Description
A view of smoke filling the of street and debris outside devastated buildings, caused by the Germans in Belgium in 1914.
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 â around a tenth the size of the German army â 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.
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All Pick Your Image Reprints are printed on premium high quality photographic paper. You will notice the colours and details are extremely sharp and crisp.
By purchasing a photo from Pick Your Image, the COPYRIGHT DOES NOT TRANSFER.
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