[21] The Soviet Union, which had broken off diplomatic relations with Belgium in May 1941 (heavily influenced by the then-in force Nazi-Soviet Pact), re-established its legation to the government in exile in the aftermath of the German invasion and eventually expanded it to the rank of Embassy in 1943.
[24] A British Mass Observation report noted a "growing feeling against Belgian refugees" in the United Kingdom,[25] closely linked to Leopold III's decision to surrender.
[36] Through the agreements, the Belgian Franc's exchange rate would be tied to the American Dollar after the war, while the conference also established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of which Gutt would serve as the first director.
[37] In September 1944, the Belgian, the Netherlands and Luxembourgish governments in exile began formulating an agreement over the creation of a Benelux Customs Union.
[38] The agreement was signed in the London Customs Convention on 5 September 1944, just days before the Belgian government returned to Brussels after the liberation.
In large part, this was due to the fact that the government in exile retained control of most of the Belgian national gold reserves.
[5] Belgian propaganda of the time instead emphasized the King's position as "martyr" and prisoner-of-war and presented him as sharing the same sufferings as the occupied country.
[8] Although the King technically remained the only person able to receive diplomatic legations and conclude treaties, the government in exile was able to do both during the war independently.
[16] On the return to Belgium, the issue of the monarch remained contentious and on 20 September 1944, shortly after the liberation, Leopold's brother Charles, Duke of Flanders was declared prince regent.
[44] "We trust fully in the power of Britain to deliver us from German bondage ... We claim the right to share in the burden and honour of this fight in the measure of our modest, but not altogether negligible, resources.
We are not defeatists ..." The government of Jaspar-Huysmans called for the creation of organized resistance in occupied Belgium from London, even before the French surrender in 1940.
The radio station was essential for keeping the resistance and public alike informed, and was placed under the control of the journalist Paul Lévy.
[48] Despite this, the resistance was frequently reliant on finance, equipment and supplies which only the government in exile and the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) were able to provide.
[47] During the course of the war, the government in exile delivered 124–245 million francs, either dropped by parachute or transferred via bank accounts in neutral Portugal, to the Armée Secrète alone.
I must confess that this produced no reaction at all, neither hostility nor enthusiasm, just total indifference" Allied troops entered Belgium on 2 September 1944.
