Paul van Zeeland
Prime Minister of Belgium
In office
25 March 1935 – 23 November 1937
MonarchLeopold III
Preceded byGeorges Theunis
Succeeded byPaul-Emile Janson
Personal details
Born
Paul Guillaume van Zeeland

(1893-11-11)11 November 1893
Soignies, Belgium
Died22 September 1973(1973-09-22) (aged 79)
City of Brussels, Belgium
Political partyCatholic Party

Paul Guillaume, Viscount van Zeeland (11 November 1893 – 22 September 1973) was a Belgian lawyer, economist, Catholic politician, and statesman born in Soignies.

Van Zeeland was a professor of law and later director of the Institute of Economic Science at the Catholic University of Leuven (Leuven), and vice-governor of the National Bank of Belgium.

In March 1935, he became the prime minister of a government of national unity (a coalition comprising the three major parties: Catholics, Liberals and Socialists). Given decree powers, he abated a national economic crisis by devaluing the currency and implementing expansive budgetary policies.

Van Zeeland's government resigned in the spring of 1936 due to the agitation of Rexism (a Belgian fascist party). On 24 May 1936, a general election took place. The Labour party won 70 of 202 seats (minus 3), Zeeland's Catholic Party 61 seats (minus 18) and the new Rexists 21 seats. Van Zeeland continued as Prime Minister leading a government of national unity, composed of the three major parties (Catholics, Socialists and Liberals). On 2 June 1936, a wildcat strike among dockworkers in the Port of Antwerp broke out and quickly spread to other industrial regions without the endorsement of the country's major trades unions. It was characterised by the new tactic of workplace occupations. The Belgian strike was unusual in uniting socialist and Catholic trade union federations in support. Van Zeeland agreed to convene a National Labour Conference (Conférence Nationale du Travail) on 17 June 1936 to bring together trade union and company representatives. It brokered a compromise agreement including the introduction of a legal minimum wage, six days' paid holidays, and a maximum 40-hour working week for workers in particular industrial occupations. The strike formally ended on 2 July 1936. Van Zeeland was PM until 23 November 1937. After proclaiming martial law, his second government suppressed the Rexists. It introduced measures against unemployment, which helped ease the political tensions. Also during his second term, Belgium gave up its military alliance with France and reverted to its traditional "neutrality" policy, now dubbed a "policy of independence".
In spring 1937, the rexist Léon Degrelle blamed him for having received money from the Belgian Nation Bank. Zeeland denied that but a commission found out he had received 330.000 bfr.[1] Zeeland resigned and the king named Paul-Emile Janson as new PM.

In 1939, Van Zeeland became president of the Committee on Refugees, established in London, and was made High Commissioner for repatriating displaced Belgians in 1944. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1942.[2] In 1946, he was one of the founders of the European League for Economic Cooperation.

After the war, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in several Catholic governments between 1949 and 1954 and as economic advisor to the Belgian government and to the council of ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. He was Honorary Secretary General of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg meeting.[3] In 1956, he finally retired from politics and became chairman of the Banque Belge d'Afrique.

In 2013, to the consternation of his family, it was discovered that he had founded a Panamanian offshore company in 1946.[4][5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ details see Van Zeeland contre Degrelle
  2. ↑ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  3. ↑ "Former Steering Committee Members". bilderbergmeetings.org. Bilderberg Group. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "Offshore Leaks: Kleindochter oud-premier Van Zeeland zet stap opzij op kabinet-Milquet". De Morgen (Belgium), 13 April 2013
  5. ↑ Van Malderen, Sven (13 April 2013). ""Belgische ex-premier had vennootschap in Panama"". Het Laatste Nieuws. Retrieved 2 September 2023.

Further reading

  • Dujardin, Vincent; Dumoulin, Michel (1997). Paul van Zeeland, 1893-1973. Brussels: Éditions Racine. ISBN 2873861142.


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