Charles de Broqueville

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Monument in memory of Charles de Broqueville in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert , Brussels

Charles Marie Pierre Albert Comte de Broqueville (born December 4, 1860 in Postel ( Mol ), † September 5, 1940 in Brussels ) was a Belgian Catholic statesman. He was prime minister twice.

Youth and private life

The Baron de Broqueville, who came from a noble family, received private lessons from the later court preacher of the royal court. In 1885 he married a granddaughter of the former two-time prime minister and senator Jules Malou .

Political career

MP and promotion to minister

His political career began in 1885 when he was elected to the local council of Mol. Just one year later he became a member of the council of the province of Anvers . From 1892 to 1919 he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies , where he represented the interests of the Katholieke Partij for the constituency of Turnhout . During this time he was seen within the Catholic Party camps not as a true Christian Democrat , but rather as a center politician.

In 1910 de Broqueville was appointed minister for the first time, until 1912 as Minister for Railways and Post.

Prime Minister 1911 to 1918

He also retained this office when he was Prime Minister from June 17, 1911 to May 31, 1918 as the successor to his party friend Frans Schollaert . From 1912 to 1917 he was also Minister of War and from 1917 to January 1918 Foreign Minister. In these offices he was responsible for the mobilization of the Belgian army at the beginning of the First World War in 1914 . However, his government had been in exile in France since August 1914 . After a dispute with King Albert I about his role as Commander-in-Chief and about a separate peace he had negotiated with Austria-Hungary without prior notification of the cabinet, de Broqueville had to resign as Prime Minister, but was given the honorary title of "Minister of State" on the day of his resignation. excellent.

Offices between 1918 and 1932

Despite this personal defeat, he was also in the subsequent cabinet of Gerhard Cooreman from May 31 to November 21, 1918 Minister for Reconstruction, and from November 1918 to November 1919 Minister of the Interior under Prime Minister Léon Delacroix .

When he failed in the election to the Chamber of Deputies in 1919 because of his increasingly conservative attitude, he initially ran successfully for the Senate of the Namur Province . He was then a member of the Senate of Belgium from 1925 to 1936 . In 1920 he was raised to the rank of count ( Comte ) by King Albert I.

From May 20, 1926 to June 6, 1931 he was Minister for National Defense in the cabinet of his party friend Henri Jaspar , and in 1932 Minister for Agriculture and Small Business in the government of Jules Renkin .

Prime Minister 1932–1934

On October 22, 1932, he succeeded Renkin as Prime Minister of a Catholic-Liberal coalition cabinet, a position he held until he was replaced by his fellow party member Georges Theunis on November 20, 1934. This reign was shaped by the world economic crisis of that time .

In 1936 he retired from political life after leaving the Senate. A few months before his death, Count de Broqueville had to witness the invasion of German troops again during the Second World War .

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Broqueville, Charles de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Broqueville, Charles Marie Pierre Albert de (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian politician, Prime Minister of Belgium (1911-1918, 1932-1934)
DATE OF BIRTH 4th December 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Postel , Belgium
DATE OF DEATH September 5, 1940
Place of death Brussels , Belgium