Explosive Crisis

Europe's most explosive crisis last week was in Belgium. The man who might detonate it. King Leopold III, was in St. Wolfgang in the Austrian Alps. Reports that he might come home sent angry citizens swirling through the streets, shouting: "Down with Leopold!'' "Hang the King!" Defiant Walloons (French-speaking Belgians) threatened to bar his reentry into the country with their bodies. Socialist Premier Achille van Acker threatened to resign if King Leopold set foot on Belgian soil. There were rumors that Britain might intervene to restore Leopold to his throne.

Loud Resentment. Except for the Catholics, all Belgian parties of the left and center had joined to resist the royal return. Behind this loud resistance was Belgian loud resentment because Leopold had: 1) surrendered to Germany in 1940 instead of continuing the war in exile; 2) married a commoner, comely Mademoiselle Marie-Lelia Baels, while most of his subjects were suffering under the German occupation; 3) thereby become the son-in-law of a rich Belgian industrialist about to face a charge of collaboration with the enemy. There was no expressed opposition to the King's eldest son, Prince Baudouin, 14, whom Leopold's younger brother, Prince Regent Charles, was training for the pleasures of kingship.

But King Leopold's dilemma was acute. As a constitutional monarch, he could not flout the advice of Belgium's Premier, unless he could replace him with a less hostile Premier. But any Premier and Cabinet that favored the King's return could be fairly sure of a resounding no-confidence vote in Belgium's Parliament. To St. Wolfgang the King urgently summoned several leading Belgians for talks. Reports that Leopold would appoint prewar Premier Paul van Zeeland or Lieut. General Ganshof van der Meersh, a Resistance leader, as Premier were met by Brussels trade unions with threats of a general strike. Gloomed Van Zeeland: "I wish the next few weeks were already past."

"Be a King." King Leopold's plight drew Europe's dynasts together. Off to London to consult with Britain's Dowager Queen Mary, Leopold's relative, dashed Belgium's Dowager Queen Elizabeth, Leopold's mother.

From strong-willed Queen Mary, the Belgian Queen received right royal counsel: Leopold must "be a King." Luxembourg's Grand Duchess Charlotte asked King Leopold to pay her a visit. Luxembourg is Belgium's southeastern neighbor. From St. Wolfgang, King Leopold promptly announced that there was "no question of abdicating," that he was proceeding with the formation of a new government.

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