Alternative History
Register
Advertisement
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Großherzogtum Luxemburg
Grand-Duché de Luxembourg
Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg

Timeline: 1983: Doomsday
Flag Coat of Arms
Flag Coat of Arms
Location of Luxembourg
Location of Luxembourg
Motto
Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn (Luxembourgish)
("We want to remain what we are")
Capital Luxembourg
Largest city Luxembourg
Other cities Diekirch, Esch-sur-Alzette, Thionville, Saarburg
Language German, French, Luxembourgish
Grand Duke Henri
  Royal house: Luxembourg-Nassau (agnatic line of Bourbon-Parma)
Prime Minister
Area est. 3000 km²
Population 200,000 
Currency Luxembourgish & Belgian francs
Organizations DD1983 Benelux Flag Benelux Union

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a small landlocked country located in Western Europe. Luxembourg is a parliamentary representative democracy with a constitutional monarch; it is ruled by a Grand Duke. It is the world's only remaining sovereign Grand Duchy. Since 1983, its partnership with the rump Belgian kingdom has become ever more important. The two are joined with the city-state of Trier in the Benelux Union, which represents most of Luxembourg's affairs abroad.

History[]

See the History of Benelux.

Territory[]

LuxembourgCity

A view of downtown Luxembourg City, the capital and largest city of the Grand Duchy

In addition to controlling its original territory, Luxembourg has incorporated parts of neighboring Germany, mostly hilly country in the western Saarland and Rheinland-Pfalz, and France, most notably the town of Thionville.

Luxembourg is divided into five districts: the original three of Luxembourg, Grevenmacher, and Diekirch plus Saarburg (former Germany territory) and Thionville (former French).

Economy[]

Lux-Franc

The Luxembourgish franc

Luxembourg maintains a small survivalist economy. Although it maintains good agriculture as well as metallurgy the loss of tourism, banking, and telecommunications came as a huge blow to the country. The country lacks any significant reserves of oil or natural gas. Though hydroelectric and wind power plants have been set up it is only enough to supply Luxembourg's minimum energy requirements. In an unsuccessful attempt to block the flow of refugees, locals intentionally destroyed many of the country's transportation systems in the years after 1983. Luxembourg still maintains a small airport, refurbished with help from the ADC. Passenger and cargo flights connect to the Alpine Confederation and the Nordic Union. It is trying to position itself as central Europe's main air travel hub.

The Benelux franc is used as the national currency, with some coins and banknotes having distinctive Luxembourgish designs, others Belgian. The franc is subdivided into 100 centimes. As the old Belgian and Luxembourgish currencies had already been interchangeable 1:1 with each other, old currency can still be used.

Luxembourg City was reduced to a shell of itself by the late 1980s, with the bulk of the remaining urban population clustering around the city center, the elevated land that formerly comprised Luxembourg Fortress - and this despite the damage done by conventional bombing. With so much political activity having shifted to Arlon, Luxembourg City has not recovered to anything approaching its prewar size or vitality. Only a very modest amount of industrial activity has returned to the city. Companies that have survived or been re-founded in the country include ARBED, Radio Luxembourg, and Ferrero Rocher Chocolate.

Government[]

Luxembourg is a parliamentary democracy headed by a constitutional monarch who holds the title of Grand Duke. The political system of Luxembourg is almost identical to the one used before Doomsday. The administrative divisions of Luxembourg have grown. The country is now divided into 5 districts which are further divided into 20 cantons and then 132 communes. This is up from a pre-nuclear war three districts, 12 cantons, and 116 communes.

International relations[]

The Benelux Union is responsible for essentially all of Luxembourg's foreign affairs. Luxembourg and Belgium have an equal share of power in the union, and it speaks with one voice on the world stage. Through it, Luxembourg has been able to maintain presence in the international community. Thanks to widespread destruction of telecommunication networks across Europe Luxembourg can only communicate with the outside world via radio.

Through Benelux, Luxembourg is part of the Atlantic Defense Community. It began to form closer links with the old NATO allies of the ADC late in the 2000s decade. The union accepted a loose "partner" status within the organization. This was changed to full membership in 2012, when Belgium and Luxembourg became key to the ADC's strategic plans for the interior of Europe. Luxembourg City is the headquarters of the Mainland Brigade, meaning that foreign troops from the Atlantic and Mediterranean coast lands are now a prominent part of Luxembourgish society. Luxembourg has also sent military officers to bases in allied nations.

Benelux accepted membership in the League of Nations somewhat later.

Military[]

Soldats luxembourgeois

Luxembourgish soldiers during National Day.

With numerous raiding parties harassing the country as well as increased influx of refugees, the national army was enlarged. Despite its unpopularity Luxembourg had no choice but to enact forced conscription. Since 1983 the military has grown from about 800 men to over 4000 today. Most of these forces are foot soldiers set up to patrol the border as well as put down any unrest. In recent years Luxembourg has been trying to replace its conscript army with a professional one, but this has been a long and troublesome process. Luxembourg is able to produce very few weapons and has no petroleum, so it is reliant on imports. Armored vehicles are used in emergencies only.

One of the Benelux institutions is the United Command for the Benelux Union, which takes in military and gendarmes for all member nations. Luxembourg units maintain their own identity and march under their own flag but report to the Union command.

As headquarters of the ADC's Mainland Brigade, Luxembourg has housed many foreign military personnel since the Brigade began operations in 2012. The largest installation is the old civilian airport just east of the capital, which has been restored as a combined civil-military facility. Other ADC personnel work in offices in the central capital. Most foreign troops and staff come from the Nordic countries and North Germany, but small numbers can be found from all member countries. The presence of the Brigade has transformed Luxembourg into a key point on the strategic map of Europe. It is expected that the country will be the center for all future ADC action in Europe's interior.

Culture[]

The churning population since 1983 has made Luxembourg a mix of peoples. Luxembourgers form the largest single group, but nowhere near a majority of the population, which includes many French, Belgian and German people, as well as small numbers of people from even further abroad. Nevertheless, Luxembourg historically was a crossroads with many people moving back and forth to neighboring countries, so these "foreigners" integrated easily into the life of the country. In recent years these people have been increasingly assimilated into mainstream Luxembourgish culture and many have fully embraced their new identities.

After a constitutional revision in 1984 Luxemborg is officially a trilingual nation; French, German, and Luxembourgish are all used. French is the main language, followed by German. Luxembourgish is the least spoken language, but holds a special status as the country's "language of heart". Luxembourg is a secular state, though most of its citizens are Catholic Christians. Atheism has also has a large following and has been on the rise in recent years.

Advertisement