Abstract

Leopold III revived Belgium's neutrality, which facilitated Hitler's conquests. Leopold upheld this policy even though he foresaw with anguish that it meant Belgium's destruction. A psychoanalytical explanation is required. Unconsciously, Leopold was imitating his father in many ways; but more importantly, he was reliving an automobile accident in which he had unintentionally driven his wife, Queen Astrid, to her death. Belgium took the dead Queen's place for him unconsciously as he led Belgium to the disaster of May 1940. Reliving a trauma is the normal way of abreacting it. In this case, a private accident had enormous public consequences. The historian's task is the exacting analysis of specific causation such as this