Career
He was the leader of Belgium"s Catholic Party, and he served as prime minister between 1911 and 1918. Once it became clear that Germany intended to violate Belgian neutrality in August 1914, he oversaw Belgium"s mobilization for war. Despite the mobilization, de Broqueville opposed King Albert I"s proposal to deploy the Belgian Army along the German frontier in 1914 — instead strategically placing them throughout the country.
He recognized that wartime support for Belgium depended upon its continued status as a non-provocative neutral power.
The German invasion of 1914 forced the Belgian government into exile at Le Havre. De Broqueville fought the king on the neutrality issue, hereby denying Belgium a full alliance with the Allied forces.
Consequently, he resigned as Foreign Secretary in January 1918 and as Prime Minister in May when he lost the support of his own party. De Broqueville also served as minister in various departments:
Minister of Railways and Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs & Telephones, France (Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones) 1910-1912
Minister of War 1912-1917
Minister of Foreign Affairs 1917
Minister of Reconstruction 1917-1918
Minister of the Interior 1918-1919
Minister of National Defence 1926-1930
Later, Charles de Broqueville became Prime Minister a second time, serving from 22 October 1932 until 20 November 1934.