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.
This provoked heavy criticism, so the government established a Consultative Assembly, which apart from the remaining Deputies also included members of the resistance.
The immediate priorities were the population's food supply, the provision of coke for heavy industry, purges, the repatriation of deported Luxembourgers and reconstruction.
[1] 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.
[2] To remedy the authorities' lack of power, the Unio’n's militia maintained order and arrested collaborators, which gave rise to abuses.
[2] 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.
[2] 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.
[2] By choosing exile and actively taking the Allied side, the Luxembourgish government had broken with its traditional security policy based on neutrality.
[3] The gradual creation of an army with the help of the British would allow Luxembourg to participate in the occupation of Germany, and to be a party to the military agreements of the post-war period.
[4] To put these imprisonments on a legal footing and reduce arbitrary arrests, the government stipulated by decree of 12 October 1944 that only the minister for justice, advised by a special commission, could order internment.
[4] The battle of the Ardennes devastated the Oesling and the region around Echternach, displaced large numbers of the population and worsened the food supply situation.
[4] The creation of a National Labour Conference, which included representatives of business-owners, workers and the government, made it possible to resolve social conflicts by consensus.
[5] While the government ably dealt with the various socio-economic problems of the post-war period, it seemed unable to overcome one major worry: that of the repatriation of 30,000 Luxembourgers who had been deported in the war.