Western Europe · LUX

Luxembourg

The story · 9 chapters

How it was drawn

A castle bought in 963 grew into a duchy whose rulers became emperors, then was cut down three times before becoming a fully independent grand duchy.

Play the story Take the first lesson

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Luxembourg fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Roman Republic58 BC to 51 BC
Julius Caesar conquers Gaul between 58 and 50 BC. The Treveri under Indutiomarus revolt in 54 BC and are defeated by Caesar's general Labienus.
Duchy of Burgundy1443
Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, takes the city of Luxembourg in a night attack in November 1443. The duchy becomes one of the Burgundian Netherlands.
Kingdom of France1643 to 1697
France and Spain fight over the duchy. French armies take Thionville in 1643 and keep it in 1659, and Louis XIV captures Luxembourg in 1684 before returning it at the Peace of Ryswick in 1697.
French First Republic1794 to 1814
Revolutionary France besieges the fortress from November 1794 to June 1795 and annexes the country. The peasant revolt of 1798 against conscription is crushed.
Kingdom of Prussia1815 to 1867
Prussia takes the lands east of the Our, Sauer and Moselle in 1815 and garrisons the fortress. When Napoleon III tries to buy Luxembourg in 1867, Prussia objects; the Treaty of London makes it neutral and the garrison leaves.
Kingdom of Belgium1830 to 1839
Most Luxembourgers join the Belgian revolt of 1830 against the Dutch king. The Treaty of London in 1839 splits the duchy: the French-speaking west becomes a Belgian province, the rest stays a grand duchy.
German Empire1914 to 1918
German troops occupy neutral Luxembourg on 2 August 1914 and stay until the armistice in November 1918.
Nazi Germany1940 to 1945
Germany invades on 10 May 1940, annexes Luxembourg in 1942 and conscripts its young men. The general strike of 1942 is crushed, and the Ardennes offensive of 1944 ravages the north.

Today

Luxembourg now

Founded in 963, Luxembourg became a grand duchy in 1815 and a constituent part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands after the Congress of Vienna. When Belgium declared independence from the Netherlands in 1839, Luxembourg lost more than half of its territory to Belgium but gained a larger measure of autonomy within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Luxembourg gained full independence in 1867 by promising to remain permanently neutral.

Capital: Luxembourg
Government: constitutional monarchy
Head of government: Luc Frieden
Head of state: Guillaume V, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Languages: Luxembourgish, German, French
Area: 2,590 km²

Through time

Then and now

Population665,1002023 · 296,600 in 1950
Life expectancy82.2 years2023 · 65.5 years in 1950
GDP per person$55,4842022 · $13,378 in 1950
Living in cities95%2025 · 67% in 1950
Literacy97%1950
Political regimeLiberal democracy2025 · Liberal democracy in 1950
Military alliancesNATO2024 · NATO in 1950
Military spending0.9% of GDP2025 · 1.3% of GDP in 1950
War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Close partners

United States
France
Netherlands
Belgium

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Luxembourg fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Roman Republic58 BC to 51 BC

Julius Caesar conquers Gaul between 58 and 50 BC. The Treveri under Indutiomarus revolt in 54 BC and are defeated by Caesar's general Labienus.

Duchy of Burgundy1443

Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, takes the city of Luxembourg in a night attack in November 1443. The duchy becomes one of the Burgundian Netherlands.

Kingdom of France1643 to 1697

France and Spain fight over the duchy. French armies take Thionville in 1643 and keep it in 1659, and Louis XIV captures Luxembourg in 1684 before returning it at the Peace of Ryswick in 1697.

French First Republic1794 to 1814

Revolutionary France besieges the fortress from November 1794 to June 1795 and annexes the country. The peasant revolt of 1798 against conscription is crushed.

Kingdom of Prussia1815 to 1867

Prussia takes the lands east of the Our, Sauer and Moselle in 1815 and garrisons the fortress. When Napoleon III tries to buy Luxembourg in 1867, Prussia objects; the Treaty of London makes it neutral and the garrison leaves.

Kingdom of Belgium1830 to 1839

Most Luxembourgers join the Belgian revolt of 1830 against the Dutch king. The Treaty of London in 1839 splits the duchy: the French-speaking west becomes a Belgian province, the rest stays a grand duchy.

German Empire1914 to 1918

German troops occupy neutral Luxembourg on 2 August 1914 and stay until the armistice in November 1918.

Nazi Germany1940 to 1945

Germany invades on 10 May 1940, annexes Luxembourg in 1942 and conscripts its young men. The general strike of 1942 is crushed, and the Ardennes offensive of 1944 ravages the north.

Luxembourg now

Capital

Luxembourg

Government

constitutional monarchy

Head of government

Luc Frieden

Head of state

Guillaume V, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

Languages

Luxembourgish, German, French

Area

2,590 km²

Then and now

Population665,1002023 · 296,600 in 1950

Life expectancy82.2 years2023 · 65.5 years in 1950

GDP per person$55,4842022 · $13,378 in 1950

Living in cities95%2025 · 67% in 1950

Literacy97%1950

Political regimeLiberal democracy2025 · Liberal democracy in 1950

Military alliancesNATO2024 · NATO in 1950

Military spending0.9% of GDP2025 · 1.3% of GDP in 1950

War deathsNone2025