German troops enter Luxembourg

Early on the morning of Sunday 2 August 1914 German troops entered the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. They crossed the bridges over the Moselle at Wasserbillig and Remich (PL) and moved towards the south of the country and towards the capital. Armoured trains carrying troops and ammunition ran along the railway from Wasserbillig. At 8.30 a.m. the Minister of State, Paul Eyschen, informed the German Minister, von Buch, that the station in Luxembourg and the line from Trier were already occupied.

Neutrality without an army

Luxembourg’s neutrality was guaranteed by the powers, Prussia among them, under the Treaty of London of 1867. The Grand Duchy had no army capable of defending it. What mattered to Germany were its railways, running towards France and Belgium. Under agreements with Germany, some of these lines were leased to the Reich and under German management.

For several days Eyschen had been trying to obtain assurances from both neighbours. On 31 July he asked Berlin for a declaration that Germany would respect the country’s neutrality as long as nobody else violated it. When the request was put to the Chief of the General Staff, Helmuth von Moltke, he replied that absolutely no regard would be paid to Luxembourg’s frontiers. On the evening of 1 August a few German officers and soldiers of an infantry regiment from Trier seized the station at Troisvierges, destroyed the telegraph office there and tore up 150 metres of track towards Belgium. They were soon recalled with the explanation that a mistake had been made, and Eyschen was ready to consider the incident closed once an apology was received.

Protests

Now there was no question of a mistake. At 6.35 a.m. Eyschen handed von Buch a protest against the “flagrant violation of the neutrality of the country”, reserving all the Grand Duchy’s rights. The protest was also sent by telegraph to Berlin and to the capitals of the powers. In it Eyschen wrote that the entry of the troops constituted acts manifestly contrary to the neutrality guaranteed by the treaty of 1867. At 10.45 a.m. Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde telegraphed directly to Emperor Wilhelm II: “At this moment the Grand Duchy is being occupied by German troops. My Government has lodged a protest in the proper quarter and has demanded an explanation. I beg Your Majesty to hasten this explanation and to respect the country’s rights.” Eyschen demanded to know whether the occupation would cover part of the country or all of it, and what its purpose was.

Berlin’s explanations

The answer was prepared before noon. Moltke dictated a draft note according to which Germany had been forced to enter Luxembourg suddenly because reports from France spoke of French forces advancing towards its frontier. In the end Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg sent a shorter telegram at 11.30 a.m.: the German military measures were not a hostile act against Luxembourg but solely the protection of the railways under German management against a French attack, and the Grand Duchy would receive full compensation for any damage. The same explanation was given in Paris and London.

Luxembourg could not count on help from its guarantors. That day the Foreign Secretary, Edward Grey, reminded the French Ambassador that the guarantee of 1867 was collective: in the case of Luxembourg the powers were to act in concert, whereas Great Britain had undertaken to defend Belgian neutrality on its own if need be. He regarded the violation of Belgian neutrality as a far more important matter.

Luxembourg remained under German occupation until the end of the war. It nevertheless kept its own government and institutions, and Eyschen called on its citizens to remain calm. That same evening Germany delivered an ultimatum to Belgium.