The teenage aristocrat didn't want the crown. Jean would spend World War II in exile, watching Nazi tanks roll through his homeland, before returning to lead Luxembourg through its most far-reaching decades. But first: he was a soldier. Trained in military academies, he fought with British forces during the war, proving he wasn't just another royal figurehead. When he finally ascended in 1964, he modernized a tiny nation caught between Belgium and Germany, ruling with a pragmatic touch that made Luxembourg a surprising European success story.
January 5, 1921
105 years ago
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