Principessa
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As seen in Dutch News Media (NOS), an article posted the past week: https://nos.nl/artikel/25...over-belgisch-ministaatjeLoosely translated as: NOS News
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Tuesday, 22:10
Leopold III wanted to become sole ruler of a Belgian mini-state with Hitler's support
During World War II, Belgian King Leopold III had a plan drawn up to become sole ruler of a mini-state within Belgium, with Hitler's approval. This is evident from documents found by writer Vincent Stuer, who wrote a book about the king's war years.
The 22-page document is the final report of seven meetings held by a group of Leopold III's confidants in 1942.
Leopold III had always been controversial in Belgium. After the capitulation in 1940, he refused to leave the country, as Queen Wilhelmina had done in the Netherlands. When the ministers fled to England, Leopold remained behind as army commander, despite the request to go along.
After the capitulation, he was placed under house arrest by the Germans, after which the ministers and parliament stripped him of his powers. In November 1940, he had a meeting with Hitler, with whom he wanted to discuss the position of Belgium in a Europe dominated by Germany. He only received vague promises.
After the war, Leopold wanted to return to the Belgian throne, but a large part of the population was against it. Under heavy political pressure, he abdicated in 1950.
It now appears that Leopold made plans for the future of Belgium while in captivity, with the approval of Hitler and Nazi Germany. According to that scenario, Leopold wanted to gain control over a mini-state obedient to Germany, "for example south of the Sambre and Meuse, in the provinces of Hainaut and Namur".
In the mini-state, Leopold III had wanted to rule alone with Hitler's blessing. "The state had to be 'at least the size of one province', as it was stated in the reports", says Stuer. "It certainly could never have been located near the capital or the port or the coast, that was far too important militarily for the Germans."
Remarkable date
According to Vincent Stuer, the date of the report, in the summer of 1942, is the most remarkable. "That the king still thought so deep into the war that the war would end in a negotiated peace with the Germans, and that he wanted that too, is very remarkable," the writer tells the newspaper De Standaard.
According to Stuer, it shows the worldliness of Leopold III. "He lived in a bubble, surrounded by people who thought the same as he did, and who had no feeling for how the outside world thought about the situation."
Leopold had already intended in 1940 to set up a kind of Nazi-minded Vichy regime in Belgium, as happened in France. Stuer: "If this document had been from 1940, it would have been one of many of that nature. But that he still thought so in 1942 is remarkable."
The writer found the document in private archives that were only made public in 2002, he tells De Standaard. "I must say that I did a little dance of joy at the time. No one had looked at that document yet. But it has been historically tested and checked. I gratefully used it to write an exciting historical story about the Royal Question, the years in which our country had to decide on the fate of Leopold III. An absolutely key moment in the history of Belgium." Leopold III (front left) during his meeting with Hitler in 1940:  |
