les jeunes historiens ont la parole - Centre for Historical Research ...

Jasper DEBEUF
(KULeuven)
Studiedag voor jonge historici – Eerste Wereldoorlog – Tweede Wereldoorlog
Journée d’étude “jeunes historiens” – Première Guerre mondiale – Seconde Guerre mondiale
Een tikkende tijdbom.
Het ‘Politieke Testament’ van Leopold III : redactie en receptie.
The Political Testament of Leopold III was one of the key documents in Royal Question that
determined the political landscape of Belgium in the post-war period from 1944 to 1950. As this
study shows, the Belgian king decided not to follow his government in May 1940 after which the
government falsely accused the king of treason. In the years after this incident Leopold refused to
restore contact with the government. The government, aware of its mistakes, tried to re-establish
contact one last time in 1943 by the hands of messenger De Kinder. He succeeded and
reconcilement seemed likely.
But in meanwhile, Leopold had begun to write his Political Testament on January 24 th 1944. The
document contains controversial language towards the government in exile and even the allied
forces. The Belgian king regarded the Allies as a new occupant force and demanded the
restoration of the Belgian independence. This part of the study extensively examines the editorial
process of this Political Testament and the responses of those who read it before it was spread.
The most important influence on the document came from his military advisor Van Overstraeten
which explains the strong language, used by the king. This study will show that the king did not
want to listen to the good advice of other men like his secretary Robert Capelle.
The king was lead to Germany on the 7 th of June 1944 and the government in exile returned to
Belgium in the beginning of September 1944. On arrival, the Prime Minister was immediately
handed the Political Testament. But he found the document too perilous to publish, like the king
intended to. The government, who only knew one chapter, decided to keep the document secret.
But without their knowledge, the document was also handed to general Montgomery, who
delivered it to Churchill. This part of the study looks at all the different reactions from all the
political figures who read it. Their reaction was almost entirely negative and thusly the domestic
and foreign attitude towards the king changed. The last part of this paper examines the slow
process of publication in the press. Throughout a period of five years, several officials and
journals published parts of the Political Testament. As this last part will show that while most of
the political figures regarded the document as one of the most dangerous documents that could
determine the conclusion of the Royal Question, the press largely overlooked the importance of
the document.
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