Its population in 1812 was 246,333, and its area was 691,035 hectares.[4]
Regime
Forêts within the northern French Empire (1811)
Luxembourg's administrative, institutional, economic, social, and political framework was swept away without restraint. Rather than a simple transfer of sovereignty, such as Luxembourg had experienced many over the previous decades, this period was to put Luxembourg and surrounding areas on the path to a new kind of society.[5]:19–20
The privileges of the masters and confraternities of artisans were abolished in November 1795. Under the Austrian Netherlands, civil registrations (births, deaths, marriages) were left to the parishes, and linked to sacraments administered by the Church. From June 1796, this changed: registrations were performed by a civil registration officer. Luxembourg was a Catholic society, in which religion was omnipresent and resistant to change. In this traditional society, the secularisation of marriage and the introduction of divorce were fault lines, which caused great consternation.[5]:20
The institutions and administrative machinery introduced by the French in this period is the origin of today's government institutions in Luxembourg: districts (arrondissements), cantons and communes were introduced under the French, and continue to exist.[5]:20
French rule in Luxembourg provoked widespread discontent, for several reasons: religious persecutions, the suppression of the religious orders in the city of Luxembourg, military requisitions, taxation, and the introduction of obligatory military service from 1798. This discontent culminated in the Peasants' War that same year, a revolt in the northern part of the department that was limited to the peasantry. Among other classes of society, however, the benefits of the Napoleonic reforms met with a level of appreciation.[5]:20–21
At the same time, a fundamental characteristic of the French Revolutionary government, administrative centralisation, collided with Luxembourgish traditions: each department received a central commissioner. The department of Forêts saw four commissioners over the years, all of them from France proper.[5]:21
Economy
In the city of Luxembourg, due to the abolition of the corporations, a commercial and artisanal revolution took place, allowing a middle class to emerge, whose members could for the first time participate in political life under the French regime.[5]:22
Another development linked to the disappearance of the corporations occurred in the countryside: small artisanal business sprang up, often with only one employee. Employer and worker would enjoy a certain proximity, eating at the same table. In 1803, the livret d'ouvrier (labourer's booklet) was introduced. This was to list what work labourers did for whom, and a reference from their last employer every time they changed workplace. If travelling without their booklet, they could be reported as a vagabond, and punished accordingly. The Code civil's Article 1781 established the "legal superiority of the employer," while the Code pénal in 1810 forbade workers from forming trade unions. These provisions were evidence of a great mistrust of the world of the workers, who were seen as a danger to society. The overarching objective of the livret d'ouvrier was to keep under surveillance a social class judged seen as dangerous, and to prevent poaching of labourers amongst competing enterprises, in this period of manpower shortages. Finally, it represented an "effective means of domination by the employers," and "a veritable internal passport."[5]:23
Legacy
The Code civil, introduced by the French, had a profound impact on Luxembourgish society, and is still in force 200 years later. Luxembourgish law remains close to French law: Luxembourgish law students study in France or in Belgium. Arguments before the courts, and the announcement of verdicts, are conducted in French. Laws and regulations were published in French and German from 1816, but since 1945, only in French.[5]:21
Kreins, Jean-Marie (2003). Histoire du Luxembourg (in French) (3rded.). Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. ISBN978-2-13-053852-3.
Margue, Paul (2011). "Institutions nouvelles créées par la Révolution française et leur survie dans l'histoire du Grand-Duché". Du Luxembourg à l'Europe. Hommages à Gilbert Trausch à l'occasion de son 80e anniversaire (in French). Luxembourg: Editions Saint-Paul. ISBN978-2-87963-836-2.
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France to the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembourg City, is one of the four institutional seats of the European Union and the seat of several EU institutions, notably the Court of Justice of the European Union, the highest judicial authority. Luxembourg's culture, people, and languages are greatly influenced by its much larger neighbors France and Germany; for example, Luxembourgish, a Germanic language, is the only national language of the Luxembourgish people and of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, French is the only language for legislation, and all three – Luxembourgish, German and French – are used for administrative matters in the country.
The Luxembourg Armed Forces are the national military force of Luxembourg. The army has been a fully volunteer military since 1967. As of December 2018, it has 939 personnel.
The three districts of Luxembourg were the top-level administrative divisions of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The districts were further subdivided into cantons, which still exist:
Arlon is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is the smallest provincial capital in Belgium. Arlon is also the capital of its cultural region: the Arelerland.
Bitburg is a city in Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate approximately 25 km (16 mi.) northwest of Trier and 50 km (31 mi.) northeast of Luxembourg city. The American Spangdahlem Air Base is nearby.
The 12 cantons of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are subdivisions at the first level of local administrative unit (LAU-1) in the European Union's Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics for Eurostat purposes. They were subdivisions of the three districts of Luxembourg until 2015, when the district level of government was abolished. The cantons are in turn subdivided into 100 communes.
Diekirch is a commune with town status in north-eastern Luxembourg, in the canton of Diekirch and, until its abolition in 2015, the district of Diekirch. The town is situated on the banks of the Sauer river.
Echternach is a canton in the east of Luxembourg. It is largely coterminous with the Mullerthal region. It borders Germany.
Redange is a canton in the northwest of Luxembourg. Its namesake commune is Redange, officially known as Redange-sur-Attert. It borders the cantons of Wiltz to the north, Diekirch and Mersch to the east, Capellen to the south and Belgium to the west.
The culture of Luxembourg refers to the cultural life and traditions of Luxembourg. Most citizens are trilingual, speaking French and German in addition to the Germanic national language of Luxembourgish. Although its contributions to the arts are not largely known outside its borders, Luxembourg has a rich cultural history, especially in music, painting and photography. Its evolving museums, concert halls, theatres and galleries testify to its citizens' growing appreciation of culture.
The Belgium–Luxembourg Economic Union, abbreviated to BLEU or UEBL, is an economic union between Belgium and Luxembourg, two countries in the Benelux Union.
The Duchy of Luxembourg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, the ancestral homeland of the noble House of Luxembourg. The House of Luxembourg became one of the most important political forces in the 14th century, competing against the House of Habsburg for supremacy in Central Europe. They would be the heirs to the Přemyslid dynasty in the Kingdom of Bohemia, succeeding to the Kingdom of Hungary and contributing four Holy Roman Emperors until their own line of male heirs came to an end and the House of Habsburg received the territories that the two Houses had originally agreed upon in the Treaty of Brünn in 1364.
There were three Partitions of Luxembourg between 1659 and 1839. Together, the three partitions reduced the territory of the Duchy of Luxembourg from 10,700 km2 (4,100 sq mi) to the present-day area of 2,586 km2 (998 sq mi) over a period of 240 years. The remainder forms parts of modern-day Belgium, France, and Germany.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Luxembourg is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, comprising the entire Grand Duchy. The diocese was founded in 1870, and it became an archdiocese in 1988. The seat of the archdiocese is the Cathedral of Notre Dame in the city of Luxembourg, and since 2011 the archbishop is Jean-Claude Hollerich.
The Peasants' War was a peasant revolt in 1798 against the French occupiers of the Southern Netherlands, a region which now includes Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Germany. The French had annexed the region in 1795 and control of the region was officially ceded to the French after the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797. The revolt is considered part of the French Revolutionary Wars.
Affler is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany.
Tageblatt is a German language daily newspaper published in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg by Editpress.
Vendelin Jurion was a Luxembourgish politician and jurist.
The history of rail transport in Luxembourg began in 1846 and continues to the present day.
General elections were held in Belgium on 29 August 1831. They were the first elections to the new bicameral parliament created by the constitution adopted in February 1831.
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