History of Luxembourg The bombardments ended with the American Army nearing Lampaden on February 22, 1945. Altogether, of a pre-war population of 293,000, 5,259 Luxembourgers lost their lives during the hostilities. After World War II, Luxembourg abandoned its politics of neutrality, when it became a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United Nations. It is a signatory of the Treaty of Rome, and constituted a monetary union with Belgium (Benelux Customs Union in 1948), and an economic union with Belgium and the Netherlands, the so-called BeNeLux. Between 1945 and 2005, the economic structure of Luxembourg changed significantly. The
Orangism (Luxembourg) Orangism (Luxembourg) Orangism was a movement in the 19th century Grand Duchy of Luxembourg favouring the personal union of the Netherlands and Luxembourg under the House of Orange-Nassau. Made up of many notable figures, mainly nobles and Roman Catholic clergy, they were moderate liberals or conservative-liberals and slightly anti-clerical. At first they favoured maintaining the Grand Duchy's autonomous status and, especially during the Belgian Revolution, opposed it being merged into Belgium. In the end the western part of the Grand Duchy (the present province of Luxembourg) passed to Belgium, whilst the eastern part and the Orange grand duchy continued as