| Hubert Pierlot | |
|---|---|
| |
| Prime Minister of Belgium | |
| In office 22 February 1939 – 1946 | |
| Monarch | Leopold III |
| Preceded by | Paul-Henri Spaak |
| Succeeded by | August De Schryver |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hubert Marie Eugène Pierlot 23 December 1883 Cugnon, Belgium |
| Died | 13 December 1963 (aged 79) Uccle, Belgium |
| Political party | Catholic Bloc Christian Social Party |
| Spouse(s) | Marie-Louise De Kinder |
| Children | 7 |
Hubert Marie Eugène Pierlot (23 December 1883 – 13 December 1963) was a Belgian lawyer and politician who served as Prime Minister of Belgium from 1939 to 1946. During the Second World War, he presided over the Belgian government in exile after breaking up with King Leopold III over the response to the German occupation of the country.
Biography[]
Hubert Pierlot was born on 23 December 1883 to a wealthy Catholic family in Cugnon in Belgium. He studied at Catholic schools, graduating from political science and law at the Catholic University of Louvain. In 1914, he volunteered for military service and fought in the First World War. After the war, he joined the Catholic Party, entering the parliament in 1925. From 1926, he served as the senator for Luxembourg province. Through the 1930s, Pierlot held several ministerial positions until 1939, when he became the Prime Minister.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, he formed a new national unity government. Shortly after the German invasion of Belgium, he often came in conflict with King Leopold III, who he claimed was acting unconstitutionally during the attack. Ultimately, the King rejected Pierlot’s proposal to flee to France and surrendered to Germany a few days later. Pierlot and his cabinet left for France anyway and declared the King unable to reign. As the situation on the French front deteriorated, a division emerged on whether to remain in France or leave for the United Kingdom, which resulted in two of Pierlot’s ministers, Marcel-Henri Jaspers and Camille Huysmans, left for London and sought Allied recognition as the representatives of the Belgian government. After the establishment of the French State under Philippe Pétain, Pierlot and his cabinet were convinced by the Minister for Colonies Albert De Vleeschauwer, who had earlier left for Congo to maintain the government’s control over the colony, to leave France and escape through Spain Portugal to London.
In London, Pierlot continued to lead the government in exile and firmly placed Belgium into the Allied camp. In 1945, when the war was already seeming lost for Germany, Pierlot offered reconciliation to Leopold, but this offer was rejected. In 1946, Pierlot and his government returned to Brussels, which had been liberated by the French Army, but the return of the government was met with little reaction from the public. Brother of Leopold III, Prince Charles, was elected as Regent while the King was held as prisoner of war in Austria by the Germans and later the Soviets. In Belgium, the government faced several issues, from food rationing and economic reconstruction to communist resistance cells and French-sponsored Wallonian separatism. Although the government was able to disarm the resistance to maintain order in the country, general unpopularity as well as stress from the time in exile forced Pierlot to resign as Prime Minister in 1946.
After the fall of his government, Pierlot briefly remained in the Belgian parliament as senator. He was made Minister of State later in 1946 and received the title of a count in 1947 from Prince Charles, but his anti-Leopoldist stance alienated him from the rest of his own party. After the 1947 election, Pierlot retired from politics and returned to practicing law in Brussels and authoring a number of newspaper articles. Pierlot remained a controversial figure until his death on 13 December 1963, after which his reputation was mostly rehabilitated.