Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Luxembourg's path to sovereignty spans a millennium of feudal dynasties, great-power rivalry, and diplomatic compromise.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 963 | Siegfried I, Count of Ardennes, acquires "Lucilinburhuc" (small fortress); founds County of Luxembourg. |
| 1354 | Charles IV elevates Luxembourg to a Duchy; House of Luxembourg rules (produces 4 Holy Roman Emperors). |
| 1443 | House of Luxembourg extinct; duchy passes to Burgundy (Philip the Good). |
| 1477 | Burgundian inheritance → Habsburgs (Mary of Burgundy marries Maximilian I). |
| 1556 | Habsburg lands split: Luxembourg to Spanish Netherlands (Philip II). |
| 1684 | Louis XIV of France besieges and captures Luxembourg (War of the Reunions). |
| 1697 | Treaty of Ryswick: returned to Spanish Netherlands. |
| 1713 | Treaty of Utrecht: Spanish Netherlands → Austrian Netherlands (Austrian Habsburgs). |
| 1795 | French Revolutionary armies annex Luxembourg (becomes Département des Forêts). |
| 1815 | Congress of Vienna: Luxembourg becomes Grand Duchy under Dutch King William I (personal union); also joins German Confederation. |
| 1839 | Treaty of London: Partition. Western (French-speaking) part → Belgium. Eastern part remains Grand Duchy under Dutch king, but gains autonomy. |
| 1867 | Luxembourg Crisis (France vs. Prussia). Treaty of London: Luxembourg declared perpetually neutral; fortress dismantled; German Confederation membership ends. |
| 1890 | Dutch King William III dies; Salic law passes Grand Duchy to Adolphe of Nassau-Weilburg—personal union with Netherlands ends. Full sovereignty. |
| 1940–44 | Nazi occupation; government-in-exile; liberated by Allies. |
| 1948 | Neutrality abandoned; joins NATO (1949), Benelux (1948), ECSC (1951), EEC (1957). |