Alexandre Galopin
Alexandre Galopin | |
---|---|
![]() Portrait of Alexandre Galopin | |
Born | Alexandre Marie Albert Galopin 26 September 1879 Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium |
Died | 28 February 1944 Etterbeek, Brussels, Belgium | (aged 64)
Nationality | Belgian |
Occupation | Businessman |
Known for | Galopin Doctrine |
Relatives | Benoît de Bonvoisin (grandson) |
Alexandre Galopin (26 September 1879 – 28 February 1944) was a Belgian businessman notable for his role in
Early career
Alexandre Galopin was born in Ghent, East Flanders in Belgium on 28 September 1879. His father was a university professor. Galopin pursued a career in business became in 1913 managing director of Fabrique national d'armes de guerre at Herstal which had originated as a manufacturer of firearms.[1] He championed its development into an important manufacturer of motor vehicles in Belgium. In 1935 he became governor of the Société Générale de Belgique (SGB), a giant holding company with close ties to the Belgian government which dominated the economy of Belgium and its colonial empire and controlled almost 40 percent of the country's industrial production.[2]
World War II
Belgium
- Max-Léo Gérard , banker and chairman of the Banque de Bruxelles
- Kredietbank
- Raymond Vaxelaire , head of the Au Bon Marché department store chain
- Willy de Munck, Chairman of the Générale de Banque
- Albert Goffin, official at the National Bank of Belgium and, from 1941, its governor
- Léon Bekaert, industrialist[3]
- Albert-Edouard Janssen, Chairman of the Société Générale de Belgique and former finance minister[3]
- Paul Tschoffen , Catholic Party ex-minister and lawyer
- Emile van Dievoet, Catholic Party ex-minister and law professor
Because of his power and influence within the Belgian wartime economy, Galopin was nicknamed "the Uncrowned King of Belgium" by German occupation officials.[6]
Galopin doctrine
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R46093%2C_Belgischer_Zwangsarbeiter_bei_Siemens.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R46093%2C_Belgischer_Zwangsarbeiter_bei_Siemens.jpg)
Part of the goal of the Galopin committee was to keep Belgian industry strong during the war to avoid leaving the economy crippled once the war ended. To that end, Galopin gave his name to a controversial policy known as the "Galopin doctrine" (Doctrine Galopin). Under that plan, Belgian companies should continue production under German occupation provided that they were producing goods for Belgium's civilian population (such as food or consumer goods) even if it would benefit the German war industry by relieving it from the need to export similar goods. However, Belgian companies should refuse to produce war materiel or goods that were directly usable in the German war effort.[7]
The aim of the policy was to prevent a repeat of the economic destruction which had accompanied the German occupation of Belgium during World War I, when workers and businessmen had been encouraged to resist German demands. That had led to the deportation of Belgian workers to Germany in 1916 and the confiscation of capital from firms, which was also sent to Germany. The policy had, in turn, caused unemployment and inflation that continued to damage the Belgian economy for years after the war.[8] Limited co-operation with the German occupiers in non-military production was hoped to limit the war's effects on the Belgian economy and to facilitate post-war economic recovery. It was therefore an extension of a similar policy of "lesser evil" (moindre mal) adopted by Belgian civil servants through the Committee of Secretaries-General. Initially, it was also supported by the Belgian government in exile.
In practice, the distinction between the limited co-operation in the Galopin doctrine and outright collaboration proved difficult to maintain. It was widely perceived as a form of collaborationism in the Belgian population.[9] After some initial acceptance, in 1941 and 1942, German officers began to force Belgian businessmen to disapply the distinction at the risk of personal punishment and the confiscation of their businesses.[10] In 1942, the occupation administration began to deport Belgian workers as forced labourers in Germany as during World War I. However, it has been argued that the co-operative approach represented by the doctrine did prevent German companies from expanding their control over the Belgian economy.[11]
The Galopin doctrine was similar to the policy of "co-operation" (samenwerken) in the German-occupied Netherlands and overseen by senior civil servants such as Hans Hirschfeld.[12]
Assassination
Galopin was assassinated in 1944 by members of
See also
References
- ^ Biographie Belge d'Outremer.
- ^ Van den Wijngaert & Dujardin 2006, p. 33.
- ^ a b c Mommen 2002, pp. 61–2.
- ^ Grosbois 2007, pp. 245–67.
- ^ Nefors 2006, p. 137.
- ^ Mazower 2008, p. 268.
- ^ Société Générale 1972, p. 147.
- ^ Société Générale 1972, p. 146.
- ^ Van den Wijngaert & Dujardin 2006, p. 35.
- ^ Van den Wijngaert & Dujardin 2006, p. 36.
- ^ Mazower 2008, pp. 268–9.
- ^ Mazower 2008, p. 269.
- ^ Gildea, Wieviorka & Warring 2006, p. 45.
Bibliography
- Van den Wijngaert, Mark; Dujardin, Vincent (2006). La Belgique sans Roi, 1940–1950. Vol. 2. Brussels: Éd. Complexe. )
- ISBN 978-0-713-99681-4.
- Mommen, André (2002). The Belgian Economy in the Twentieth Century. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-40348-8.
- La Société Générale de Belgique, 1822–1972. Brussels: Société Générale. 1972.
- Grosbois, Thierry (2007). "Les relations avec la Belgique occupée". Pierlot, 1930-1950 (in French). Lannoo Uitgeverij. ISBN 978-2-87386-485-9.
- Nefors, Patrick (2006). "La reprise industrielle (mai - septembre 1940)". La collaboration industrielle en Belgique, 1940-1945 (in French). Lannoo Uitgeverij. ISBN 978-2-87386-479-8.
- Gildea, Robert; Wieviorka, Olivier; Warring, Anette (2006). Surviving Hitler and Mussolini: Daily Life in Occupied Europe. Berg. ISBN 978-1-84520-181-4.
- "Galopin, Alexandre Marie Albert". Biographie Belge d'Outremer (PDF) (in French). Vol. IV. Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences. 1968. p. 383.
Further reading
- Van den Wijngaert, Mark (1990). L'Économie belge sous l'Occupation: La Politique d'Alexandre Galopin, Gouverneur de la Société Générale (PDF) (in French). Paris: Duculot. ISBN 9782801109441. Archived from the original(PDF) on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
- Luyten, D. (1994). "De "opdracht" van de regering aan het Galopin-Komitee op 15 mei 1940". Bijdragen tot de Geschiedenis van de Tweede Wereldoorlog. 16 (1): 163–172.