The minstrel boy to the war is gone,
In the ranks of death you'll find him;
His father's sword he has girded on,
And his wild harp slung behind him;
"Land of Song!" said the warrior bard,
"Though all the world betrays thee,
One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,
One faithful harp shall praise thee.
~Thomas Moore, after 1798
While the statesmen of Europe greeted the onset of war with foreboding, the general public were wildly enthusiastic. When war was announced, crowds thronged the streets cheering and singing patriotic songs. In Russia, a huge crowd assembled in the Winter Palace Square of St. Petersburg, carrying icons, flags, banners and portraits of the Tsar. When the emperor appeared on the balcony, the crowd knelt and sang the Russian national anthem. A similar gathering was held in Munich where the mobilization proclamation was read. In the Berlin Cathedral, the Kaiser's pastor led a huge congregation in the recitation of Psalm 130 (I am not sure what that particular psalm has to do with war...I suppose it would make more sense if I were German.) and at the Oranienstrasse Synagogue the rabbi conducted prayers for victory.
The holiday atmosphere was carried on by the men being sent out. French soldiers would compare what mobilization days they were assigned as if they were comparing sports scores. "I am the on the first!" one would say 'beat that' being implied. "I am the ninth" another would respond, and the others would reply "Rotten luck for you, you will miss all the fun. The War will be nearly over by then." The unlucky ones were assigned the later days if mobilization. "You'll never make it to Berlin in time!" the others would say to him. No matter what day they were to leave, they were all put on trains and sent to preparation points just behind the frontier, usually at stations in small villages whose huge train platforms had been designed just for such a purpose .
French and British soldiers had a relatively short journey to war. The French headed northeastward to the Frontier, while the British arrived at Boulogne on August 14 from their ships and headed south to Le Cateau, close to the Belgian border. Germany, by contrast, had a longer race, west, and then south towards Chalons, Epernay, Compiegne, Abbeville, and finally they intended to take Paris. From their detraining points at Aachen, on the western border of Germany, to Paris was 200 miles. But before Paris, the Germans would have to go through the Belgian fortresses, Liege, Namur and the others that surrounded Belgium to keep foes out. Disproportionately wealthy (for its size) thanks to an early industrial revolution and goods that poured in from it's colony in the Congo, Belgium had invested heavily in fortification to defend its neutrality. As a result, Belgium had the most modern fortifications in Europe. Built between 1888 and 1892, they were designed to withstand the heaviest gun then in existence, the 210 mm (8.4 inch). Each defense consisted of a circle, 25 miles in circumference, of individual forts arranged in a circle to protect the city they defended and lend each other the service of their own guns. A garrison of 40,000 men were used not just to operate the guns, but at threat of invasion, dig trenches between the forts to close all gaps and hold the enemy at bay.
Back in Schlieffen's day, Germany wasn't really sure how they were going to get through Belgium, no gun existed that would pierce the concrete and steel of their forts. In 1909, the answer came in the form of a 420 mm (16.8 inch) howitzer. The only problem was this gun was almost too big to move, it had to be transported by rail and embedded in a specially built concrete platform for action. Austria developed a much more manageable 305 mm (12.2 inch) gun the next year. Nearly as powerful and far more portable.
If Germany wanted to get anywhere outside its own borders in this war, Belgium had to be taken. General Otto von Emmich was given 48 hours to overtake the country. The Germans expected Belgium would either not resist at all, or if it did,would be quickly subdued. They were wrong. The Belgian constitution made the king commander-in-chief during war, and also president of his own council of ministers. King Albert I was not one to take such a responsibility lightly.
At this time, if one had looked from above, they would have seen the French Army aligned towards Lorraine, the German army whose main force had still not left Germany, the British Army still mobilizing, Belgium's army concentrated in the middle of it's homeland and, a small German strike force pinned down by a small group of Belgian fortress troops determined not to let them in Belgium had international guarantees of its independence and neutrality, which it took very seriously. In 1912, Britain had politely offered to lend assistance in the event Germany invaded, Belgium refused. Diplomatic delicacy kept France from making a similar offer. In their refusal of help, the Belgian government was aware it would have to stand on it's own when Germany came.
Stand they did. When Germany delivered its ultimatum, King Alfred refused the terms and also refused to ask Britain and France for help. Kaiser Wilhelm was a distant relative of Alfred (along with every other royal family in Europe) and he politely entreated Cousin Alfred saying that it was necessary for Germany to come through Belgium to get to France if Belgium were only so kind to let them through. "What does he take me for?" was Alfred's response, and he gave orders to destroy the bridges leading into Belgian territory. The man in charge of holding off Germany was General Gerard Leman, a 30- year veteran of the War College and the king's former military tutor. Leman was a man of hono rand courage, with an unyielding sense of duty. Alfred told him to hold the fort at Liege to the end.
The Meuse River, at the border of Belgium, enters a 450 foot deep gorge as it flows past Liege, a natural moat not easily crossed in the face of opposition. Emmich would learn this when he entered Belgium and made his way to Liege. Emmich and his troops entered Belgium on August 4, and soon came under fire from Belgian cavalry and troops on bicycles that showed an unexpected resolve to keep the Germans at bay.
Germany interpreted international law to mean that an occupying force shout treat any resistance as rebellion, and such resistance should be punished. Belgium had been warned if they demolished their bridges, Germany would consider it a hostile act. When the Germans got to Liege and found the bridges blown, they responded as threatened in what would be called the "Rape of Belgium". Innocent civilians were shot and villages burned, priests were even shot. Men, women, and children were massed in village squares and shot by execution squat, the survivors bayoneted.
The worst was at Louvain, called the "Oxford of Belgium". This town was a treasure of Flemish Gothic and Renaissance Architecture, paintings, manuscripts, and books. The Germans, panicked by a nighttime movement of their own forces, began to shout "Snipers!" and set fire to streets and buildings where they supposed the offenders to be. After a three day inferno and looting, the library with 230,000 books was gone, along with 1,100 other buildings. Two hundred nine civilians were dead and population of the town, 42,000 strong, evacuated.
This slaughter served no real purpose and actually harmed the reputation of the German army and the German people, especially in the eyes of the United States. Worldwide accusations of Germany's war on culture started immediately, which incensed the German citizens themselves. Their own academics represented the war as an attack by barbarians, decadents, and philistines (Russians, French, and British respectively) on high German civilization. Germany had always prided itself on being a major contributor to Enlightenment ideals of philosophy, science and classical scholarship. To be found out as book-burners was almost too much for them to bear. I would wager that even some German citizens themselves were shocked the acts of their own fellow countrymen. (Just wait until the second time around, then you'll really burn some books.)
On August, Captain Brinkman, military attache to Brussels, arrived at Liege to demand Leman's surrender. He was turned away, and the German bombardment of the eastern forts began. The Belgians held their ground, and German casualties mounted throughout the night. The next morning, General Erich Ludendorff fought his way to a high point where he could look down into Liege itself. A force of 6,000 Germans had penetrated Leman's ring of forts, and Ludendorff ordered in a party under a flag of truce to demand a surrender. The surrender party was told off, and a raiding party that followed them was shot down at the door of Leman's headquarters. Gerard Leman intended to stand as long as the forts remained intact, which they still did.
Leman thought the forts were assaulted by five German corps, and therefore he sent the infantry, the 3rd Division and the 15th Brigade to join the field army outside Brussels for fear Belgium would be overrun. He was mistaken, the Germans at the gate were merely representative of the five corps to which they belonged. But his miscalculation spared one-sixth of the Belgian army to fight in Antwerp, where King Albert had already planned to make his last stand.
For a fleeting moment, the outcome of the conflict was unsure. Ludendorff had broken through the ring, but did not have sufficient force to demand a surrender as Emmich's forces remained outside. King Albert had appealed to France for help, but all they promised to do was send some cavalry troops to reconnoiter. Britain had planned to deploy six divisions to Belgium, but now decided to keep two home.
The spell was broken by Ludendorff. On the morning of August 7 he sent the 14th Brigade crashing through the center of Liege on the off-chance he would not be opposed. He was not. General Ludendorff marched up to the gates of the citadel and hammered on them with his sword, and was admitted. The garrison surrendered the city to him...just like that.
Emmich, meanwhile, was ravaging the other forts with some fancy new artillery. The first Krupp 420, later known as the Big Bertha, arrived August 12 and was immediately put to work. The crew lay prone 300 yards away with padding wrapped around their heads as the gun was fired electronically. The gun was loaded with delay fused 2,000 pound shells that would only explode once they had penetrated the fort. It didn't take long once elevation and range had been perfected. Pontisse was a wreck when it surrendered at 12:30 the next day. Embourg fell at 17:30, Chaudfontaine was destroyed when its magazine exploded. On August 14 Fort Liers fell at 09:40 and Fleron at 09:45. The day after, the 15th, Boncelle fell at 07:30, Lautin at 12:30. Fort Loncin, where General Leman had headquartered nine days prior, was destroyed after 140 minutes of bombardment when it's magazine was penetrated. The final two forts Hollonge and Flemelle surrendered on the 16th without struggle
A few forts in Belgium and around Europe would remain standing, but this war essentially ended the era of the fort in modern warfare. For thousands of years men were protected, and held off the enemy for months behind ramparts of stone and steel. But with giant guns that could blast their walls to rubble in hours, forts had become obsolete. Battles would now be fought by ramparts of men, rather than stone.
Just such a rampart was being built to the South as Germany was tearing into Belgium. The French, thinking that Germany would come for them first, assembled along the common frontier they had with Luxembourg and Switzerland. Marshall Joseph Joffre ordered General Bonneau to take Mulhouse in Alsace, hoping to raise the countryside against the Germans. Their turn would come. Once Germany had finished with Belgium, it would turn its eyes southeast to the ultimate prize, France.
