National Union Government (1945)

The National Union Government was a form of national government that governed the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg between 1945 and 13 February 1947, in the direct aftermath of the Second World War. During the war, Luxembourg was invaded, occupied, and annexed by Nazi Germany. Just one of the Luxembourgish casualties of the conflict was the pre war political system; most of the established parties and alliances disappeared, and some of the leading politicians had lost their lives.

After the liberation of the Grand Duchy in 1944, a temporary government comprising the CSV and the LSAP, dubbed the 'Liberation Government' , took office. No election had been held and no Chamber of Deputies was in place, so there was no need for this government to seek a broad based legislative coalition. However, after the war was concluded, Luxembourg returned to political functionality. Legislative elections were held on 21 October 1945, and all four parties won over 5 seats and 10% of the vote each: the CSV, LSAP, GD, and KPL. However, the CSV came just short of an absolute majority, winning 25 seats out of 51.

Atypically, Grand Duchess Charlotte decided to intervene in the political sphere, and asked CSV leader Pierre Dupong (who had been Prime Minister since 1937) to form a broader based coalition than Dupong had organised behind his Liberation Government. On 14 November, Dupong invited all four parties in the Chamber of Deputies to unite in his National Union Government. Dupong also included the only independent candidate in the cabinet. The LSAP ordered the nationalisation of the railways. The KPL sought to create a welfare state. Moreover, ideological differences were forcing the government partners apart. The cabinet divided along ideological lines in exactly the manner that the National Union Government was supposed to prevent. Dupong took exception to the LSAP's plans for the railways, whilst the KPL and LSAP attempted to distance themselves from the CSV's irredentism. Charles Marx died on 13 June 1946 and was replaced by fellow Communist Party member Dominique Urbany eight days later. In addition, on 29 August, the cabinet was reshuffled, with the independent Guillaume Konsbruck replaced by Lambert Schaus, a CSV member. From that date, the cabinet was:

Name Party Office Pierre Dupong CSV Prime Minister Minister for Finances and the Armed Forces Joseph Bech CSV Minister for Foreign Affairs and Viticulture Pierre Krier LSAP Minister for Employment, Social Security, and Mines Nicholas Margue CSV Minister for Education Minister for Religion, the Arts, Science, and Agriculture Victor Bodson LSAP Minister for Justice, Transport, and Public Works Eugène Schaus GD Minister for Interior and War Damage Lambert Schaus CSV Minister for Supply and Economic Affairs Dominique Urbany KPL Minister for Social Assistance and Public Health Source: Thewes (2003), pp. 122–3

The Resistance affiliated newspaper L'Indépendant, edited by Norbert Gomand, had been one of the sharpest critics of the government in exile. Finally, the government took the newspaper to court for defamation, in a trial starting in early 1946.

The reshuffle, in favour of the CSV, appeased the right wing dissidents and the two fifths of the population that had voted the CSV. However, it could not even paper over the cracks of the coalition, and the relationship deteriorated over the winter of 1946 7. On 20 January 1947, Pierre Krier, the leader of the LSAP, died. Unable to hold together the coalition without one of its leading lights, the government handed in its resignation on 13 February. Its replacement was another Dupong led coalition, but including only the CSV and GD. The LSAP would have to wait until 1951 to have another chance at governing. As of 2024, the Communists are still waiting.