Dupong-Schaus Ministry

The Dupong-Schaus Ministry was the government of

Background

The Dupong-Schaus Ministry came about when the

In an international political climate marked by the beginning of the Cold War, the Luxembourg government aligned itself definitively with the Western powers.^[2] It participated in different initiatives which put in place a system of military alliances between the countries of the West.^[2] On 17 March 1948, Luxembourg agreed to the pact of Brussels, in which France, the United Kingdom and the Benelux countries agreed to offer mutual assistance in case they were attacked.^[2] On 4 April 1949, Luxembourg signed the North Atlantic Treaty, which gave rise to NATO.^[2] These decisions were supported by the three major parties of the country, but not by the Communist Party.^[2]

Luxembourg, following the lead of the Allies, also normalised its relations with Germany.^[2] In 1949, it renounced its territorial claims, retaining only a forest near Vianden, the Kammerwald, as payment for war reparations.^[2]

Luxembourg also participated in the negotiations for putting the

Luxembourg's participation in international military alliances meant that it had to abandon its neutrality, and would have to revise its Constitution.^[4] The Chamber elected in 1945 had received the task of modifying several constitutional articles.^[4] The changes were voted through the parliament under the Dupong-Schaus government.^[4] The words "perpetually neutral" were struck from the first article.^[4] In addition, the constitutional revision of 1948 defined Luxembourg as a "parliamentary democracy", underlined the importance of free trade and freedom of industry, protected union rights, stipulated that the law guaranteed the right to work and organised social security.^[4]

In the coalition, Pierre Dupong and the Christian Social People's Party put emphasis on family policy by developing benefits for families.^[4] The law of 20 October 1947 created the first legal basis for family allowances for all workers.^[4] In addition, the government created the birth allowance.^[4] During the post-war period, a broad consensus existed around the principle of national solidarity: those who had remained unharmed should help those who had suffered in the war.^[4] This principle of solidarity also guided the government in its policy of reconstruction.^[4] On 16 April 1947, the Prime Minister pledged before the Chamber that war damages would be fully compensated.^[4] War damages were estimated at 11,1 billion francs.^[4]

Although the government managed to obtain protection clauses for Luxembourgish agriculture in the negotiations for the Benelux agreements and for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), there was a conflict between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Farmers' Central (Centrale paysanne).^[4] Created after the war, the latter had taken over the functions of the Chamber of Agriculture and had turned itself into a powerful union containing the vast majority of farmers.^[4] Under the leadership of its general secretary Mathias Berns, the Farmers' Central wanted to change Luxembourgish farming policy.^[4]

Ministers

1 March 1947 – 14 July 1948

14 July 1948 – 3 July 1951

Footnotes

References

• Thewes, Guy (2011). Les gouvernements du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg depuis 1848 (PDF) (in French). Service Information et Presse.
  ISBN 978-2-87999-212-9. Archived from the original
  (PDF) on 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2015-12-19.