The political crisis of 1916

On January 11, 1916, a huge crowd gathered outside the chamber of deputies, vociferously protesting against the government. This was a high-water mark in a tide of unrest that had first begun on January 2, 1916 with the hitherto biggest protest march in the history of Luxembourg. War-induced food shortages and inflation had riven a great divide in Luxembourgian society.

The uprising was primarily directed against the then minority government of the party of the right of prime minister Hubert Loutsch. Joint organizer of the demonstration on January 2, 1916 was the socialist deputy Michel Welter (1859-1924).

The liberal Luxemburger Zeitung spoke of up to 20,000 demonstrators, while the Luxemburger Wort – known to be an organ of the party of the right – claimed that only 4,000 to 5,000 people had joined the protest. The Bürger- und Beamten-Zeitung described the events of January 4, 1916 as follows: “Around 2 o’clock, people began to crowd onto the Avenue de la Liberté. Special trains brought in thousands upon thousands more; others came in from the surrounding town and villages, and the demonstration gradually took shape despite the steady drizzle.”

Following a no-confidence vote, the Loutsch government, consisting solely of deputies from the party of the right, was forced to step down that very same day. Some deputies are reported to have thrown chairs from the window of the chamber. In his diary, Michel Welter described the situation as a “re-enactment of the Defenestration of Prague.” It is even said that, in front of the building, rotten apples and oranges were being thrown. “One needs to have seen a manifestation such as this to be able to appreciate the psyche of the people,” wrote the socialist Tageblatt.

The new government of national unity under prime minister Victor Thorn did not take up office until January 24, 1916. In this new administration, socialist Michel Welter was appointed minister of agriculture. He was in charge not only of agriculture but also of industry, trade, and the supply of goods. As Welter failed to get on top of the food shortages, however, he was soon turned on by the people of Luxembourg, being accused of collaborating too closely with the German military authorities in the field of food supplies, and of thus violating the country’s neutral status. Parliament declared that it no longer had any faith in Welter. On January 3, 1917, Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde formally dismissed him from the government.