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Albert I
Person page: Albert I →
Tag
(25)
1914
July
31
Belgium orders mobilisation
On 31 July 1914 the Belgian government ordered a general mobilisation of the army to defend the country's neutrality against anyone who might violate it.
August
03
Belgium rejects German demands
On the morning of 3 August 1914 Belgium rejected the German ultimatum. It held that allowing troops to pass through would mean the loss of the nation's honour.
17
Belgian government moves from Brussels to Antwerp
On 17 August 1914, with the Germans approaching, the Belgian government left Brussels and moved to Antwerp, the country's strongest fortress.
18
Key event
Battle of the Gete
On 18 August 1914 the Belgian army faced the Germans on the Gete. Threatened with encirclement, King Albert I ordered a retreat to the fortress of Antwerp.
19
Belgian army withdraws from the Gete to Antwerp
On 19 August 1914 the Belgian army withdrew from the Gete to the fortress of Antwerp. In the towns it left, German troops committed crimes against civilians.
25
Battle of Mechelen begins
On 25 August 1914 the Belgian army sallied out of the fortress of Antwerp and attacked the Germans near Mechelen. It was the first Belgian sortie from Antwerp.
27
Battle of Mechelen ends
On 27 August 1914 the Belgian army's first sortie from Antwerp ended. After three days of fighting near Mechelen the Belgians returned behind the line of forts.
October
07
Belgian government moves to Ostend
On 7 October 1914 the Belgian government left Antwerp and moved to Ostend. The army was withdrawing across the Scheldt and residents fled the bombardment.
12
Belgians abandon Ostend and Zeebrugge
On 12 October 1914 the Belgians abandoned Ostend and Zeebrugge. The King and government left, the army fell back to the Yser and the ports were left undefended.
13
Belgian government in Le Havre
On 13 October 1914 the Belgian government sailed from Ostend to Le Havre. It settled in Sainte-Adresse, and France granted its buildings extraterritoriality.
15
Germans reach the Belgian coast
On 15 October 1914 the Germans reached the North Sea in Belgium. The race to the sea was ending; the Belgians dug in on the Yser between Nieuport and Dixmude.
16
Key event
Battle of the Yser begins
On 16 October 1914 the Germans attacked Diksmuide. By Belgian reckoning this began the Battle of the Yser, in defence of the last strip of their country.
November
10
Battle of the Yser ends
On 10 November 1914 the fall of Diksmuide ended the Battle of the Yser. Belgium kept a scrap of its land, held for four years behind a flooded plain.
1916
January
18
Baron Beyens becomes Belgian foreign minister
On 18 January 1916 Baron Eugène Beyens, pre-war envoy in Berlin, became Belgium's foreign minister, having stood in for the ailing Davignon since summer.
1917
August
04
Broqueville becomes foreign minister
On 4 August 1917 Belgian Prime Minister Charles de Broqueville handed the War Ministry to General De Ceuninck and took over foreign affairs from Baron Beyens.
1918
January
01
Hymans becomes Belgian foreign minister
On 1 January 1918 Liberal Paul Hymans took over Belgian diplomacy from Prime Minister Broqueville, whom colleagues suspected of favouring a compromise peace.
April
14
Key event
Foch becomes Allied commander-in-chief
On 14 April 1918 Foch became commander-in-chief of the Allied armies in France. That day at Abbeville he refused to relieve Haig's British divisions.
May
31
Cooreman becomes prime minister of Belgium
On 31 May 1918 Belgian premier Charles de Broqueville resigned. The government in exile passed to the Catholic Gérard Cooreman, a banker and former Speaker.
September
15
German peace offer to Belgium
On 15 September 1918 news spread that Germany had offered Belgium peace. The government in Le Havre rejected it, and Berlin denied any offer had been made.
28
Key event
Fifth Battle of Ypres begins
On 28 September 1918 the Belgians and British under King Albert I attacked from Ypres. In one day they retook Passchendaele, Gheluvelt and Houthulst Forest.
October
14
Key event
Battle of Kortrijk begins
On 14 October 1918 the Belgians, British and French attacked again in Flanders. They broke through the last German position and retook Roeselare.
19
Belgians retake Bruges
On 19 October 1918 the Belgians entered Bruges and Zeebrugge and the British Kortrijk. The next day the whole Belgian coast was free of Germans.
November
10
Belgians retake Ghent
On 10 November 1918 the Germans left Ghent and the Belgians entered the city. The occupation of the capital of East Flanders, in place since 1914, was over.
18
Belgians return to Brussels
In mid-November 1918 the last Germans left Brussels, Burgomaster Max returned, and Belgian soldiers entered the capital. The occupation was ending.
21
Belgian government in Brussels
On 21 November 1918 Léon Delacroix's unity government, the first led by a titled prime minister, took office in Belgium. Fulgence Masson became war minister.