BELGIUM 



674 



BELGIUM 





Dfn5nfTI466.l554.l675 



BATTLEFIELDS OF BELGIUM 



On the soil of Belgium French, British, Austrian, German and Spanish armies at various 

 times have met in historic encounters. Of these the battle of most far-reaching consequence was 

 probably that of Waterloo, which decided Napoleon's fate. 



ive ideas, destined to become the idolized 

 leader of his people in their greatest crisis. 



The War oj 

 the Nations. In 

 the great war be- 

 ginning in August, 

 1914, which in- 

 volved nearly all 

 the powers of 

 civilization, Bel- 

 gium expected to 

 remain neutral, 

 as its neutrality 

 had been guaran- 

 teed by treaty in 

 1839. However, 

 at the outset of 

 the struggle Ger- He died in 1917 - 

 many demanded permission to pass through the 

 country, for strategic reasons, in its campaign 



GENERAL VON BISSING 

 First German commander 

 Belgium during the war. 



against France. Belgium disputed the passage 

 of the German army and fought at Liege to 

 turn back the invaders. Its defense of its 

 rights was heroic, but the little Belgian army 

 was pushed back by the force of numbers. 



The heroic defense of Liege retarded the 

 German advance, but within a month the 

 Germans had occupied practically the whole of 

 Belgium, except Antwerp and the coast. In 

 October Antwerp, which had been considered 

 an impregnable fortress, also was taken, after 

 a ten-day bombardment. The government of 

 Belgium, which had first been transferred from 

 Brussels to Antwerp,, was then transferred to 

 Ostend, and then to Havre, in France. 



The Germans could not clear Belgian soil 

 entirely of Belgian soldiers. The extreme 

 northwestern corner remained in the hands of 

 its defenders throughout the war, and though 

 only a few square miles remained to them their 



