Belgium’s resistance
When the war broke out in 1914 according to the Schlieffen Plan, Belgium was the first country to be confronting the German army. Nearly all historians agree that Belgium’s sheer will was amazing and caused the German to be amazed as well. Historians have acknowledged Belgium’s role in the slowing down of the French army. It could be seen as a heroic resistance which the Germans did not envision and neither expect. The causalities and deaths from the time in Belgium caused numbers of the German army to be reduced by 20-25% depending on specific source viewed. During WWI, Belgium’s King, Albert I. took control of Belgium’s stout defence. He famously said to the German’s that ‘Belgium is a nation, not a road’. This was in…show more content… Although it could be seen as masterful, it should still be assessed itself in terms of encompassing every single factor that could have led to its failure. Both versions of the plan, original and adjusted were assuming two key events to be occurring accordingly. The assumption of Britain arriving later after the invasion of Belgium and Paris were underestimated. The second assumption was that of Russia mobilizing six weeks rather than three weeks. Historians argue that underestimating one of these events could have put the Schlieffen Plan into jeopardy but both together were evidently leading to the failure of the…show more content… As Moltke the Younger, Schlieffen’s successor made significant changes to the plan, he thought every required change during the battle. As Russia mobilized faster than Germany expected, Moltke was to redirect forces to the east of Germany. He viewed this as the right decision to make regarding the situation Germany faced but this caused a decline in the ability of the western army to expand towards the capital of France. The quick arrival of the British Army was a shock and both the original and adjusted plan did not account for this event. Many of the minor changes such as pleasing the Italians and having Alsace-Lorraine capture by w a certain time caused more redirecting of troops. This and other minor alterations caused a significant impact on the expansion. Britain joined the war primarily as it had a treaty with Neutral Belgium. The British Expeditionary Force had quite an impact on the German advancement and slowed their progress. Miracle of Marne or the Battle of Marne was the first major confrontation between the French and German army. Heavy losses on both side significantly reduced both the size of the German army along with its military supplies. Belgium was the country from which Germany was to enter before France. To the German amazement, Belgium had great courage and will to hold off the huge advancing army. The estimated calculations led
