Eugène De Greef
{{short description|Belgian politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Eugène De Greef
|image = Eugène De Greef.jpg
|office = Minister of Defence
|primeminister = Joseph Pholien
Jean Van Houtte
|term_start = 16 August 1950
|term_end = 23 April 1954
|predecessor = Henri Moreau de Melen
|successor = Antoon Spinoy
|birth_date =
|birth_place = Belgium
|death_date =
|death_place =
|party = None (Technical expert)
|spouse =
|alma_mater =
|website =
}}
Lieutenant General Eugène De Greef (31 August 1900 – 14 February 1995{{fact|date=September 2023}}) was a Belgian Minister of Defence, serving under two successive Belgian prime ministers (first Pholien, then Van Houtte) between 1950 and 1954. His tenure coincided with Belgian intervention in the Korean War, as well as important negotiations about the European Defence Community.
Background and career
De Greef was from a Walloon family
De Greef and the Korean War
{{see also|Belgian United Nations Command}}
Though De Greef was not the minister who took the decision to send Belgian soldiers to the UN mission in Korea, he held office through the entire duration of the conflict.
De Greef's predecessor (Henri Moreau de Melen of the Christian Social Party) resigned his tenure early to volunteer to serve in Korea. De Greef's own son, Captain Guy de Greef (described as "a superb officer"US Lt. Ben Rachlis, artillery liaison with Belgian contingent, quoted in Belgians Can Do Too! 1950-1955 The Belgian-Luxembourg Battalion in Korea, Royal Museum of the Army and of Military History, Brussels (2010), {{ISBN|2-87051-050-0}} p.169-173) commanded C Company of the Belgian Volunteer Corps in Korea in 1953, at the Battle of Chatkol.
Other events
De Greef was involved in the negotiations of the European Defence Community and North Atlantic Treaty Organization.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19501213&id=hxBVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JZMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5874,2231500|title=The Sydney Morning Herald - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}
Under De Greef, Belgium promised to contribute 12 soldiers out of every 1,000 inhabitants. Compulsory military training was increased to two years from one and total army strength increased to 150,000 men.http://astheysawit.info/4146-1951-belgium-and-belgian-congo.html{{Dead link|date=August 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.crisp.be/crisp/wp-content/uploads/doc_pol/gouvernements/federal/compositions/Pholien_50-52.pdf Cabinet of the Pholien Government, 1950-1952]
- [http://www.maurits.net/Research/EDC_B_NL.pdf A. Maurits van der Veen, Defending Integration or Integrating Defence? Ratifying the EDC in Belgium and the Netherlands, University of Georgia (2009) - Negotiations in which De Greef took part]{{Dead link|date=August 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Greef, Eugene}}