Charles Marie Pierre Albert, 1st Count de Broqueville (4 December 1860 – 5 September 1940) was the prime minister of Belgium, serving during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Before 1914

Charles de Broqueville was born into an old noble family with its roots in French Gascony. He was the son of count Stanislas de Broqueville (1830-1919) and Claire de Briey (1832-1876). He received private education from Catholic priest Charles Simon, from which he also learned Dutch. He married Berthe d'Huart (1864-1937), a granddaughter of Catholic statesman Jules Malou, through which he gained further connections to politics. First elected to the Chamber of Representatives in the 1892 election, he represented the

arrondissement of Turnhout The Arrondissement of Turnhout ( nl, Arrondissement Turnhout; french: Arrondissement de Turnhout) is one of the three administrative arrondissements in the Province of Antwerp, Belgium. It is both an administrative and a judicial arrondissement. ...

until June 1919. He was seen as part of ''de jonge rechterzijde'' (the young right-wing), and was politically a midway between Christian democracy and more traditional forms of

conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

. The leader of Belgium's Catholic Party, he served as prime minister between 1911 and 1918 and headed the de Broqueville government. Once it became clear that

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

intended to violate Belgian neutrality in August 1914, he oversaw Belgium's mobilization for war. Despite the mobilization, de Broqueville opposed King Albert I's proposal to deploy the

Belgian Army The Land Component ( nl, Landcomponent, french: Composante terre) is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Pierre Gérard. ...

along the German frontier in 1914 but strategically placed them throughout the country. He recognized that wartime support for Belgium depended upon its continued status as a nonprovocative neutral power. During the war, de Broqueville was more willing to make concessions to the Flemish Movement than King Albert, in order to secure Belgian unity in the long term. He made several promises to the movements for after the war, such as the Dutchification of

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when th ...

and better conditions for the Dutch language in standard education. In 1917, he proposed a customs union between France and Belgium, in order to help Belgium recover post-war, though the idea was rejected, out of fear that Belgium would become a junior partner in such a union.

First World War

The German invasion of 1914 forced the Belgian government into exile at

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

. De Broqueville fought the king on the neutrality issue and so denied Belgium a full alliance with the Allied forces. The 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 served as minister in various departments: *Minister of Railways and PTT (Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones) 1910–1912 * Minister of War 1912–1917 *Minister of Foreign Affairs 1917 *Minister of Reconstruction 1917–1918 *Minister of the Interior 1918–1919 * Minister of National Defence 1926–1930

Postwar

Later, Charles de Broqueville became Prime Minister a second time, serving from 22 October 1932 to 20 November 1934. He died on 5 September 1940, during the second German occupation of Belgium.

Titles

* 1867 – 1919: Baron Charles de Broqueville * 1919 – 1920: Charles, Baron de Broqueville * After 1920: Charles, Count de Broqueville

Honours

Belgian

* : ** Croix de Guerre **

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

, by Royal Decree. ** Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (1919)Royal Decree of 1919/-Mémorial du centenaire de l'Ordre de Léopold. 1832-1932. Bruxelles, J. Rozez, 1933..

Foreign

* : Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog * : **Grand Croix of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

** decorated with the Croix de Guerre * : Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer * : Knight with the Collar of the

Order of Pius IX The Order of Pope Pius IX ( it, Ordine di Pio IX), also referred as the Pian Order ( it, Ordine Piano), is a papal order of knighthood originally founded by Pope Pius IV in 1560. Currently, it is the highest honor conferred by the Holy See (bein ...

. * : 1st class in the Order of the Rising Sun * : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, * : Grand Cross of the Order of the Oak Crown * : Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

, * : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George * Knight of the Order of the White Eagle (Russian Empire), * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Romania, * Knight Grand Cross of the Portuguese Order of Christ (Portugal) * Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the Zähringer Lion The Order of the Zähringer Lion was instituted on 26 December 1812 by Karl, Grand Duke of Baden , house = Zähringen , father = Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden , mother = Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt ...

(Grand Duchy of Baden)

Arms

Notes

Sources

* Louis DE LICHTERVELDE, ''Charles de Broqueville'', in: Biographie Nationale de Belgique, t. XXIX, 1956-1957, p. 369-377. * Paul VAN MOLLE, ''La parlement belge, 1894-1972'', Antwerp, 1972 * Luc SCHEPENS, ''Albert Ier et le gouvernement Broqueville, 1914–1918 : aux origines de la question communautaire''. Paris 1983, * Thierry DENOËL, ''Le nouveau dictionnaire des Belges'', 2e éd. revue et augm., Brussels, Le Cri, 1992, p. 167. * Maria DE WAELE, ''Charles de Broqueville'', in: Nieuwe Encyclopedie van de Vlaamse Beweging, Tielt, 1998 * Paul VOS, ''Charles de Broqueville op de kering der tijden'', in: Vlaamse Stam, 2012, blz. 122-142. * Frans RENAERS, ''De opvoeding van Charles de Broqueville'', in: Vlaamse Stam, blz 142-145.

External links

Charles de Broqueville at Prime Minister of Belgium
* Laurence van Ypersele
Broqueville, Charles Marie Pierre Albert, Baron de
in

* * ttp://www.odis.be/lnk/en/PS_368 Charles de Broquevillei
ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Broqueville, Charles 1860 births 1940 deaths Belgian Ministers of State Belgian people of World War I Catholic Party (Belgium) politicians Counts of Belgium Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia) Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) People from Antwerp Province Prime Ministers of Belgium Belgian Ministers of Defence Foreign ministers of Belgium Interior Ministers of Belgium People from Mol, Belgium 20th-century Belgian politicians 19th-century Belgian politicians