Luxembourg in ww one

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War surprises Luxembourg - Paralysis of a country.

Monday, August 3, 1914.

Mersch, August 3. On Sunday, around 5:00 p.m., large German cavalry detachments arrived at this place. This morning, at 08:30 hours, almost 500 infantrymen arrived.

Ettelbrück, August 3. Yesterday, throughout the north line, the population waited for the night trains, which arrived with great delays. Out of breath, face to face, people stood there thinking that at any time they could arrive with larger troop transports. All stations, railroad crossings and tunnels are occupied by soldiers of the 29th Infantry Regiment. At 22:00 there was a curfew. Police officers are trying to calm the population to avoid any unpleasant incidents. But our people are far from thinking about generating skirmishes. On the contrary, you can even see how our people drink beer with those of the 29, and then let them tell them the difficulties that young soldiers are already having.

Diekirch August 3. Our town was occupied yesterday at 1:00 p.m. by a detachment of the 29th Trier Infantry Regiment. It was a detachment of cyclists carrying several baskets of carrier pigeons with them. The resident, former Trier merchant Schmitz, pointed to the commanding officer about Diekircher's relations and led the soldiers to the mayor's office. It is clear that the soldiers say that France declared war on Germany: that is why they are now engaged in Luxembourg. That was not the case on Sunday. Officially, it had been reported that Germany had declared war on Russia and, at the same time, had asked France, in the form of an ultimatum, what the French Republic intended to do in view of this declaration of war. From a response from France until Sunday afternoon, nothing was known.

Vianden, August 3. The trains of the cantonal railway to Diekirch no longer circulate. The administration seems to have suspended the service. So far, however, the narrow gauge railway has not transported any troop train to Diekirch.

Wormeldingen, August 3. The government confirms the report that police officer Rausch of Wormeldingen, along with his son, were arrested by German soldiers and taken to Trier for alleged espionage.

Sources: http://waldbillig.lu/la-commune-la-regi ... es-landes/
https://www.histolux.org/get_file.php?i ... vnr=162728
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... llwald.jpg

Cheers. Raúl M .

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War surprises Luxembourg - Paralysis of a country.

Monday, August 3, 1914.

August 3rd. - The villager of the town, Math. Herber, as well as the municipal ranger Val. Bisdorf de Berdorf, were arrested and taken by German soldiers. No one knows the reason. In Kautenbach there are more than 100 German military. In Schüttburg another 25 (Ardenneszeitung 05. August)

Monday, August 3. - The French ambassador in London has filed a claim for violation of neutrality in Luxembourg; However, it remains to be seen whether England, as the signer and guarantor of Luxembourg's neutrality, will consider this violation of the law as a reason for intervention.

Monday, August 3. - Germany declares war on France at 6:40 p.m. The reason was an imaginary French air attack in Nuremberg.

August 3rd. - King Albert I rejected the German ultimatum, which required the free passage of German troops through Belgium. During the night of August 03 to 04, German troops entered the country, breaking Belgium's international neutrality guaranteed since the 1830s. Belgian heroic resistance found veneration throughout Europe and, therefore, Germany became The beast of the continent. Albert I assumed command of the Belgian armed forces and the Belgians managed to stop the advance of the Germans, thus giving time to prepare for the battle of the Marne. The Belgian king resumed his resistance to Germany from France and his wife Elisabeth served as a nurse in the front. Luxembourg was then, and not only by the reception of the emperor, isolated in Europe. The Luxembourgians were divided in their attitude towards neighboring countries and depended too much on the German capital.

Monday, August 3. - • In the country, radio-amateur telegraph stations were destroyed by the German army.

• In Merl, at the request of the German army, seven houses located in the line of fire were evacuated. All telephone and telegraphic connections with foreign countries were interrupted.

• French Ambassador Mollard told Eyschen that, in view of the German occupation of Luxembourg, in the future the French government will deal only with its own interests. Eyschen replied that the Grand Duchy was not to blame for the events in Luxembourg and that at all times, in the strictest manner, he had fulfilled his obligations.

Sources: http://waldbillig.lu/la-commune-la-regi ... es-landes/
https://www.histolux.org/get_file.php?i ... vnr=162728

Cheers. Raúl M .

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War surprises Luxembourg - Paralysis of a country.

August 4, 1914.

August 4th. - The Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg declares before the German Reichstag that the military occupation of Luxembourg is contrary to international law and adds: "We will repair the injustice we do." - In the episode there will always be talk of a "friendly occupation". One of the first victims of the war on the French side was born in Orleans in 1873, the poet Charles Péguy, who fell as a lieutenant in Villeroy. After his death, he still exerted a great influence on the intellectual development of France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Excerpts from the speech: We are in self-defense and do not need any commandment. .. Our troops occupied Luxembourg and perhaps entered Belgian territory. This contradicts the requirements of international law. The French government has declared in Brussels that it wants to respect Belgium's neutrality as long as its opponents respect it. France could wait, we could not. A French invasion of our flank in the lower Rhine would have been fatal. Then we were forced to cancel the legitimate protest of Luxembourg. The injustice we do with it will be resolved as soon as our military objective is achieved. Who is as threatened as we are and fights for the supreme, is someone who can only think how he will overcome it .......

August 4th. - Belgium rejects the German ultimatum. After the German invasion of Belgium, England declares war on Germany in defense of Belgium's neutrality. The fortifications destined to guarantee the defense of Liege surrendered. Visé is devastated.

August 4th. - German Social Democrats vote in the Reichstag for war credits.

August 4th. - The "Reichsmark" replaces the Luxembourg franc as a means of payment.

Beginning of August. The German Plenipotentiary Minister von Bruch, under the direction of General von Fuchs, demands the departure of authorized representatives from France and Belgium. The German General Staff establishes a military command center in Luxembourg, which operates independently of the Grand Duchess and the House in the country. This military command ordered the arrest of Luxembourgians, who were taken to Germany, where they were convicted. Some were sentenced to forced labor and death. Due to the intervention of the Grand Duchess, the death sentences were commuted to custody. (Müller).

Sources: http://waldbillig.lu/la-commune-la-regi ... es-landes/
https://www.histolux.org/get_file.php?i ... vnr=162728

Cheers. Raúl M .

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Air attacks on Luxembourg during World War I.

Between 1914 and 1918, Luxembourg was attacked by British and French air forces. Although the attacks mainly focused on heavy industry and supply routes, the population suffered also among the numerous bombings.

Sources: https://hum.lu/air-attacks-on-luxembour ... ld-war-one

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Air attacks on Luxembourg during World War I.

Although motor aircraft were still in their infancy at the outbreak of the war, the belligerents anticipated the possibility of military use of aerial machines and included them in their war planning from the beginning. The capital of the neutral Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which the German troops occupied militarily on August 2, 1914, was exposed between 1914 and 1918 to twenty-two air strikes. Some 310 bombs were dropped, which cost 28 lives and injured 71 people more or less severely. Property damage was estimated at approximately 1 million francs. The attacks on Luxembourg City not only shed light on a little known aspect of everyday urban life during World War I, but also show the rapid development of aviation and its importance for allied military operations on the western front.

The beginnings of the air war.

On August 23, 1914, shortly after midnight, a deaf detonation was heard in the immediate vicinity of the station. The first witnesses initially said that it was the explosion of projectiles from Longwy, where at that time one of the so-called border battles was taking place in Luxembourg. But in fact, the five grenades had been launched by a French flying machine coming from the direction of Bonneweg (district located southeast of Luxembourg City). One of the projectiles that fell on the International Hotel and did not explode could be recovered. The arm length grenade had a diameter of 10 cm and weighed an estimated 2 kg. It was full of melinite, a dangerous self-inflammable explosive that was already used in the 19th century. Some eyewitnesses thought they had seen an aircraft.

The pilot, who probably returned from the battlefield at Neufchâteau on the night of August 23, had as a secondary mission to damage trains in Luxembourg to hinder the movement of German troops. No one was injured in the attack on August 23, 1914. The damage to the houses attracted many spectators in the following days and became a popular postcard motif. The municipalities of Hollerich and Luxembourg were the first to adopt passive air protection measures and until further notice every night they should turn off the street lights at midnight.

Source: Kollateralschäden? Die Stadt Luxemburg und der Luftkrieg 1914-1918.

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Air attacks on Luxembourg during World War I.

On May 27, 1915, three French squadrons took off from the Malzéville airfield in Nancy and carried out a bombing of the BASF nitrate factory, 400 km away in Ludwigshafen-Oppau. Thus began the strategic day and night bombings of the Allies from Nancy and since the spring of 1916, in Luxembourg the iron industry in the south of the country. The French army had changed its air strategy and now deliberately deployed airplanes as a combat assets behind the front lines.

The aircraft usually had a pilot and a gunner. The weight of grenades turned into bombs remained a central problem in the armament of light aircraft. The gunner had the bombs stored in drawers on the sides of the aircraft and threw them by hand over the target with the naked eye. On the aircraft's course corrections, crew members coordinated by hitting the shoulder.

On Sunday, October 3, 1915 at 08:30 hours, with a clear sky, the city of Luxembourg was bombarded by a French squadron flying at high altitude The attack took place during the period of the autumn battle in Champagne and Artois and the goal was again the railway station, which was important as a node of five railway lines for the movement of German troops.

Calculation errors meant that bomb attacks spread from Limpertsberg through Clausen, Grund to Bahnhofsviertel and Hollerich. The damage record of the twenty-four bombs remained low. However, in the attack, four people were injured for the first time by bomb splinters and broken window glass. A study of the failures revealed that incendiary bombs approximately 27 cm long and 71 mm thick, some of which were marked with a star, a heart and a clover, were full of phosphorus. Again, the impacts attracted many curious.

Source: Kollateralschäden? Die Stadt Luxemburg und der Luftkrieg 1914-1918.

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Air attacks on Luxembourg during World War I.

The protection measures.

The nearby city of Trier had taken, after the strong air raid on Karlsruhe on June 15, 1915, already in September 1915 measures against air strikes. Its plan, in addition to the night blackout, was to ask the population with sirens and bells to seek refuge in the nearest house. Similar arrangements were made in Luxembourg City. However, they did not work because of the lack of cooperation between the municipalities of Luxembourg and Hollerich, as it was demonstrated in the third attack against Luxembourg on June 18, 1916 at 01:45 hours. That night the streets of the city became dark, while in Hollerich the gas lanterns were lit. The French night attack was accompanied by an attack on the industrial zone in the south of the country and hit the town's population without preparation.

Since November 1915, a large electric siren was installed in the tower of the Cercle building, which was activated when necessary by police guards and was connected to the factory sirens and the station siren. However, on June 18, 1916, the sirens did not sound, which was also due to the inaccuracy of the microphones used to activate the alarm. These made no difference between the sound waves of trains, steelworks and airplanes. A sound capture developed by an electrician from Esch/Alzette in 1916 promised an improvement.

Some residents of the city seemed to ignore the seriousness of the situation. A Luxembourgian complained that an owner had denied him access to his pub during a night air raid. Curious people stayed in the streets while the anti-aircraft alarms sounded or opened the windows of well-lit rooms as they scanned the night sky in search of airplanes. On September 9, 1916 and March 10, 1917, air defense regulations tightened.

Source: Kollateralschäden? Die Stadt Luxemburg und der Luftkrieg 1914-1918.

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Air attacks on Luxembourg during World War I.

Luxembourg railway station.

Until 1918, the strategic bombings of the city were generally caused by movements of material and German soldiers in a rush to the front at the Luxembourg station. This was the case on June 18, 1916, when the German military government increased its army with 30,000 men for the offensive against Fleury, Thiaumont and Côte Froide Terre in Verdun on June 23.

On February 10, 1917, there was a double attack against the industrial area in the south and the city, since the German military leadership ordered the concentration of troops and material on the so-called Hindenburg or Siegfried line, which was far behind the first line in Artois and Champagne. The loading and maneuvering yard of Zwickau and its two highly visible halls with thirty to forty locomotives were first bombed on July 23 and 24, 1917. In the spring of 1918, more attacks followed.

The strategic night bombing of cities and industrial plants in the far rear did not bring the desired results to the French army and was very expensive. In addition the attacks of German Fokker fighters equipped with a machine gun switch, called as "Fokker Plage" for the allies, caused great losses to the French and British from the summer of 1915 until the spring of 1916.

Therefore, the French army command continued since 1916 more and more with the close air support of the ground troops on the Western Front. This included the bombing of industrial areas along the Mosel and Saar and railway nodes. The consequent uncertainty of the civilian population was a side effect that was expressly desired by army leaders.

Source: Kollateralschäden? Die Stadt Luxemburg und der Luftkrieg 1914-1918.

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Air attacks on Luxembourg during World War I.

The "go to bed."

The destructive power of the bombs had increased rapidly since the beginning of the war. In 1916, allied and German aircraft manufacturers developed aircraft propulsion technology so much that the machines were strong enough to carry heavy bombs. The French night attack on June 18, 1916, in which long-lasting phosphorus grenades were used, cost the lives of two people, injured six others and caused considerable damage to the property of the homes. During the attack on the malting at Clausen on September 16, 1917, around 23:00 hours, an explosive projectile with safety lock that had drilled a heavy T-bar, measured 123 cm high and had a diameter of 30 cm. The bombs that exploded in a garden in Clausen left funnels of five to six meters.

The night bombers flew low over the city, while the gunners located their targets with headlights connected to the fuselage of the aircraft. Many residents of the district of the bombed station repeatedly did not feel safe in the fall of 1917 at night and rented furnished rooms in other neighborhoods. Limpertsberg was considered particularly safe. Equipped with the most important documents, entire families left their apartments every night during the so-called "bedtime".

Source: Kollateralschäden? Die Stadt Luxemburg und der Luftkrieg 1914-1918.

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Air attacks on Luxembourg during World War I.

The bloody year 1918.

In the summer of 1917, the Allies turned many of their air reconnaissance aircraft into bombers. The special mounts for bombs were hereinafter standard equipment of all aircraft. In 1918, the strategic bombings on the western front were taken by English airmen. On April 1, 1918, the Royal Air Force emerged from the Royal Flying Corps as the first independent air force in the world.

To prevent the enemy from advancing, English aviators successively attacked bridges, railroads, tracks, stations and railroad maneuver yards. The station district and Bonneweg were bombed five times in March and April 1918 as part of the German spring offensive of 1918. The damage to civil property was large, to military targets, on the other hand, small.

At noon on March 28 and April 5, 1918, English planes dropped 50 kg bombs on crowded streets. Also from the combat machines, British gunners machine-gunned the streets and consciously caused civilian casualties. Since July 1916, British air forces had also been accused of carrying out reprisal attacks in Luxembourg for the Zeppelin bombings and German air strikes against English cities.

An effective defense against airplanes did not exist at that time in the capital. The two raids cost fifteen lives. Nineteen injured were treated at Zitha Hospital. The attacks caused a wave of solidarity with the victims, charity concerts were organized, the companies donated money and the railway workers' union opened a subscription list for the families of their three murdered members.

In a few days, the city established shelters open from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and established a so-called 50-man rescue column, consisting of police, firemen, masons, carpenters, doctors and workers in electricity, water works and gas This column should be ready for action when the bomb alert was activated to extinguish fires, recover buried victims, repair lines and come to the aid of the injured. At Zitha Hospital, the communes of Hollerich and Luxembourg established an intercommunal medical guard, which was open day and night.

Source: Kollateralschäden? Die Stadt Luxemburg und der Luftkrieg 1914-1918.

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Air attacks on Luxembourg during World War I.

The bloody year 1918.

The two municipalities and the state promised fast and unconventional financial assistance for the elimination of damage. The population of the affected districts was scared. Residents across the country have vacant homes and buildings. The rents were retroactively regulated by the minister to avoid usurious rents. The government even confiscated wagons to help those affected move. Of the 819 households in the danger zone, 437 were temporarily vacated. Special police patrols monitor abandoned houses.

On April 13, 1918, even sixty people were housed in Walferdingen Castle. The relocation posed numerous challenges to the administrations of the affected communities. For the education of refugee children, classrooms had to be established and teachers provided. Migrants were asked to register in the new communities to receive adequate rations of food that was already in short supply.

The facilities for the elections for the replacement of the late member of Parliament Vian in the canton of Luxembourg on April 25, 1918 were established in the immediate vicinity of the shelters. Voters were warned to exercise their political rights despite the particular situation and, at the same time, were asked to avoid crowds in front of polling stations.

On May 10, 1918, the German military administration put into operation an anti-aircraft battery on the walls of the Fetschenhof cemetery and strengthened the defense with cannons in Windmühl (streets) and in the area between the railway loading yard and the Hesperinger Forest. The measures were controversial, due to the damage that air defense weapons could cause in the surrounding houses, and prompted the Luxembourg government to protest against Berlin against its location, but it was in vain.

Source: Kollateralschäden? Die Stadt Luxemburg und der Luftkrieg 1914-1918.

Cheers. Raúl M .