by Powerbits- This topic has 0 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 8 years, 6 months ago by
Powerbits.
Viewing 0 reply threads
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
When World War I began, Germany invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg as part of the Schlieffen Plan, in an attempt to capture Paris quickly by catching the French off guard by invading through neutral countries. It was this action that technically caused the British to enter the war, as they were still bound by the 1839 agreement to protect Belgium in the event of war. On 2 August 1914, the German government demanded that German armies be given free passage through Belgian territory, although this was refused by the Belgian government on 3 August. On 4 August, German troops invaded Belgium.
It is widely claimed that the Belgian army’s resistance during the early days of the war, with the army – around a tenth the size of the German army – holding up the German offensive for nearly a month, gave the French and British forces time to prepare for the Marne counteroffensive later in the year. In fact, the German advance on Paris was almost exactly on schedule.
The German invaders treated any resistance—such as demolition of bridges and rail lines—as illegal and subversive, shooting the offenders and burning buildings in retaliation.
Flanders was the main base of the British army and it saw some of the greatest loss of life on both sides of the Western Front.
During their advance through Belgium, the German Army is committing atrocities against Belgian civilians – justified as response to resistance and sabotage against their advancement. The Austro-Hungarian Army is perpetrating massacres against the Serbian civilian population to retaliate against Serbian guerrilla warfare. At the Eastern Front, German generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff succeed in one of the most important battles of World War I: The Battle of Tannenberg.
