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The high visibility of the refugees underscored the role of Belgium in the minds of the French and British. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] In the spring of 1915, German authorities started construction on the Wire of Death , a lethal electric fence along the Belgian-Dutch border which would claim the lives of between 2,000 and 3,000 Belgian refugees trying to ...
The Treaty of London of 1839, [1] was signed on 19 April 1839 between the major European powers, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Kingdom of Belgium.It was a direct follow-up to the 1831 Treaty of the XVIII Articles, which the Netherlands had refused to sign, and the result of negotiations at the London Conference of 1838–1839 which sought to maintain the Concert of Europe.
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."
Since control of Belgium allowed an opponent to threaten invasion or blockade British trade, preventing it was a long-standing British strategic interest. [ d ] [ 24 ] Under Article VII of the 1839 Treaty of London , Britain guaranteed Belgian neutrality against aggression by any other state, by force if required. [ 25 ]
In 1914 the war was so unexpected that no one had formulated long-term goals. An ad-hoc meeting of the French and British ambassadors with the Russian Foreign Minister in early September led to a statement of war aims that was not official, but did represent ideas circulating among diplomats in St. Petersburg, Paris, and London, as well as the secondary allies of Belgium, Serbia, and Montenegro.
Polling conducted by YouGov in 2014 suggested that 58% of modern British adults believed the Central powers were primarily responsible for the outbreak of the First World War, 3% the Triple Entente (the major countries in each group were listed), 17% both sides and 3% said they didn't know. 52% believed generals had failed British soldiers, 17% ...
The United Kingdom declaration of war upon Germany occurred on 4 August 1914. The declaration was a result of German refusal to remove troops from neutral Belgium.In 1839, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, France, and Prussia (the largest predecessor of the German Empire) had signed the Treaty of London which guaranteed Belgium's sovereignty.
Daily Mail on 5 August 1914. The United Kingdom entered World War I on 4 August 1914, when King George V declared war after the expiry of an ultimatum to the German Empire.The official explanation focused on protecting Belgium as a neutral country; the main reason, however, was to prevent a French defeat that would have left Germany in control of Western Europe.