Editing Luxembourg (section)

=== German occupations and interwar political crisis (1890–1945) ===
{{See also|German occupation of Luxembourg during World War I|German occupation of Luxembourg during World War II}}
[[File:Alsace-lorraine.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Frontier with Alsace-Lorraine from 1871 to 1918]]

In August 1914, during [[World War I]], [[Imperial Germany]] violated Luxembourg's [[Neutral country|neutrality]] by invading it to defeat France.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://luxembourg.public.lu/en/society-and-culture/history/premire-guerre-mondiale.html |title=The First World War: German Occupation and State Crisis |website=Luxembourg.lu |date=9 January 2024 |access-date=24 January 2024 |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124093753/https://luxembourg.public.lu/en/society-and-culture/history/premire-guerre-mondiale.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Nevertheless, despite the [[German occupation of Luxembourg during World War I|German occupation]], Luxembourg was allowed to maintain much of its independence and political mechanisms.<ref>Michel Pauly, Geschichte Luxemburgs 2013 p.83</ref> Unaware of the fact that Germany secretly planned to annex the Grand-Duchy in case of a German victory (the [[Septemberprogramm]]), the Luxembourgish government continued to pursue a policy of strict neutrality. However, the Luxembourgish population did not believe Germany had good intentions, fearing that it would annex Luxembourg. Around 1,000 Luxembourgers served in the French army;<ref>{{cite book |title=About... The History of Luxembourg |publisher=Information and Press Service of the Government |date=2022 |isbn=978-2-87999-298-3 |url=https://luxembourg.public.lu/en/publications/ap-histoire.html |page=22 |access-date=24 January 2024 |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124084539/https://luxembourg.public.lu/en/publications/ap-histoire.html |url-status=live }}</ref> their sacrifices have been commemorated at the [[Gëlle Fra]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://luxembourg.public.lu/en/society-and-culture/history/gelle-fra.html|title=Gëlle Fra – a Hallmark of Society and Luxembourgish History|website=Luxembourg.lu|date=26 June 2023|access-date=24 January 2024|archive-date=24 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124093754/https://luxembourg.public.lu/en/society-and-culture/history/gelle-fra.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

After the war, Grand-Duchess [[Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg|Marie-Adélaïde]] was seen by many people (including the French and Belgian governments) as having collaborated with the Germans and calls for her abdication and the establishment of a Republic became louder.<ref name="Thewes 2003, p. 81">Thewes (2003), p. 81</ref><ref name="Kreins 2003, p. 89">Kreins (2003), p. 89.</ref> After the retreat of the [[German Imperial Army|German army]], communists in Luxembourg City and [[Esch-sur-Alzette]] tried to establish a [[Soviet republic (system of government)|soviet worker's republic]] similar to the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919|ones emerging in Germany]], but these attempts lasted only 2 days.<ref name="Kreins 2003, p. 89"/><ref name="Thewes 2003, p. 81"/>
In November 1918, a motion in the [[Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg)|Chamber of Deputies]] demanding the [[Abolition of monarchy|abolition of the monarchy]] was defeated narrowly by 21 votes to 19 (with three abstentions).<ref>Michel Pauly, Geschichte Luxemburgs 2013 p.84</ref>

France questioned the Luxembourgish government's, and especially Marie-Adélaïde's, neutrality during the war, and calls for an annexation of Luxembourg to either France or Belgium grew louder in both countries.<ref name="Michel Pauly p.85">Michel Pauly, Geschichte Luxemburgs 2013 p.85</ref> In January 1919, a company of the [[Luxembourgish Army]] rebelled, declaring itself to be the army of the new republic, but French troops intervened and put an end to the rebellion.<ref name="Michel Pauly p.85"/> Nonetheless, the disloyalty shown by her own armed forces was too much for Marie-Adélaïde, who abdicated in favour of her sister [[Grand Duchess Charlotte|Charlotte]] 5 days later.<ref>Dostert et al. (2002), p. 21</ref> The same year, in a [[1919 Luxembourg referendum|popular referendum]], 77.8% of the Luxembourgish population declared in favour of maintaining monarchy and rejected the establishment of a republic. During this time, Belgium pushed for an annexation of Luxembourg. However, all such claims were ultimately dismissed at the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]], thus securing Luxembourg's independence.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brousse |first1=Hendry |title=Le Luxembourg de la guerre à la paix (1918–1923): la France, actrice majeure de cette transition |url=https://hal.univ-lorraine.fr/tel-02887753/document |website=hal.univ-lorraine.fr |access-date=18 April 2021 |archive-date=3 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303094710/https://hal.univ-lorraine.fr/tel-02887753/document |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1939, the Luxembourg army increased to 425 due to Nazi Germany presence. On May 9, 1940 Luxembourg closed the defensive [[Schuster Line|Schuster line]] with Germany; one day later, Luxembourg's neutrality was violated again when [[Nazi Germany]]'s ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' [[Invasion of Luxembourg|entered the country]] "entirely without justification".<ref>{{cite book |section=The invasion of Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg |title=Judgment of the International Military Tribunal For The Trial of German Major War Criminals |location=London |publisher=HM Stationery Office |via=The Nizkor Project |date=1951 |url=http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi?imt/tgmwc/judgment/j-invasion-belgium |access-date=22 December 2021 |archive-date=7 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207020203/http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi?imt%2Ftgmwc%2Fjudgment%2Fj-invasion-belgium }}</ref> In contrast to the First World War, under the [[German occupation of Luxembourg during World War II]], the country was treated as German territory and informally annexed to the adjacent province of [[Nazi Germany]], [[Gau Moselland]]. This time, Luxembourg did not remain neutral as Luxembourg's [[Luxembourg government-in-exile|government in exile]] based in London supported the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]], sending a small group of volunteers who participated in the [[Invasion of Normandy|Normandy invasion]], and multiple [[Luxembourgish Resistance|resistance groups]] formed inside the occupied country.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.zug-der-erinnerung.eu/dostert.html|title = Luxemburg unter deutscher Besatzung 1940–45: Die Bevölkerung eines kleinen Landes zwischen Kollaboration und Widerstand|last = Dostert|first = Paul|website = Zug der Erinnerung|language = de|access-date = 23 April 2021|archive-date = 2 June 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190602113318/http://www.zug-der-erinnerung.eu/dostert.html|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://luxembourg.public.lu/en/society-and-culture/history/second-world-war.html |title=The Second World War: the Toughest Ordeal |website=Luxembourg.lu |date=9 January 2024 |access-date=24 January 2024 |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124090016/https://luxembourg.public.lu/en/society-and-culture/history/second-world-war.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

With 2.45% of its prewar population killed, and a third of all buildings in Luxembourg being destroyed or heavily damaged (mainly due to the [[Battle of the Bulge]]), Luxembourg suffered the highest such loss in Western Europe, but its commitment to the Allied war effort was never questioned.<ref>Michel Pauly, Geschichte Luxemburgs 2013 p.102</ref> Around 1,000–2,500 of Luxembourg's Jews were murdered in [[the Holocaust in Luxembourg|the Holocaust]].