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Events in the year 1941 in Belgium
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| See also: | Other events of 1941 List of years in Belgium | ||||
Events in the year 1941 in Belgium
Leopold III was King of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until his abdication on 16 July 1951. At the outbreak of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the German invasion in May 1940, he surrendered his country, earning him much hostility, both at home and abroad.
Hubert Marie Eugène Pierlot was a Belgian politician and Prime Minister of Belgium, serving between 1939 and 1945. Pierlot, a lawyer and jurist, served in World War I before entering politics in the 1920s. A member of the Catholic Party, Pierlot became Prime Minister in 1939, shortly before Belgium entered World War II. In this capacity, he headed the Belgian government in exile, first from France and later Britain, while Belgium was under German occupation. During the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940, a violent disagreement broke out between Pierlot and King Leopold III over whether the King should follow the orders of his ministers and go into exile or surrender to the German Army. Pierlot considered Leopold's subsequent surrender a breach of the Constitution and encouraged the parliament to declare Leopold unfit to reign. The confrontation provoked a lasting animosity between Pierlot and other conservatives, who supported the King's position and considered the government's exile to be cowardly.
The Free Belgian forces were soldiers from Belgium and its colonies who fought as part of the Allied armies during World War II, after the official Belgian surrender to Nazi Germany. It is distinct from the Belgian Resistance which existed in German-occupied Belgium.
Robert Herman Alfred de Foy CBE was a Belgian magistrate, and head of the Belgian State Security Service, during the occupation of Belgium by the Nazis. This period of his life has led to considerable historical debate around de Foy's legacy, but in the post-war period he returned to his pre-war position, was decorated Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold II, and recognised as "Righteous Among the Nations" by the state of Israel.
The Belgian Government in London, also known as the Pierlot IV Government, was the government in exile of Belgium between October 1940 and September 1944 during World War II. The government was tripartite, involving ministers from the Catholic, Liberal and Labour Parties. After the invasion of Belgium by Nazi Germany in May 1940, the Belgian government, under Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot, fled first to Bordeaux in France and then to London, where it established itself as the only legitimate representation of Belgium to the Allies.
The royal question was a major political crisis in Belgium that lasted from 1945 to 1951, coming to a head between March and August 1950. The question at stake surrounded whether King Leopold III could return to the country and resume his constitutional role amid allegations that his actions during World War II had been contrary to the provisions of the Belgian Constitution. It was eventually resolved by the abdication of Leopold in favour of his son Baudouin in 1951.
Despite being neutral at the start of World War II, Belgium and its colonial possessions found themselves at war after the country was invaded by German forces on 10 May 1940. After 18 days of fighting in which Belgian forces were pushed back into a small pocket in the north-west of the country, the Belgian military surrendered to the Germans, beginning an occupation that would endure until 1944. The surrender of 28 May was ordered by King Leopold III without the consultation of his government and sparked a political crisis after the war. Despite the capitulation, many Belgians managed to escape to the United Kingdom where they formed a government and army-in-exile on the Allied side.
The German occupation of Belgium during World War II began on 28 May 1940, when the Belgian army surrendered to German forces, and lasted until Belgium's liberation by the Western Allies between September 1944 and February 1945. It was the second time in less than thirty years that Germany had occupied Belgium.
Events in the year 1940 in Belgium
Events in the year 1944 in Belgium.
Events in the year 1945 in Belgium.
Events in the year 1866 in Belgium.
Events in the year 1865 in Belgium.
The following lists events that happened during 1904 in the Kingdom of Belgium.
Events in the year 1895 in Belgium.
Events in the year 1847 in Belgium.
The following lists events that happened during 1885 in the Kingdom of Belgium.
The following lists events that happened during 1886 in the Kingdom of Belgium.
Events in the year 1942 in Belgium
This is a page of the events in the year 1943 in Belgium.
