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Belgium was given much less than it wanted, with a total payment of three billion German gold marks ($500 million in 1919; $9,068,000,000 in 2025); [citation needed] the money did not stimulate the lethargic Belgian economy of the 1920s.
Before World War II, the events of 1914–1918 were generally known as the Great War or simply the World War. [1] In August 1914, the magazine The Independent wrote "This is the Great War. It names itself". [2] In October 1914, the Canadian magazine Maclean's similarly wrote, "Some wars name themselves. This is the Great War."
The German invasion of Belgium was a military campaign which began on 4 August 1914. On 24 July, the Belgian government had announced that if war came it would uphold its neutrality. The Belgian government mobilised its armed forces on 31 July and a state of heightened alert (Kriegsgefahr) was proclaimed in Germany.
The crisis escalated as the conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was joined by their allies Russia, Germany, France, and ultimately Belgium and the United Kingdom. Other factors that came into play during the diplomatic crisis leading up to the war included misperceptions of intent (such as the German belief that Britain would remain ...
The ceasefire did not, however, lead to the immediate liberation of Belgium: the terms of the armistice set a timescale for German withdrawal to avoid clashes with the retreating army. Nevertheless sporadic fighting continued. [55] The Belgian army gradually advanced into the country, behind the evacuating German occupying force.
Britain protests against the violation of Belgian neutrality, guaranteed by the Treaty of London (1839), The German Chancellor replies that the treaty is just a chiffon de papier (a scrap of paper). The United Kingdom declares war on Germany, automatically including all dominions, colonies, etc. of the British Empire including Canada, Australia ...
Only slowly in modern times did the old term start to be used for the area to the north of the two Roman Belgica provinces, now the Netherlands and Belgium. A key turning point when it was used specifically to refer to the southern part of the Netherlands was during the so-called "Brabant revolution" or "First Belgian Revolution" in 1790.
On 30 June 1930, after speeches and the lowering of flags, the last troops of the Anglo-French-Belgian occupation force withdrew from Germany. [143] Belgium maintained an occupation force of roughly 10,000 troops throughout the initial years. [138] This figure fell to 7,102 by 1926, and continued to fall as a result of diplomatic developments.