The Popular Independent Movement (), abbreviated to MIP, was a

Luxembourg 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 on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

ish

single-issue Single-issue politics involves political campaigning or political support based on one essential policy area or idea. Political expression One weakness of such an approach is that effective political parties are usually coalitions of faction ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

in the 1960s. It sought to represent the interests of the 12,000 people who had been

conscripted Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

during the German occupation of Luxembourg during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.Thewes (2006), p. 160 The party tried to claim compensation for those conscripted from the government of

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

as victims of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. A 1959 treaty between West Germany and Luxembourg, compensating Luxembourg for the German occupation and recognising the legitimacy of the actions of the resistance, was thought by the former conscripts to discriminate against them, who dubbed it the 'Treaty of Shame' ().Thewes (2006), p. 155 The treaty took two years to ratify, after a protracted debate in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

and a protest of 10,000 people in Place Guillaume II, in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

. The Popular Independent Movement was formed following these popular protests. A generally anti-establishment party without a clear programme on wider issues, it won 5.9% of the vote and two seats in the 1964 election, becoming the first new party since the 1945 election to win a seat in the Chamber of Deputies. The MIP merged with the Democratic Party before the 1968 legislative election. However, one of its deputies, rejecting this merger, created the Party of National Solidarity, which ran and won only 0.4% of the vote and no seats, leading to it dissolving. A later party, ''

Enrôlés de Force ''Enrôlés de Force'' (, ) was a Luxembourgish single-issue political party and pressure group. It sought to represent the interests of the 12,000 people who had been conscripted into the Wehrmacht during the German occupation of Luxembourg durin ...

'', was established in the 1970s with similar aims, and achieved parliamentary representation in the 1979 election. After the Luxembourg government's official recognition in 1981 that the Wehrmacht conscripts were victims, it disbanded.

Footnotes

References

* Defunct political parties in Luxembourg Luxembourg in World War II Democratic Party (Luxembourg) Political parties disestablished in 1968 1968 in Luxembourg Luxembourgian veterans' organisations {{Luxembourg-party-stub