Charles de Broqueville

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Baron Charles de Broqueville (December 4, 1860September 5, 1940 in Brussels) was the Prime Minister of Belgium during World War I. He was born in Postel, Belgium. He was the leader of Belgium's Catholic Party, and he served as prime minister in 1911-1918. Once it became clear that Germany intended to violate Belgian neutrality in August 1914, he oversaw Belgium's mobilization for war.

Despite this mobilization, de Broqueville opposed King Albert I's proposal to deploy the Belgian Army along the German frontier in 1914 — instead strategically placing them throughout the country. He recognized that wartime support for Belgium depended upon its continued status as a non-provocative neutral power.

The German invasion of 1914 forced the Belgian government into exile at Le Havre. De Broqueville fought the king on the neutrality issue — thereby denying Belgium a full alliance with the Allied forces.

This opposition of the king critically weakened de Broqueville's stance among members of his cabinet. Consequently, he resigned as Foreign Secretary in January 1918 and as prime minister in May when he lost the support of his own party.

De Broqueville also at various times served as minister for railways, minister of war and minister of agriculture. Later, Charles de Broqueville became Prime Minister a second time, serving from October 22, 1932 until November 20, 1934.

Political offices
Preceded by
Frans Schollaert
Prime Minister of Belgium
911–1918
Succeeded by
Gérard Cooreman
Preceded by
Jules Renkin
Prime Minister of Belgium
1932–1934
Succeeded by
Georges Theunis