Liberation Government

The Liberation Government was formed on 23 November 1944, when the government in exile came to Luxembourg from London and felt forced to include members of the Unio'n vun den Fraiheetsorgansatiounen, the umbrella group of the Luxembourgish Resistance which had been maintaining order since the liberation by American troops on 10 September 1944, in order to tame its critics.

On 23 February 1945 Robert Als and the aide-de-camp to the Grand-Duchess, Guillaume Konsbruck were added, as well as on 21 April 1945 Nicolas Margue, who was returning from resettlement.

One problem was that out of 55 pre-war Deputies, only 25 remained. The rest had been killed, resettled, or were suspected of collaboration with the Nazis. The government only wanted to organise new elections to the Chamber of Deputies when the war was over and people had returned from deportation. It therefore took decisions based on the laws of 1938 and 1939, which gave it increased powers in times of crisis. This provoked heavy criticism, so the government established a Consultative Assembly, which apart from the remaining Deputies also included members of the resistance.

21 October 1945 saw the first elections since the liberation, which provided the National Union Government on 14 November.