German occupation of Luxembourg during World War I

On 28 July, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, which, in turn, required the mobilisation of Russia, and hence of Germany, thanks to its responsibilities under the Dual Alliance.

[6] 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.

[10] 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).

[16] Bethmann Hollweg attempted to prove his country's regret by offering Luxembourg compensation for the losses due to the military presence.

In an internal memorandum, not discovered until midcentury, Bethmann Hollweg proposed that Luxembourg become a German federal state, and for that result to be forced upon the Luxembourgish people once Germany achieved victory over the Triple Entente.

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.

[20] To the same end, Eyschen refused to speak ill of the German Zollverein,[5] even though he had talked openly of exiting the customs union before the war began.

[22] 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.

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 [Roman Catholicism] to be stolen while I have the key.

He had also been of great importance to Marie-Adélaïde; the Grand Duchess had never been groomed for the position,[28] was 53 years Eyschen's junior, and was considered both politically naïve and dangerously partisan for a constitutional monarch.

[citation needed] 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.

[citation needed] The day after Eyschen's death, Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde invited Mathias Mongenast, who had been Minister for Finance since 1882, to form a minority government.

Increasing numbers of Luxembourgers turned to the black market,[34] and, to the consternation of the Luxembourgish government, the German army of occupation seemed to do little to help.

Sensing the threat of civil disobedience or worse, von Tessmar threatened any individual committing an act of violence (in which he included strike action) with the death penalty.

As the National Union Government was collapsing, Kauffmann arranged an alliance between his Party of the Right and Moutrier's Liberal League, seeking to achieve change that would outlive the occupation.

Ultimately, the constitution was amended to prohibit the government from entering into secret treaties, to improve deputies' pay (hitherto set at just 5 francs a day),[46] to introduce universal suffrage, and to change the plurality voting system to a proportional one.

Said article had not been amended in the overhaul of 1868, and its text had remained unchanged since the original constitution of 1848, stating unequivocally that all sovereignty resided in the person of the Grand Duchess.

The Chamber of Deputies voted to review Article 32, but Kauffmann refused to allow it, seeing the redefinition of the source of national sovereignty as covert republicanism.

[45] This was compounded further by the news on 26 August of the engagement of the Grand Duchess' sister, Princess Antonia, to Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, who was Generalfeldmarschall in the German army.

[48] Pressure mounted on Kauffmann; with his party still strong, but with his personal reputation shattered, he was left with no option but to resign, which he did on 28 September in favour of Émile Reuter, another conservative.

[53] Luc Housse, the Mayor of Luxembourg City, told the advancing American army that the Germans had, on the whole, been disciplined and well-behaved in the previous three weeks: a marked improvement upon his numerous complaints earlier in the conflict.

[55] 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.

[60] The dynasty's hold on power would be tenuous until September 1919, when a referendum on the future of the Grand Duchy found 77.8% in favour of continued rule by the House of Nassau-Weilburg.

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.

[13] 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.

Furthermore, to prevent economic embargo after the end of the customs union, the treaty allowed Luxembourg an indefinite option on German coal,[66] and prohibited Germany from levying duty on Luxembourgish exports until 1924.

Nonetheless, when it became apparent that the war would not be over quickly, the opinions of Luxembourg Americans changed; on 2 May 1915, the Luxemburger Brotherhood of America's annual convention decided to adopt English as its only official language.

[71] Other organisations were less inclined to change their ways; the Luxemburger Gazette opposed President Woodrow Wilson's supposed 'favouritism' towards the United Kingdom as late in the war as 1917.