{"id":6871,"date":"2023-04-27T06:27:51","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T04:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/memories-of-ambassadors-a-history-of-the-ministry-of-foreign-affairs-and-luxembourg-diplomacy\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T10:08:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T09:08:11","slug":"memories-of-ambassadors-a-history-of-the-ministry-of-foreign-affairs-and-luxembourg-diplomacy","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/c2dh-en\/articles\/memories-of-ambassadors-a-history-of-the-ministry-of-foreign-affairs-and-luxembourg-diplomacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Memories of Ambassadors: A history of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Luxembourg diplomacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The aim of the oral history programme about Luxembourg diplomacy, conducted by the C\u00b2DH with the support of the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is to document the development of the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Luxembourg\u2019s foreign policy since the end of the Second World War.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany\u2019s invasion of Luxembourg on 10 May 1940 brought about a major doctrinal shift in the country\u2019s foreign policy. The government, in exile in London and North America until September 1944, abandoned the policy of permanent, unarmed neutrality that had been introduced by the Treaty of London in 1867. Joseph Bech, Foreign Minister since 1926, who had been committed to observing Luxembourg\u2019s neutral status to the letter, informed Prime Minister Pierre Dupong that this policy would no longer apply in a letter sent in January 1941.[1]<\/sup><\/a> In late August 1942, the Nazi occupiers suppressed resistance movements among the Luxembourg population against the introduction of forced conscription of young Luxembourgers into the German army. Hugues le Gallais,[2]<\/sup><\/a> Minister Plenipotentiary of Luxembourg in Washington, sent a letter to the US Secretary of State Cordell Hull on 8 September 1942 in which he emphasised that in view of events Luxembourg considered itself to be at war against the Axis powers.[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This paradigm shift in the history of Luxembourg diplomacy, imposed by the force of events, was not without consequences for the development of Luxembourg\u2019s diplomatic corps and activities after the Second World War. Luxembourg became a founder member of all the major international organisations established after the conflict: the United Nations (UN) in 1945, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC)[4]<\/sup><\/a> in 1948, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the Council of Europe in 1949, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951, and the Benelux, a customs union between Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, founded by means of an agreement signed in London in 1944 by the three governments in exile which came into force on 1 January 1948. It was clear that Luxembourg needed a professional diplomatic corps capable of informing, advising and representing the government in these organisations and in the new friendly and allied countries.[5]<\/sup><\/a> The Act on the Organisation of the Diplomatic Corps was adopted by the Chamber of Deputies on 11 June 1947.[6]<\/sup><\/a> The Act stipulated that \u201cthe diplomatic staff includes, in hierarchical order, the following officials: Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary, Legation Counsellors, Legation Secretaries, Legation Attach\u00e9s\u201d.[7]<\/sup><\/a> The next step was to find men to carry out the tasks assigned to the new diplomatic corps (no women were recruited as diplomats before the 1970s).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is difficult to trace the history of the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs, even today. The only documents available for consultation in the Luxembourg National Archives are those produced by the Ministry up to 1973. It appears that the new Archives Act[8]<\/sup><\/a> alone will not facilitate access. For this reason, the use of other sources like oral testimonies is essential. As well as filling the gaps in written sources that may be missing or inaccessible, oral sources shed light on both the individual and the collective, while also highlighting the networks in which the interviewed diplomats were involved throughout their lifetime.[9]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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