Partitions of Luxembourg
Encyclopedia
There have been three Partitions of Luxembourg since 1659. Together, the three partition
s reduced the territory of Luxembourg
from 10,700 km² to the present-day area of 2,586 km² over a period of 240 years. The remainder forms parts of modern day Belgium
, France
, and Germany
.
All three countries bordering Luxembourg have, at one point or another, either demanded or effected the complete annexation
of Luxembourg, but all such attempts have failed. Conversely, there have been historical movements to reverse Luxembourg's loss of territory, but none of these came to fruition, and Luxembourgian revanchism
is only a fringe opinion today.
with the Kingdom of Spain. During the Franco-Spanish War
, France and England
had captured much of the Spanish Netherlands. Under the Treaty of the Pyrenees
, France received from Luxembourg the fortresses of Stenay
, Thionville
, and Montmédy
, and the surrounding territory.
The area taken by France from the Duchy of Luxembourg totalled 1,060 km² (409 sq. miles). This area accounted for approximately one-tenth of area of the Duchy of Luxembourg at the time.
, Luxembourg was annexed into France as part of the département of Forêts
. Upon the defeat of Napoleon
, under the 1814 Treaty of Paris
, Luxembourg was liberated from French rule, but its final status was to be determined at the Congress of Vienna
the following year. There, it was agreed that Luxembourg would be elevated to a Grand Duchy
, and that the House of Orange would receive all of the Low Countries
, including Luxembourg. However, Prussia
, which had received the whole of the Rhineland
and Westphalia
during the war, requested the fortress of Bitburg
, which would serve to form part of the German Confederation
's western border fortifications. As the rest of Luxembourg was changing hands anyway, the Dutch did not attempt to argue this point.
The Second Partition reduced Luxembourg's territory by 2,280 km² (880 sq. miles), or 24% of Luxembourg's contemporary area. Along with Bitburg, Prussia gained the towns of Neuerburg
, Sankt Vith
, Schleiden
, and Waxweiler
. Altogether, the lands had a population of 50,000. Today, these lands belong to both Germany and Belgium; the district of Eupen-Malmedy
was ceded by Germany to Belgium in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles
.
. At the outbreak of the Belgian Revolution
, most Luxembourgers joined the Belgian rebels, and took control of most of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; the only town that did not fall into Belgian hands was the capital, largest city, and most important fortress: Luxembourg City. The London Conference's first proposal was that the whole of Luxembourg would remain in personal union with the Netherlands, but this was rejected by Belgium's King Leopold I
. In July 1831, the Great Powers relented, and the Conference instead decreed that the status of Luxembourg would be decided later; the Netherlands, which had assented to the Conference's decision, invaded Belgium to force the Belgians to accept limitation of its territory. After the withdrawal of this force, the London Conference made its third suggestion, that Luxembourg be divided between the two, with most of the land going to Belgium, but with Luxembourg City remaining under Dutch control. Leopold agreed, and the treaty was signed on the 15 November 1831. Although the Dutch King William I
rejected this suggestion at first, after the stand-off had dragged on for several years, he gave way, and agreed to partition in 1839.
In the Third Partition, Luxembourg lost all of its western territories, including the towns of Arlon, Aubange
, Bastogne
, Durbuy
, Marche-en-Famenne
, Neufchâteau, and Virton
. They (along with the Duchy of Bouillon) later formed the Belgian Luxembourg province
, which is now a Walloon province and the largest in Belgium
. The territory ceded to Belgium was 4,730 km² (1,827 sq. miles), or 65% of the territory of the Grand Duchy at the time. The population of this territory was 175,000: half of Luxembourg's total population.
Partition (politics)
In politics, a partition is a change of political borders cutting through at least one territory considered a homeland by some community. That change is done primarily by diplomatic means, and use of military force is negligible....
s reduced the territory of Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
from 10,700 km² to the present-day area of 2,586 km² over a period of 240 years. The remainder forms parts of modern day Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
All three countries bordering Luxembourg have, at one point or another, either demanded or effected the complete annexation
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
of Luxembourg, but all such attempts have failed. Conversely, there have been historical movements to reverse Luxembourg's loss of territory, but none of these came to fruition, and Luxembourgian revanchism
Revanchism
Revanchism is a term used since the 1870s to describe a political manifestation of the will to reverse territorial losses incurred by a country, often following a war or social movement. Revanchism draws its strength from patriotic and retributionist thought and is often motivated by economic or...
is only a fringe opinion today.
First Partition
The first partition of Luxembourg occurred in 1659, when the Duchy of Luxembourg was in personal unionPersonal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
with the Kingdom of Spain. During the Franco-Spanish War
Franco-Spanish War (1653)
The Franco-Spanish War was a military conflict that was the result of French involvement in the Thirty Years' War. After Swedish allies were forced to seek terms with the Holy Roman Empire, First Minister, Cardinal Richelieu declared war on Spain because French territory was now surrounded by the...
, France and England
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...
had captured much of the Spanish Netherlands. Under the Treaty of the Pyrenees
Treaty of the Pyrenees
The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed to end the 1635 to 1659 war between France and Spain, a war that was initially a part of the wider Thirty Years' War. It was signed on Pheasant Island, a river island on the border between the two countries...
, France received from Luxembourg the fortresses of Stenay
Stenay
Stenay is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.It was one of the last villages to experience fighting during World War I. Stenay was captured on 11 November 1918 by the American 89th Division under General William M. Wright only hours before the Armistice went into...
, Thionville
Thionville
Thionville , is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. The city is located on the left bank of the river Moselle, opposite its suburb Yutz.-Demographics:...
, and Montmédy
Montmédy
Montmédy is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.-Citadel of Montmédy:In 1221 the first castle of Montmédy was built on top of a hill by the Count of Chiny. Montmédy became soon the capital of his territory - later it belonged to Luxembourg, Burgundy, Austria and...
, and the surrounding territory.
The area taken by France from the Duchy of Luxembourg totalled 1,060 km² (409 sq. miles). This area accounted for approximately one-tenth of area of the Duchy of Luxembourg at the time.
Second Partition
In 1795, during the French Revolutionary WarsFrench Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
, Luxembourg was annexed into France as part of the département of Forêts
Forêts
Forêts was a département of the French First Republic, and later the First French Empire, in present Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. Its name, meaning 'forests', comes from the Ardennes forests. It was formed on 24 October 1795, after the Southern Netherlands had been annexed by France on 1...
. Upon the defeat of Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
, under the 1814 Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1814)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May 1814, ended the war between France and the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, following an armistice signed on 23 May between Charles, Count of Artois, and the allies...
, Luxembourg was liberated from French rule, but its final status was to be determined at the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
the following year. There, it was agreed that Luxembourg would be elevated to a Grand Duchy
Grand duchy
A grand duchy, sometimes referred to as a grand dukedom, is a territory whose head of state is a monarch, either a grand duke or grand duchess.Today Luxembourg is the only remaining grand duchy...
, and that the House of Orange would receive all of the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, including Luxembourg. However, Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
, which had received the whole of the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
and Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
during the war, requested the fortress of Bitburg
Bitburg
Bitburg It is situated approx. 25 km north-west of Trier, and 50 km north-east of Luxembourg . One American airbase, Spangdahlem Air Base, is located nearby.-History:...
, which would serve to form part of the German Confederation
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
's western border fortifications. As the rest of Luxembourg was changing hands anyway, the Dutch did not attempt to argue this point.
The Second Partition reduced Luxembourg's territory by 2,280 km² (880 sq. miles), or 24% of Luxembourg's contemporary area. Along with Bitburg, Prussia gained the towns of Neuerburg
Neuerburg
Neuerburg is a town in the district Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.It is situated in the Eifel, near the border with Luxembourg, approx. 20 km north-west of Bitburg and 20 km north-east of Diekirch....
, Sankt Vith
Sankt Vith
St. Vith is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège, and in the German speaking community in Belgium. It was named after Saint Vitus....
, Schleiden
Schleiden
Schleiden is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies in the Eifel hills, in the district of Euskirchen, and has 13,957 inhabitants...
, and Waxweiler
Waxweiler
Waxweiler is a municipality in the county of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany.Geographical Location:The town is located in the Eifel, south of Prüm and is accessible through the Autobahn #60...
. Altogether, the lands had a population of 50,000. Today, these lands belong to both Germany and Belgium; the district of Eupen-Malmedy
Eupen-Malmedy
Eupen-Malmedy, or the East Cantons , is a group of cantons in Belgium, composed of the former Prussian districts of Malmedy and Eupen, together with the Neutral Moresnet...
was ceded by Germany to Belgium in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
.
Third Partition
The largest loss of land occurred in 1839, under the Treaty of LondonTreaty of London, 1839
The Treaty of London, also called the First Treaty of London or the Convention of 1839, was a treaty signed on 19 April 1839 between the European great powers, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Belgium. It was the direct follow-up of the 1831 'Treaty of the XXIV Articles'...
. At the outbreak of the Belgian Revolution
Belgian Revolution
The Belgian Revolution was the conflict which led to the secession of the Southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium....
, most Luxembourgers joined the Belgian rebels, and took control of most of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; the only town that did not fall into Belgian hands was the capital, largest city, and most important fortress: Luxembourg City. The London Conference's first proposal was that the whole of Luxembourg would remain in personal union with the Netherlands, but this was rejected by Belgium's King Leopold I
Leopold I of Belgium
Leopold I was from 21 July 1831 the first King of the Belgians, following Belgium's independence from the Netherlands. He was the founder of the Belgian line of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
. In July 1831, the Great Powers relented, and the Conference instead decreed that the status of Luxembourg would be decided later; the Netherlands, which had assented to the Conference's decision, invaded Belgium to force the Belgians to accept limitation of its territory. After the withdrawal of this force, the London Conference made its third suggestion, that Luxembourg be divided between the two, with most of the land going to Belgium, but with Luxembourg City remaining under Dutch control. Leopold agreed, and the treaty was signed on the 15 November 1831. Although the Dutch King William I
William I of the Netherlands
William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....
rejected this suggestion at first, after the stand-off had dragged on for several years, he gave way, and agreed to partition in 1839.
In the Third Partition, Luxembourg lost all of its western territories, including the towns of Arlon, Aubange
Aubange
Aubange is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the province of Luxembourg....
, Bastogne
Bastogne
Bastogne Luxembourgish: Baaschtnech) is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes. The municipality of Bastogne includes the old communes of Longvilly, Noville, Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, and Wardin...
, Durbuy
Durbuy
Durbuy is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Luxembourg. On 1 January 2007 the municipality had 10,633 inhabitants. The total area is 156.61 km², giving a population density of 67.9 inhabitants per km²....
, Marche-en-Famenne
Marche-en-Famenne
Marche-en-Famenne is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Luxembourg. It is the unofficial capital of the Famenne region, sandwiched between the Condroz, former land of the Condrusi, to the north and the Ardennes to the south....
, Neufchâteau, and Virton
Virton
Virton is the most southerly town in Belgium and the administrative centre of a Walloon municipality and district of the same name, located in the Belgian province of Luxembourg...
. They (along with the Duchy of Bouillon) later formed the Belgian Luxembourg province
Luxembourg (Belgium)
Luxembourg is the southernmost province of Wallonia and of Belgium. It borders on the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, France, and the Belgian provinces of Namur and Liège. Its capital is Arlon, in the south-east of the province.It has an area of 4,443 km², making it the largest Belgian province...
, which is now a Walloon province and the largest in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. The territory ceded to Belgium was 4,730 km² (1,827 sq. miles), or 65% of the territory of the Grand Duchy at the time. The population of this territory was 175,000: half of Luxembourg's total population.