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Neutral Belgium fought with the Allies in World War I after being invaded by the Germans. King Albert I ably led the Belgian Army and their resistance delayed the Germans, making the Miracle on the Marne possible. After the War, Belgium returned to a neutral status like the Netherlands to the north. The NAZIs again invaded Belgium (May 1940). King Albert's son Leopold took over command of the Belgian Army, but the Germans advanced with unrelenting speed. Quickly surrounding the Belgian Atmy, King Leopold III surrendered, imperiling the British-French Dunkirt eacuation. Belgian officials escaped to London and set up a govertment-in-exile. That Government maintained control over Belgian colonial possessions (primarily the Belgian Congo). The German occupation was severe in World War I, but this time the Germans lived up to the Workd war I images. The NAZIs persued the Holocaust in Belgium, but with somewhat less success than in the Netherlands. The German occupation policies were largely race based, thus the occupatio while brutal and expoitive, did not aprroach the horrors of the east, except for the Jews. There was some collaboraion with the NAZIs, but the Allies were received with jubilation when Belgium was liberated (September 1944). The NAZIs launched their last offensive of the War in the Ardennes (December 1944). The resulting Battle of the Bulge was largely fought in Belgium.
Belgium was a new state created in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars. It largely comprised the territory of the Spanish Netherlands, the area of the Netherlands that Spanish had managed to control in the wars with the Dutch.
The Belgian mobarchy had close ties with British royal family. And Belgium was important to the British as British foreign policy for centuries had tried to precent any major power from dominating the Low Lands. After the creaion of Belgium, its neutrality was garanted by the great powers (1839). Prissia was a signatory to the convention. Thus the German Empire as the successor state in 1871 continued to be a guarantor of Belgian neutrality. Belgium on the eve of World war I, concered aout rising tensions and the arms race, issued a statement of neutrality (November 1913). Despite the guarantees of Belgium's neutral status, German military planning in 1907 drew up a plan in case of war France. Their war planning was based on a drive through lightly defended Belgium to France (the Schlieffen Plan). When King Albert heard of this, he protested to Germany, "Belgium is a country not a road map."
Germany preparing to attack France delivered an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding unimpeded passage through Belgium for the German Army to drive into France (August 2, 1914). The Belgians denied the German request. German troops invaded both Belgium and Luxemburg (August 4). In the ensuing Ger man offensive, almost all of Belgium was occupied by the Germans (August and September). Neutral Belgium fought with the Allies in World War I after being invaded by the Germans. King Albert I ably led the Belgian Army and their resistance delayed the Germans, making the Miracle on the Marne possible.The allies managed to only hold a small part of Belgium in the far west along the French border. Large numbers of Belgian civilians and soldiers fled theGermans, seeking refuge in the neutral Netherlands. The Belgian soldiers were interned. The German Army seizedd food supplies. Only American war relief prevented mass starvation.
After the War, Belgium returned to a neutral status like the Netherlands to the north. King Leopold was an advocate of a more independent foreign policy for Belgium before World War II, Leopold twice urged mediation of the conflict between NAZI Germany and the Western Allies in the months immediately before and after the outbreak of war in 1939. Belgium remained strictly neutral.
Leopold was the eldest son of King Albert I and Queen Elizabeth. He and his brother were emacualtely dressed, often in fancy outfits, as boys by their fashionable mother. He ascended to the throne in 1934 as Leopold III after the tragic death of his father. Although greeted with great warmth by the Belgian people, his reputation was tarnished by his surender of the Belgian Army in World War II after it had been mauled in the 1940 NAZI invasion. Unlike Queen Wilhimina in the Netherlands, he refused to flee to England, an act of some courage, but proably unwise given the circumstances. Thus when the Allies entered Belgium in 1944, Leopold was never returned to the throne. His brother Charles served as regent until 1951 when his son Baudouin was crowned.
Belgium remained strictly neutral, but was invaded by the Germans for a second time (on May 10, 1940). The Germans struck at both the Netherlands and Belgium at the same time. It was the start of the long anticipated German offensive in the West. After a few months of the "Phony War", it was the turn of the Low Lands and France. The German initiated their long awaited western campaign on a wide front against the neutral Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg. The Luftwaffe played a key role in the German success in the west. King Leopold before the War had promoted the construction of important defensive fortifications from Antwerp to Namur in front of the German border. These defenses were quickly taken by the Germans. The British Expoditionary Force rushed nort to assist the Dutch. This meant that they were not present in force to opposed the Germans when they broke through in the Ardennes.
King Leopold's actions as Commander and Chief of the Army during the German invasion of 1940 has been criticized by some Belgians and the British and French. Leopold, with the bulk of the Belgian Army, was surrounded by the Germans, and capitulated. Leopold ordered his army to surrender and refused to flee with officials to form a government-in-exile in England. His actions were resented by some Belgians. His surrender at a crucial point in the battle for the low countries left a critical gap in the Allied ring around Dunkirk and could have made the evacuation impossible if the Germans had pressed their attack. King Leopold aroused further criticism by his marriage in 1941 to a commoner, who was some looked on as pro-NAZI. To many Belgians, Leopold's surrender to the NAZI's forces were in stark contrast to his father's gallant resistance to the Kaiser's Army during World War I. Other Belgians believe that the King has been unfairly criticized.
Although Belgium was mostly occupied by the Germans in World War I, the Belgian Army fought on and hope for liberartion was strong because the French army had survived the German onslaught and backed by the British, the front lines of the Western Front was obly a few miles south of Belgium. World War II was different. This time the French Army collapsed. France fell only 3 weeks after Belgium. To many Belgians in 1940, it looked as though the Germans had won the war and their future would be decided by Germany.
Belgian Government officials reached France before the Germans cut off Belgium. They met in Limoges and condemned King Leopold's surrender of the Belgian Army. Officials set up a Belgian government-in-exile at Bordeaux (June 18). They demanded that the King abdicate. With France itself about to fall, the Belgian officials escaped to London. Spaak and Pierlot head the government-in-exile. That Government maintained control over Belgian colonial possessions (primarily the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi). The Government-in-exile established the Belgian Legion to organize the various resistance groups organized in NAZI occupied Belium (1942).
The German occupation was severe in World War I, but this time the Germans lived up to the Workd war I images. The German occupation policies were largely race based, thus the occupation while brutal and expoitive, did not aprroach the horrors of the east, except for the Jews. There was some collaboraion with the NAZIs, especially at first when it looked like the NAZis had won the War. Many view the King as a colaborationist, but his role is complicated to assess. Fascist groups open colaborated with the German occupation authorities. Hendrik de Man served as a front man for the Germans. He dissolved the Belgian Workers Party (June 1940). Differences existed between the Flemish and Waloons. As in other countries, the Germans though in racist terms. The NAZIs saw the Flemish as more salvagble racial stock than the Wallonians. The NAZIs replaced the Belgian and Luxemburgian Franc with the German Reichsmark (1941). King Leopold showed great courage by subsequently refusing to administer his country under German control and lend any appearance of legitimacy to the NAZI occupation government. Leopold was held prisoner by the Germans until the end of the war, first in his castle at Laeken, Brussels, and later deep in Germany itself. Colaborationists organized Youth groups alpng the lines of the Hitler Youth.
The Germans set up a Flemish and a Wallonian "legion of volunteers against Bolzhevism" to fight in the East. There were few volunteers except among Belgium's relatively small Fascist faction.
As the Allies expanded the strategic bombing campaign, the Germans opened important Luftwaffe davilities in Belgium as the shortest route to targets in the Reich passed over Belgium. These sites became targets for Allied air raids. The Erla factory at Mortsel repaired Messerschmidt planes. It was hit by an
American-British raid (April 5 1943). The results were 936 killed and 1,342 people wounded, primarily civilians living near the plant.
There were about 90,000-100,000 Jews in Belgium at the time World War II broken out in Europe, many were foreign Jews that had already fled the NAZIS from their own countries. During the first months of the occupation, thousands of Jews, especially foreign Jews, fled from Belgium or were deported to neighboring France. As a result, as of late 1940 about 52,000-55,000 Jews remained in Belgium. Hitler apparently had no marked plans for Belgium in the NAZI "New Order" in Europe. This thus had a marked effect on the administration that the Germans established in Belgium. NAZI suppression of Jews in Belgium followed a familar pattern. The NAZIs issued the first anti-Jewish measures in the Fall 1940. These measures suceeded in robbing Belgian Jews of their property. Inpoverished and concentrated it cities, they were now ready for the next step, transport east and the death camps. The killing of Dutch, Belgian, and French Jews began in July 1942 when the Polish death camps became fully operational. Most accounts suggest that the NAZI anti-Semetic campaign which began soon after the occupation had little impact on most Belgians. It was virtually impossible to contront the NAZIs openly. Many Belgians, however, quierly and effectively opposed the NAZIs quiettly and effectively. One author explain that it was these "slent rebels" that saved many Belgian Jews. Belgian clerics were some of the most effective in Europe in helping to rescue the country's Jewish population. The most notable cleric was Father Bruno who saved hundreds of children. There was only so much the Resistance could do in Belgium. Unlike Denmark there was no easy to get to sanctuary. The English Channel and North Sea is difficult waters. mined, and heavily patrolled by the Germans. The NAZIs succeeded in killing about 25,000 Jews who were living in Belgium. Here accounts vary. Some are as high as 40,000. Only 1,271 survived and retuned after the War. Despite the appaling total, the number of Jews saved is a testimony to the support of the Belgian people to their non-Jewish countrymen.
As the War citinued, resistance groups orgamized in Belgium. Resisistance groups had varied political objectives. They included communist, Flemish nationalists (Witte Brigade, trsl. White Brigade), royalist (National Royal Movement), Christian Democrat (Liberation Army), and socialist. The Gestapo and collaborationist militia savely hunted them down. Hundreds were executed. Others were committed to concentration camps.
The Allies after liberating Paris pressed north into Belgium. The British reached d Brussels (September 2) and Antwerp (September 3). They were met by jubilant civilians realizing that the dark years of NAZIdom were finally over. There was hope in the Allied camp that with the German collapse in France that the NAZIs could be defeated in 1944. Antwep was the key to the Allied thrust on into Germany. The Allies reqired a deep water port in Belgium. Supplies were still being landed in Normandy and trucked through France via the Red Ball Express. This was creating enormous logistical problems and the Allies needed to shorten its supply lines. While the Allies after taking Brussels reached Antwerp the next day. Opening the port proved to be a much more difficult undertaking. The Germans had fortified islands in the Scheldt estuary. Montgomery did not initially grasp the importance. The Germans evem though cut off by the advancing Allies held out recognizing the importance of keeping the port closed. The Belgian Resistance played an important role in the costly effort to clear the Scheldt. [Moulton] Once in Allied hands, Antwerp and its harbor became a target for NAZI V-2 attacks.
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On Sept. 4th, Brussels was liberated by Belgian troops (the government-in-exile had continued to rule over the BELGIAN CONGO and RUANDA-URUNDI, and had recruited Belgians in exile). Late in 1944, most of Belgium was liberated.
The Wehrmacht launched a carefully planned attack against weak Anerican ynits in the Ardennes (December 16, 1944). The offensive was commanded by Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. The NAZI panzers stormed westward along a 60-mile front stretching from Saint Vith in Belgium south to Echternach in Luxembourg. The German goal was to break through the American lines, sweep through the Ardennes, and seize Antwerp. The port of Antwerp was essential to the Allied offensive. The major limiting factor to the Allie was supplies and the Allies were beginning to repair the Antwerp port facilities. With Antwerp the British and Canadians in northern Belgium could be cut off and encircled. The Allied thought the Wehrmacht was esentially defeated and incapable of mounting amajor offensive. The Germans were also careful to avoid sending messages bout the offensive electronically. Thus Ultra did not have a clear picture, although Allied commanders were given some warnings. The Germans forced the U.S. 28th Division to retreat from Wiltz (December 19). Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division to defend the vital crossroads town of Bastonge in Belgium. The German panzers pushed west. German Panther and Tiger tanks in many ways were superior to the American panzers, but they were slower and the Tigers could not cross many Belgian bridges, limited possible crosings. They also guzzled huge quantities of fuel and fuel ws the principal limiting facor to the Germand offensive. he German plans were contingent on capturing American fuel depots. When the German offensive began, George S. Patton's 3rd Army to the south was about to launch an invasion into the German Saar. In a brilliant movement, within 2 days, he turned the offensive on a 90° axis and struck northward into the German flank to relieve the 101st Airborne in Bastogne. The 3rd Army liberated Ettlebruck on Christmas Eve and broke through the German lines to relieve Bastogne (December 26). The U.S. 5th Armored Division conducted a surprise night crossing of the River Sure and liberated Diekirch (January 18, 1945). The Germans were pushed back to the positions they held at the start of the battle (January 28). The Whrmacht offensive in the Ardennes delayed the Allied offensive toward the Rhine by about 6 weeks. The llies i the campaign, however, destroyed virtually all of the Wehrmacht reserves and important panzer units as well as futher depleting the Luftwffe. This meant that the ability of the Germans to defend the Rhine and Berlin was significantly reduced.
As the Allies neared Belgium, the retreating Germans troops took King Leopold and his family with him. He was liberated by American forcers in Austria. He was a controversial figure in Belgium. The public was badly split on his war time role. Many Belgians condidered him a colaborator. As a result, the King went into exile in Switzerland while his brother Charles oversaw a regency. A plebiscite approved his return to Belgium (1950), but because of the controversies surrounded him, his son Badouin became king.
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