Belgium and the First World War
On August 4, 1914 the German Army invaded Belgium without any declaration of war. The German ultimatum demanding free passage had been refused the day before by the Belgian King Albert I. The German forces entered our country at Gemmenich in the province of Luik/Liège. One day later they started bombarding the belt of forts around the city of Luik. The last Belgian fort did not fall until August 16. On August 20 Brussels was captured by the German Army. The King fled with the government and the army commanders-in-chief to the National Redoubt of Antwerp. The Germans, whose first plan of attack was to direct their attention at France, now shifted their focus to the city of Antwerp from September 28 onward. One by one the forts around the city were blown to pieces. Antwerp fell on October 10.
The Belgian soldiers retreated to behind the Yser River, and on October 15 the French, British and Belgian troops dug themselves in behind the Yser River and the Ieperlee canal. King Albert I ordered his soldiers to stand their ground. On October 18, 1914 the Battle of the Yser commenced. On that same day Diksmuide/Dixmude came under attack. Three days later German troops crossed the Yser at Tervate. The Belgian Army found itself in a precarious position. During the nights of October 28 and 29, the Belgian Army opened the sluices of Veurne-Ambacht; as a result, a large part of the territory was flooded and the German advance halted. From October 21 onward, the German Army launched an offensive in the vicinity of Ypres. During several attacks they tried to conquer the town of Ypres. Although the town was reduced to rubble, it never fell into German hands.
In the next year, there was a slight lull in the fighting. Although clashes took place all over the front, no large battles were fought until the spring of 1915. Following the chlorine gas attack near Steenstrate on April 22, 1915, the Second Battle of Ypres commenced. But the German offensive ended without a definitive breakthrough.
On July 31, 1917 a new attempt was made to finally settle the war. The Third Battle of Ypres lasted 100 days and claimed, roughly speaking, 450,000 lives. In the spring of 1918 the Germans launched a new offensive. They advanced, but this offensive also came to a standstill. In the autumn of 1918 the Allied counteroffensive pushed the German forces back. On November 11, 1918 the armistice was signed.
Belgium pays tribute to all casualties of the Great War, both civilians and soldiers. All layers of society were dragged into the First World War conflict, and they all courageously endured the war.
More than 50,000 Belgian soldiers and 5,000 Belgian civilians whose names have been included in The World Remembers project died between August 4, 1914 and November 11, 1918 as a result of the war. The Names List of the In Flanders Fields Museum contains many more names, including those from every nation who died on Belgian territory during the First World War.