THE GRAND DUCHESS OF LUXEMBURG.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 203, 25 August 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE GRAND DUCHESS OF LUXEMBURG.

It is well known that the inhabitants of the Duchy of Luxemburg are no admirers of German "Kultur, and that at the present .time they are writhing under the knowledge that the devastating Hun is overrunning their country. It goes without sayng tha, the lot of thd Grand Duchess Mane, the nominal ruler of the Duchy, is not by any means an enviable one, tor sne has a greait deal to contend with, including a Government which has, since .the outbreak of the war, been far too complaisant. During the past tew months there has-been much talk regarding the future of the Grand Duchv, and it is rumoured that there is moi-e than a possibility of a referendum being taken with a view as to Luxemburg's amalgamation with Belgium when the latter country comes into ts own again. The people of Luxemburg have the : .r own patois, and are more French than anything else, which .s not, perhaps, surprising, seeing that their territory is not only! m the borders of Rhenish Prussia bitt also of Lorraine, the French province. The Grand Duchy, which the Germans acquired after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, was until recent years held by the King of Holland ; but on the decease of that ruler in 1870, Adolph, Duke of Nassau, succeeded him. The present rider is the daughter of the next Grand Duke VViL helm. By the Troaty of London ot 1867 Luxemburg was declared neutral territory, but the Kaiser broke that Treaty on the outbreak of the present wan- and marched his troops through the Duchr. Luxemburg, (the capital[of the Duchv was at one ti'me one ot the strongest'fortresses in Europe, but was dismantled in 1870.