Comrade | Guevara
During the Korean War (June 25, 1950 – July 27, 1953), in addition to the South Korean army and the U.S. military, which was the main force of the "United Nations Army," 15 countries sent troops to fight against China and North Korea, of which Luxembourg was the least involved, with only 44 soldiers participating in the war. So, what kind of country is Luxembourg? Why are the troops it sent to fight so pitiful?
01 Overview of Luxembourg
Luxembourg is a landlocked country located in northwestern Europe, bordering Germany to the east, France to the south, Belgium to the west and north, with a land area of 2,586 square kilometers and a total population of about 626,000, and its capital is Luxembourg City. Luxembourg is a multi-ethnic country, of which About 52 per cent of the population is Catholic, and the official languages are Luxembourgish, German and French. As an aside, although Luxembourg is small but the scenery is very beautiful, the territory is full of ancient castles, so it has the title of "the country of a thousand castles".
Luxembourg was part of the Gaul region in ancient times, and the indigenous people belonged to the Belgian tribe of barbarians, which were conquered by the Legion of Caesar in Rome in 58-51 BC, thus entering a civilized society. In 1364, Luxembourg gained autonomy from the Holy Roman Emperor and was upgraded from a countate to a ducal domain, and in 1815 it was upgraded to a Grand Duchy. Due to its weak strength, Luxembourg was ruled by France, Germany, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands and other countries for a long time in history, and it was not until 1890 that it gained full independence.
As the only surviving Grand Duchy in Europe, Luxembourg took the initiative to follow the trend of history and established a constitutional monarchy as early as 1868, 22 years before the time of complete independence. According to the Constitution, the Grand Duke is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, has legislative and executive powers, and has the power to dissolve Parliament. However, legislative power is in fact exercised by Parliament, while the Government exercises executive power and is accountable to Parliament. As the supreme legislature, Luxembourg's Parliament is unicameral and consists of 60 members for a term of 5 years.
As a typical representative of a rich and small country, although Luxembourg is small and small, even to a negligible degree, the country's per capita income is absolutely high, and it can definitely reach a level that is amazing to the world. According to the 2020 IMF statistics, Luxembourg's GDP is 73.264 billion US dollars, or about 117,000 US dollars per capita, which is 11 times that of China (about 10,500 US dollars), which is the highest per capita GDP in the world. Such a high per capita income, much higher than the average of developed countries, is truly the richest and smallest country.
02 America's "Pawn"
As early as before its complete independence, because the country was too small and too weak, In order to ensure its own independence and security, Luxembourg pragmatically adopted a neutral policy and refused to "choose sides" in European land wars or diplomatic disputes. In 1867, with the unremitting efforts of Luxembourg, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Prussia (Germany), Austria and other powers concluded a treaty in London, formally recognizing Luxembourg's status as a "neutral country", promising to jointly guarantee its security, and prohibiting any country from establishing military bases and fortifications in its territory.
However, during both world wars, Luxembourg was occupied by Germany, and the "neutral" sign did not have the desired effect. After the end of World War II, in order to obtain real security guarantees, Luxembourg resolutely gave up its status as a "neutral country" that had been maintained for nearly a hundred years, and in 1949, as a founding member, joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) led by the United States.
Since NATO applies the principle of "collective defense", military acts against a member state will be regarded as acts of war against the organization, and all member states will need to participate in joint operations. In this way, Luxembourg has established alliances with military powers such as the United States, Britain, and France, and its importance to ensuring the security of the country cannot be overemphasized. As an aside, NATO currently has 30 member states and is the world's strongest and most influential military alliance, and the United States undoubtedly plays the role of "ally master".
However, although Luxembourg is an ally of the United States, due to its weak military strength, it does not have the capital to sit on an equal footing with it, but is more like a "little brother" protected by "Uncle Sam". Of course, according to unwritten rules, while accepting the protection of the United States, Luxembourg cannot but align with it in the diplomatic and military fields, and once the latter sends troops to fight in the name of "collective defense", it must play the role of "pawn". Luxembourg's encounter on the Korean battlefield, for example, is a case in point.
03 Defeated Korea
In order to save the Syngman Rhee regime and thus achieve the reunification of the peninsula dominated by South Korea, the United Nations Army, with the United States as the mainstay, formally intervened in the Korean War in September 1950, and at one point drove the Korean People's Army north of the Yalu River. In October of the same year, the Chinese Volunteer Army entered the Korean War, and the war immediately turned into a military contest between the two major powers of China and the United States. The Korean War lasted three years, and the United States was forced to sign an armistice with China and North Korea after paying nearly 140,000 casualties.
The United Nations consists of combat troops from 16 countries, including the United States, The United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, France, the Philippines, Turkey, Thailand, South Africa, Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg, Colombia and Ethiopia, and medical teams from Sweden, India, Denmark, Norway and Italy, with a maximum number of 932,600 people. Among them, the United States ranked first in the military, with more than 300,000 troops, while Luxembourg, a small country and a small country, only sent 44 people to participate in the war, ranking last without controversy.
Although the number of soldiers sent by Luxembourg to the Korean battlefield was pitifully small, its troop ratio far exceeded that of britain, France, the Netherlands, Australia and other major countries, second only to the United States. It turned out that Luxembourg's military strength had always been very weak, as of now, its total strength was only 2114 people, and before the outbreak of the Korean War, it was even less, with only 550 people and only a single army service. In this way, Luxembourg's combat troops accounted for about 8% of the total strength, and there is no reason to say that it did not attach importance to the Korean War.
Although Luxembourg was determined to enter the war, it was unlikely to play a substantial role because of the small number of troops. However, among all the participating countries, Luxembourg had the largest casualty rate, with 2 killed and 13 wounded during the war, accounting for about 34% of the soldiers involved. You know, Luxembourg suffered only 6 casualties during World War II, and the number of casualties in the Korean War was 2.5 times that of the latter! After this battle, Luxemburg even tasted the strength of the Chinese volunteers, and also understood how stupid it was to send a "letter of surrender" to the United States this time.
bibliography
Peng Shuyi: Chronicles of nations: Luxembourg, Social Sciences Academic Press, 2005.
Maurice Aizeman: The American Book of War: The Korean War: Contemporary China Press, 2006.
Institute of Military History, Academy of Military Sciences: History of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Military Science Press, 2014.