The Reuter Ministry was the government in office in Luxembourg from 28 September 1918 until 20 March 1925. It resulted from the Chamber elections of 28 July and 4 August 1918 and was reshuffled on 5 January 1920 as a result of the elections of 26 October 1919. There was a further reshuffle on 15 April 1921, when the Liberals left the government.
Formation
On 28 July and 4 August 1918, there were elections for a Chamber of Deputies that was to revise the Constitution. This Constituent Assembly was composed of 23 Deputies of the Party of the Right, 12 socialists, 10 liberals, 5 members of the People's Party, 2 members of the National Party, and one independent. After Léon Kauffman's resignation, Émile Reuter formed a government that was a coalition between the four major parties. On 15 May 1919, the Chamber approved the law on the revision of the Constitution. The political stage of the country was to be changed forever by the introduction of universal suffrage for all Luxembourgish citizens, men and women, aged over 21 years; and the introduction of proportional representation. Those eligible to vote went from 14% to 56% of the population. Universal suffrage put a definite end to the regime of the notables who had governed under a system of restricted suffrage, and introduced the era of party politics. The Party of the Right was the winner of the first elections held under the new system, on 26 October 1919. The Catholics received 27 seats, and thus, an absolute majority in the 48-seat Chamber. The socialists received 9 seats, the liberals 7, the National Independent Party 3, the People's Party 2.
This democratisation was to the advantage of the right, in a country where despite the Industrial Revolution, most of the population was attached to a rural, traditional and conservative mentality. Liberalism, which had dominated the political stage during the 19th century, lost ground. In the Constituent Assembly, the liberals still tried to fight a rear-guard battle, in opposing women's right to vote, as they assumed women would be more likely to vote for conservative parties. Their opposition was in vain.
The Party of the Right (and its successor party, the CSV) was to head the government for the rest of the century, with only two exceptions (1925-1926 and 1974-1979).
Taking account of the new majority in the legislature, the ministers Collart, Liesch and Welter tendered their resignations. However, the Grand Duchess and the Prime Minister refused to accept, as they wanted to maintain a national union government. Collart left the government in January 1920, Liesch and Welter in April 1921. From then on, the cabinet consisted only of right-wingers. This was not changed by the partial elections which took place in the constituencies of Centre and Nord on 28 May 1922, even though the liberals improved their results, at the expense of the socialists.
Foreign policy
After the armistice of 11 November 1918, German troops left the country, making way for the Allied armies which passed through Luxembourg to occupy the Rhineland. For six months, Allied forces were stationed in Luxembourg, in order to maintain supply lines. This military presence was to prove a useful instrument for maintaining internal order. During the revolutionary period of January 1919, the government appealed to French troops to re-establish public order.
Economic partner
Germany's defeat rendered Luxembourg's existing treaties obsolete. Under pressure from the Allies, on 19 December 1918 the Luxembourg government renounced its membership of the Zollverein, and ended German rights to its railways. As it was not capable of living in isolation for any length of time, Luxembourg had to find a new economic partner. Already in 1917, it had formed a commission to study the economic problems caused by the war and its consequences. Representatives of the steel industry and of agriculture had expressed a strong preference for France as an economic partner. Only wine-growers were in favour of partnering with Belgium, where they could sell their products more easily. On 21 February 1919, the Reuter government started simultaneous talks with France and Belgium.