Léopold III — Wijnendaele 28 May
After 18 days of fighting, the Belgian army is at the end of its tether. , 38, commands in person, in military uniform, present at the front since 10 May. On the morning of 27 May 1940, his command reports that only three days of combat remain possible: 18,000 Belgian dead, 28,000 wounded, ammunition exhausted, 1 million civilian refugees encircled with the army in the Flanders pocket.
The Pierlot government (Catholic Prime Minister), in exile at Limoges (France), insists on continuing resistance. , as commander-in-chief, takes a major political decision: he breaks with his government and prepares a separate capitulation.
During the night of 27-28 May at the Château de Wijnendaele near Bruges, gathers his general officers: , , . At 00:30, he drafts the letter of capitulation. At 04:00 on 28 May 1940, General Derousseaux carries the capitulation to the German command ( under ). Ceasefire takes effect at 05:00.
It remains for to decide his own personal position after the military capitulation.
Should Léopold III follow his government into exile after the military capitulation?
chooses B. He remains in Belgium with a negotiated status as prisoner of war of the Reich. The decision is immediately disavowed by and the Belgian government-in-exile in London, who hold that the King has exceeded his constitutional powers by signing without consultation. Rupture between the Crown and Parliament. The King is imprisoned at the Château de Laeken, then deported to Austria in June 1944. Released in 1945, he cannot return to Belgium because of the Royal Question. 1950 referendum: 57% in favour of his return, but a very uneven territorial breakdown (Flemings yes / Walloons no). Anti-royalist riots in July 1950. abdicates in July 1951 in favour of his son Baudouin, then aged 20. He settles at Argenteuil, in the Brussels suburbs, a discreet life. He dies in 1983. His capitulation of 28 May 1940 remains the most contested royal act in Belgian history — historically dividing the Belgian nation along community lines.
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