The initial aim of von Bulow's Second Army, which comprised , men, was to seize the city of Liege, gateway to Belgium, which blocked the narrow gap between the 'Limburg appendix' and the Ardennes, the best entrance into Belgium. However Liege was defended by a ring of twelve heavily armed forts built on high ground in the s, six on each side of the Meuse River, each km apart, and some km from the city itself.
The forts contained a total of retractable guns, up to mm in size. To some extent these forts offset the relatively small force at Belgian General Leman's disposal - just 70, men. The Germans, under General Emmich with a force of 30, men, attacked at night on 5 August, sustaining heavy losses and making little or no progress, much to the surprise of the supremely confident German army.
Erich von Ludendorff , then a liaison officer, found the 14th Brigade without a commander, and taking over, managed to break though the Belgium lines to the east of the city, while remaining, at least initially, undetected.
He then sent a party to the city, first to demand it's surrender, once again refused, and then on a quick raid against Leman's HQ. The main result of this was to scare Leman into moving into Fort Loncin, west of the city, and also to send much of his garrison back to Brussels, under the misapprehension that he faced several times more troops than he actually did. However, despite this, and despite Ludendorff's force at loose within the line of forts, the defenders still held all twelve forts, and the city itself.
Could the major powers of Europe not fight to the end if tiny Belgium had? Another effect was a reduction in faith with regard to fortifications, felt by all sides and leading to the weakening of the forts around the city of Verdun, France.
This weakening would have an impact on the battle fought there in Military Wiki Explore. Popular pages. Project maintenance. Register Don't have an account? Edit source History Talk 0. Western Front. Main article: Schlieffen plan. The First World War. Vintage books, June ISBN World War I. Siege of Tsingtao. Principal participants people. Cancel Save. Fan Feed. Universal Conquest Wiki. Date 4—16 August German Empire.
Otto von Emmich Erich Ludendorff. This military feat quickly lends itself to allegory, ideal for the famous Epinal images and chromolithographs of all kinds that millions of children see in their first books as part of their early education. Though this myth has now been called into question, it served as the roots of a tenacious legend for many long decades.
With a fundamental infraction of the recently established rules of International law, that lawyers more familiarly refer to as a "violation", Belgium is invaded by German armies on 4 August Belgium is on the road that leads to France, the same country that, in , signed an alliance with Imperial Russia, that some viewed as unholy.
This amounts to the Reich being purely and simply encircled. This fear grows into an obsession. To reach France, of course, passing through Belgium seems inevitable. Though the Belgians can count on their fortified ring, it nevertheless has certain noteworthy weaknesses: absence of reinforced concrete, precarious gas evacuation system and poor communication installations. On the other hand, the short-range defence provides one of the system's strong points. Allegory of the violation of Belgium's neutrality, on 4 August This unit, a "bourgeois" unit established in , was a kind of compromise between the police and the regular army, that young men from the wealthier class could join in order to avoid their military service, where they could pay for a replacement before a law from
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