Militia (1817–1841) On 8 January 1817,
William I,
Grand Duke of Luxembourg, published a constitutional law governing the organization of a militia, the main provisions of which were to remain in force until the militia was abolished in 1881. The law fixed the militia's strength at 3,000 men. Until 1840, Luxembourg's militiamen served in units of the
Royal Netherlands Army. Enlisted men served for five years: the first year consisted of active service, but during each of the subsequent four years of service they were mobilised only three times per year.
Federal Contingent (1841–1867) In 1839, William I became a party to the
Treaty of London by which the Grand-Duchy lost its western, francophone territories to the
Belgian province of Luxembourg. Due to the country's population having been halved, with the loss of 160,000 inhabitants, the militia lost half its strength. Under the terms of the treaty, Luxembourg and the newly formed
Duchy of Limburg, both members of the
German Confederation, were together required to provide a federal contingent consisting of a light infantry battalion garrisoned in
Echternach, a cavalry squadron in
Diekirch, and an artillery detachment in
Ettelbruck. In 1846, the cavalry and artillery units were disbanded and the Luxembourg contingent was separated from that of Limburg. The Luxembourg contingent now consisted of two light infantry battalions, one in Echternach and the second in Diekirch; two reserve companies; and a depot company. In 1866, the
Austro-Prussian War resulted in the dissolution of the German Confederation. Luxembourg was declared neutral in perpetuity by the
1867 Treaty of London, and in accordance, its fortress was demolished in the following years. In 1867, the Prussian garrison left the fortress, and the two battalions of Luxembourg light infantry entered the city of Luxembourg that September.
Gendarmes and Volunteers Corps On 16 February 1881, the (Corps of Gendarmes and Volunteers) was established. It was composed of two companies, a
company of gendarmes and one of volunteers. In 1939, a corps of auxiliary volunteers was established and attached to the company of volunteers. Following the occupation of Luxembourg by Germany in May 1940, recruitment for the company of volunteers continued until 4 December 1940, when they were moved to
Weimar, Germany, to be trained as German police. In November 1918 Luxembourg faced
two small communist rebellions in
Luxembourg City and
Esch-sur-Alzette. Both were quickly suppressed by police. In December 1918 a group of soldiers attempted a mutiny in the Luxembourg City barracks. On 9 January 1919, a group of socialist and liberal deputies, tabled a motion to make Luxembourg a republic. A crowd gathered at the barracks of the
Corps of Volunteers, close to the Chamber. Then
Émile Servais, a left-wing politician, walked out the Chamber, addressed the crowd and demanded a republic. The crowd then rushed the Chamber and the deputies called in the Corps of Volunteers but the soldiers refused the orders to disperse the crowd. Part of the deputies then fled the Chamber. The remaining deputies, mainly left-wing, formed the
Committee of Public Safety with Servais as its leader. The committee had no public support and the
French Army under the command of General de La Tour soon quelled the turmoil. Several Luxembourg NCOs and half of the country's troops had fought in North Africa in the
French Foreign Legion. The rest were people who had escaped from Luxembourg, and young men evading forcible conscription into the Wehrmacht by fleeing to Britain. The Luxembourg unit landed in Normandy on 6 August 1944—at approximately the same time as the Dutch Princess Irene Brigade and the French
2nd Armoured Division ("2e Division blindée") commanded by General
Leclerc—two months after the D-Day landings. In 1945, the (Grand Ducal Guard Corps) garrisoned in the Saint-Esprit barracks in
Luxembourg City and the 1st and 2nd infantry battalions were established, one in
Walferdange and the other in
Dudelange. The Luxembourg Armed Forces took charge of part of the
French occupation zone in Germany, the 2nd Battalion occupying part of the
Bitburg district and a detachment from the 1st Battalion part of the
Saarburg district. The 2nd Battalion remained in Bitburg until 1955. Setting up an army after the war proved more difficult than predicted. To a certain extent, the authorities could rely on escaped German conscripts and Luxembourgers who had joined Allied armies;
1st Infantry Battalion Compulsory military service was abolished in 1967 by which time some 34,700 men had served at some point in the Luxembourg Army. Luxembourg has been deploying military personnel for peacekeeping missions since 1992. Luxembourg has contributed troops to the
UNPROFOR from April 1992 to August 1993, deploying in total 40 military personnel in a Belgian battalion. In 1996 Luxembourg contributed to
IFOR missions in former
Yugoslavia in a multinational transport company. This was followed by a small contingent in the
NATO SFOR mission in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, completing 9 personnel rotations. The Luxembourg Armed Forces were integrated into the
Multinational Beluga Force under
Belgian command. Luxembourg has contributed over 18 years in NATO
KFOR, totalling 1200 military personnel. Luxembourg deployed a reconnaissance platoon first from 2000 to 2006 under Belgian command and from 2007 to 2011 under a
French detachment. From 2011 to 2017 Luxembourg was subordinated to the headquarters in
Pristina, collaborating with an Austrian reconnaissance company. Together with Belgium, Luxembourg contributed military personnel to
UNIFIL in Lebanon from 2006 to 2014. Over 35 rotations, Luxembourg troops have been deployed to
Afghanistan from 2003 to 2014 to support
ISAF in
Kabul and
Kandahar. The army has also participated in humanitarian relief missions such as setting up refugee camps for
Kurds and providing emergency supplies to Albania. Furthermore, Luxembourg participated in the
RSM in Mazar-i-Sharif from 2015 to 2021 and provided evacuation support during the August 2021 Taliban offensive in Kabul. The Luxembourg Armed Forces have also been active in Africa, supporting the EU Security Reform Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (EUSEC RDC), the EU Military Operation in Eastern Chad and North Eastern Central African Republic (
EUFOR Chad/CAR), following with the
MINURCAT. From 2013 to 2022 Luxembourg provided support to
EUTM in Mali. Luxembourg is also active in the NATO
eFP, contributing logistical and satellite transmission support in
Lithuania since 2017. == Luxembourg Armed Forces Organization ==