{"id":23810,"date":"2025-09-14T10:30:24","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T09:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/?p=23810"},"modified":"2025-09-14T10:33:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T09:33:54","slug":"year-1914","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/year-1914\/","title":{"rendered":"Year 1914"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;1_2,1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_code _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; 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background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p><!-- divi:shortcode --><\/p>\n<table class=\"tdih_table\"><thead><th class=\"tdih_event_date\">Date<\/th><th class=\"tdih_event_type\">Type<\/th><th class=\"tdih_event_name\">Event<\/th><\/thead><tr><td class=\"tdih_event_date\">1914-07-23<\/td><td class=\"tdih_event_type\"><\/td><td class=\"tdih_event_name\"><p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b><strong>In 1914 following the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austro-Hungary gives the Kingdom of Serbia an Ultimatum.<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the Heir Presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated by Serbian, Gavrilo Princip, on the 28<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0of June 1914 the Austro-Hungarian immediately accused the government of the Kingdom of\u00a0<a style=\"font-weight: 400;\" title=\"Serbia\" href=\"http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/Serbia\/\">Serbia<\/a>. The Kingdom of Serbia were furious over the Austro Hungarian annexing of\u00a0<a style=\"font-weight: 400;\" title=\"Bosnia and Herzegovina\" href=\"http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/Bosnia-and-Herzegovina\/\">Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/a>\u00a0and it was while visiting the Bosnian Capital of Sarajevo that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bad blood existed between the two Minor powers for some time and on the 7<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0of July 1914, in response to the assassination, the Ministerial Council of Austro-Hungary convened in Vienna to discuss the \u201cmeasures to be used in reforming the evil internal political conditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as shown up by the disastrous event at Sarajevo\u201d. Diplomatic preparations had already been made when the Austro-Hungarian government met with delegates from the German Government who assured them that\u00a0<a style=\"font-weight: 400;\" title=\"Germany\" href=\"http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/germany\/\">Germany<\/a>\u00a0would support any acts of aggression with Serbia. The events of that month which led up to the First World War is known as \u201cthe July Crisis\u201d.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With this assurance in mind the Ministerial Council began to \u201cmake up their minds as to whether the moment had not come for reducing Serbia to permanent inoffensiveness by a demonstration of their power\u201d. The Ministers agreed on placing demands on Serbia that \u201cmust undoubtedly be hard, but should not be impossible of fulfilment. Should Serbia accept them we should be able to quote a dazzling diplomatic victory, and our prestige in the Balkans would be raised\u201d. If their demands were not met than they planned to take Warlike action against Serbia, stressing that the \u201cobject of such action ought to be the reduction of Serbia, but not her complete annihilation\u201d for fear of provoking Russia (an ally of Serbia) into all out war. By the end of the meeting the Ministers stated that any act of aggression on Serbia could not be considered until they could determine \u201cWhether it would be possible to mobilize against Serbia first, and only subsequently against\u00a0<a style=\"font-weight: 400;\" title=\"Russia\" href=\"http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/Russia\/\">Russia<\/a>as well, if this should become necessary\u201d? But a larger concern remained due to the current climate in European politics.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the 20th of May 1882 the Austro-Hungarian Empire signed a treaty with Germany and Italy known as the Triple Alliance Treaty (1882). The treaty was a military alliance of the signatories which ensured support of the other nations in the event of aggression from any other \u201cGreat Power\u201d. The Great Powers were\u00a0<a style=\"font-weight: 400;\" title=\"United Kingdom\" href=\"http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/united-kingdom\/\">Great Britain<\/a>,\u00a0<a style=\"font-weight: 400;\" title=\"France\" href=\"http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/france\/\">France<\/a>, Germany,\u00a0<a style=\"font-weight: 400;\" title=\"Italy\" href=\"http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/Italy\/\">Italy<\/a>,\u00a0<a style=\"font-weight: 400;\" title=\"Japan\" href=\"http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/japan\/\">Japan<\/a>, Russia, Austro-Hungary, Russia and\u00a0<a style=\"font-weight: 400;\" title=\"United States of America\" href=\"http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/united-states\/\">The United States<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the 17th of August 1892 France and Russia drafted their own Military Alliance in response, guaranteeing the others assistance if either was attacked by another Great Power. The Franco-Russian Treaty was completed on the 4th of January 1894. Great Britain had remained neutral but on the 8th of April 1904 they signed the \u201cEntente Cordiale\u201d with France which was a similar military alliance treaty on the 31st of August 1907 The United Kingdom and Russia signed a Military Alliance. These treaties between Britain, France and Russia became known as the Triple Entente and along with the Triple Alliance two great power structures had formed in Europe.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By the 14<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0of July Germany had convinced Austro-Hungary that a swift offensive against Serbia before Russia could react was possible and pushed them to take a hardline against Serbia. On the 14<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0of July a report from the German Ambassador to Vienna stated that the Ultimatum to Serbia \u201cis being composed so that the possibility of its being accepted is practically excluded\u201d.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Ultimatum was sent to the Serbian government on the 23<sup>rd<\/sup>\u00a0of July 1914 and did indeed contain some tough demands that would demoralise the Kingdom of Serbia. Some of the demands included that Serbia accept an independent enquiry by Austro-Hungary into the assassination and the Serbian government\u2019s involvement, which is guilty of tolerating the terrorists and has \u201cexhibited to the whole world the dreadful consequences of such tolerance\u201d.\u00a0 Serbia must take steps to suppress any anti Austro-Hungarian propaganda and eliminate any terrorist threat against them. That Serbia accepts the Austro-Hungarian governance of Bosnia and not concern themselves with the affairs of the country, but live as a friendly nation, changing their foreign policy. Serbia were given 48 hours to comply with the ultimatum.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Upon receiving the Ultimatum Serbian Government requested further assurances from Russia that it would have their support in the event of hostilities. Russia, believing that Germany were using the event to push for war to secure their assets in the area, mobilised units on the 24<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0of July in anticipation of war. Serbia could not accept all the terms of the Ultimatum which was worded in such a way to call the Serbian government criminals and totally demoralise them. In anticipation to the Austro-Hungarian response to this, Serbia also began to mobilise troops.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the 28<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0of July Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia and, due to the military alliance treaties of all the Great Powers of Europe, the First World War began.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"tdih_event_date\">1914-07-28<\/td><td class=\"tdih_event_type\"><\/td><td class=\"tdih_event_name\"><p class=\"MsoNormal\"><a href=\"..\/on-this-day\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/Images\/calender days\/July28.png\" alt=\"July 28\" width=\"274\" height=\"252\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"12\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\n<p class=\"\" style=\"text-align: justify;text-indent: 36.0pt\"><strong><span style=\"line-height: 115%\">In 1914, The First World War Began<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\nOn the 20th of May 1882, the Austro-Hungarian Empire signed a treaty with Germany and Italy known as the Triple Alliance Treaty (1882). The treaty was a military alliance of the signatories, which ensured support of the other nations in the event of aggression from any other \u201cGreat Power\u201d. The Great Powers were <a title=\"United Kingdom\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/united-kingdom\/\">Great Britain<\/a>, <a title=\"France\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/france\/\">France<\/a>, <a title=\"Germany\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/germany\/\">Germany<\/a>, <a title=\"Italy\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/italy\/\">Italy<\/a>, <a href=\"..\/japan\/\">Japan<\/a>, Austro-Hungary, <a title=\"Russia\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/russia\/\">Russia<\/a> and The <a title=\"United States of America\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/united-states\/\">United States<\/a>.\r\n\r\nOn the 17th of August 1892, France and Russia drafted their own Military Alliance in response, guaranteeing the other's assistance if either was attacked by another Great Power. The Franco-Russian Treaty was completed on the 4th of January 1894. Great Britain had remained neutral but on the 8th of April 1904, they signed the \u201cEntente Cordiale\u201d with France, which was a similar military alliance treaty. On the 31st of August 1907, the <a title=\"United Kingdom\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/united-kingdom\">United Kingdom<\/a> and Russia signed a Military Alliance. These treaties between Britain, France and Russia became known as the Triple Entente and along with the Triple Alliance, two great power structures had formed in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/european-countries\/\">Europe<\/a>. The Serbian King Milan I Obrenovi\u0107 had a very close relationship with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and they lived in peace for many years. On the 28<sup>th<\/sup> of May (10<sup>th<\/sup> of June Gregorian) 1903 King Milan I Obrenovi\u0107 and his wife, Queen Draga were killed in what became known as the May Coup and replaced with King Peter I. Peter I had ambitions of rebuilding the Serbian Empire of the 14<sup>th<\/sup> Centaury and this growth of the Serbian Empire would bring much conflict between <a title=\"Serbia\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/serbia\/\">Serbia<\/a> and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.\r\nOn the 6<sup>th<\/sup> of October 1908, the Austro-Hungarian Empire officially announced its Annexation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/bosnia-herzegovina\">Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/a>, which angered Serbia, <a title=\"Montenegro\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/montenegro\/\">Montenegro<\/a>, the Russian Empire and many of the Bosnian people in what became known as the \u201cBosnian Crisis\u201d. Serbia backed many would-be assassins against the Empire's officials, but soon Serbian Nationalists would orchestrate one of the most infamous assassinations in history.\r\n\r\nIn June 1913, Emperor Franz Joseph I sent his nephew and heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, to the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo to inspect the Hungarian troops there. The Inspection was set for the 28<sup>th<\/sup> of June, and both Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie Chotek von Chotvoka, arrived early in the day with the intention of having lunch before the inspection.\r\nSeven Serbian terrorists, who were part of the Black Hand group, planned the assassination attempt of Archduke Ferdinand while on his visit. The seven men were in place along the planned route, each with the intent to carry out the assassination if the others were unable. The first two assassins couldn\u2019t strike due to the crowds on the street, but the third, Vaso \u010cubrilovi\u0107, was able to throw a timed bomb at the car containing Ferdinand and his wife. The bomb, however, bounced off the car and exploded under another car in the Archduke's motorcade. The remaining cars in the motorcade continued at high speed to the town hall, preventing another attempt. After the Archduke and his wife briefly recovered from the experience, they planned to visit the victims of the bomb blast in the hospital. While on their way to the hospital, their driver took a wrong turn, and as he stopped the car to reverse, another of the Assassins, Gavrilo Princip, walked up to the car and fired just two shots from about 5 meters away. One shot hit Archduke Ferdinand in the neck, and another hit his wife in the stomach. Franz Ferdinand, his wife and unborn child all died from the shots.\r\n\r\nBad blood existed between the two powers for some time, and on the 7<sup>th<\/sup> of July 1914, in response to the assassination, the Ministerial Council of Austro-Hungary convened in Vienna to discuss the \u201cmeasures to be used in reforming the evil internal political conditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as shown up by the disastrous event at Sarajevo\u201d. Diplomatic preparations had already been made when the Austro-Hungarian government met with delegates from the German Government, who assured them that Germany would support any acts of aggression against Serbia.\r\n\r\nWith this assurance in mind, the Ministerial Council began to \u201cmake up their minds as to whether the moment had not come for reducing Serbia to permanent inoffensiveness by a demonstration of their power\u201d. The Ministers agreed on placing demands on Serbia that \u201cmust undoubtedly be hard, but should not be impossible of fulfilment. Should Serbia accept them we should be able to quote a dazzling diplomatic victory, and our prestige in the Balkans would be raised\u201d. If their demands were not met than they planned to take Warlike action against Serbia, stressing that the \u201cobject of such action ought to be the reduction of Serbia, but not her complete annihilation\u201d for fear of provoking Russia (an ally of Serbia) into all out war. By the end of the meeting, the Ministers stated that any act of aggression against Serbia could not be considered until they could determine \u201cWhether it would be possible to mobilise against Serbia first, and only subsequently against Russia as well, if this should become necessary\u201d?\r\nBy the 14<sup>th<\/sup> of July, Germany had convinced Austro-Hungary that a swift offensive against Serbia before Russia could react was possible and pushed them to take a hard line against Serbia. On the 14<sup>th<\/sup> of July, a report from the German Ambassador to Vienna stated that the Ultimatum to Serbia \u201cis being composed so that the possibility of its being accepted is practically excluded\u201d.\r\n\r\nThe Ultimatum was sent to the Serbian government on the 23<sup>rd<\/sup> of July 1914 and did indeed contain some tough demands that would demoralise the Kingdom of Serbia. Some of the demands included that Serbia accept an independent enquiry by Austro-Hungary into the assassination and the Serbian government\u2019s involvement, which is guilty of tolerating the terrorists and has \u201cexhibited to the whole world the dreadful consequences of such tolerance\u201d.\u00a0 Serbia must take steps to suppress any anti-Austro-Hungarian propaganda and eliminate any terrorist threat against them. Serbia accepts the Austro-Hungarian governance of Bosnia and does not concern itself with the affairs of the country, but lives as a friendly nation, changing its foreign policy. Serbia were given 48 hours to comply with the ultimatum.\r\n\r\nUpon receiving the Ultimatum Serbian Government requested further assurances from Russia that it would have their support in the event of hostilities. Russia, believing that Germany was using the event to push for war to secure its assets in the area, mobilised units on the 24<sup>th<\/sup> of July in anticipation of war. Serbia could not accept all the terms of the Ultimatum, which was worded in such a way to call the Serbian government criminals and demoralise them. In anticipation of the Austro-Hungarian response to this, Serbia also began to mobilise troops.\r\nOn the 28<sup>th<\/sup> of July, Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia and, due to the military alliance treaties of all the Great Powers of Europe, the First World War began.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"tdih_event_date\">1914-08-04<\/td><td class=\"tdih_event_type\"><\/td><td class=\"tdih_event_name\"><p class=\"\"><a title=\"On This Day &#8211; Historical Events\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/on-this-day\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/Images\/calender days\/Aug04.png\" alt=\"August 04\" width=\"274\" height=\"252\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"12\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\n<p class=\"\" style=\"text-align: justify;text-indent: 36.0pt\"><strong>In 1914, Germany invaded neutral Belgium in WWI leading to Britain\u2019s declaration of War on Germany.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p class=\"\" style=\"text-align: justify;text-indent: 36.0pt\">On the 28<sup>th<\/sup> of July 1914, after <a title=\"Serbia\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/serbia\/\">Serbia<\/a> refused to accept all the ultimatums put forward by Austro-Hungary, the<a title=\"Austria-Hungary: The Austro-Hungarian Empire and Austrian Empire\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/the-austro-hungarian-empire\/\"> Austro-Hungarian governmen<\/a>t sent a telegram to Serbia declaring war. <a title=\"Russia\" href=\"http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/russia\/\">Russia<\/a> had already promised to stand by Serbia and began to mobilise troops ready to defend their Serbian Allies. <a title=\"Germany\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/germany\/\">Germany<\/a> had also promised to protect the interests of Austro-Hungary (they had even pushed Austro-Hungary towards war), and on the 31<sup>st<\/sup> of July, Germany warned Russia to desist in its mobilisation of troops. Russia attempted to assure Germany that the mobilisation of its forces was for use against Austro-Hungary only and not against any other nation of the Triple Alliance.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p class=\"\" style=\"text-align: justify;text-indent: 36.0pt\">The Triple Alliance was formed when the Austro-Hungarian Empire signed a treaty with Germany and <a title=\"Italy\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/italy\/\">Italy<\/a> on the 20th of May 1882. It was a military alliance of the signatories which ensured the support of the other nations in defence against aggression from any other \u201cGreat Power\u201d. The Great Powers were <a title=\"United Kingdom\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/united-kingdom\/\">Great Britain<\/a>, <a title=\"France\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/france\/\">France<\/a>, Germany, Italy, <a title=\"Japan\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/japan\/\">Japan<\/a>, Russia, Austro-Hungary, and <a title=\"United States of America\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/united-states\/\">the United States<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p class=\"\" style=\"text-align: justify;text-indent: 36.0pt\">On the 17th of August 1892, France and Russia drafted their own Military Alliance in response, guaranteeing the other's assistance if either was attacked by another Great Power. The Franco-Russian Treaty was completed on the 4th of January 1894. Great Britain had remained neutral, but on the 8th of April 1904, they signed the \u201cEntente Cordiale\u201d with France, which was a similar military alliance treaty on the 31st of August 1907. The United Kingdom and Russia signed a Military Alliance. These treaties between Britain, France and Russia became known as the Triple Entente and along with the Triple Alliance, two great power structures had formed in Europe.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p class=\"\" style=\"text-align: justify;text-indent: 36.0pt\">After the Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, it became obvious that the situation between Austro-Hungary and Serbia could have a massive knock-on effect on the other member nations of the military alliances, with catastrophic war in Europe. Most of the powers of Europe were intent on finding a diplomatic way out of the situation, including initially Austro-Hungary. Despite Russia\u2019s assurance that they had no ill intent against Germany, in the hope of preventing such a war, on the 1<sup>st<\/sup> of August, Germany declared war on Russia. Italy, the other member of the Triple Alliance, declared its neutrality on the 2<sup>nd<\/sup> of August based on the principle that the military alliance was based on support for defensive purposes only, yet Austro-Hungary was actually the aggressor. Although this was the case, Italy had also signed a secret alliance with France and would later enter WW1 on the side of the Allies (UK, France, Russia, etc).<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p class=\"\" style=\"text-align: justify;text-indent: 36.0pt\">After declaring war on Russia, Germany knew that war with France was imminent. In 1905, German Count Schlieffen had already formulated a plan to invade France, which involved the German Army marching through the poorly defended \u201cLow Countries\u201d such as <a title=\"Luxembourg\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/luxembourg\/\">Luxembourg<\/a> and <a title=\"Belgium\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/belgium\/\">Belgium<\/a> rather than through France's better defended borders. On the 2<sup>nd<\/sup> of August, Germany began its invasion of Luxembourg, claiming it was to gain access to France; however, German forces continued their occupation of Luxembourg until its liberation at the end of the war and even disbanded the Luxembourg government.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p class=\"\" style=\"text-align: justify;text-indent: 36.0pt\">On the 3<sup>rd<\/sup> of August, Germany declared War on France. Germany had also sent an ultimatum to the Belgian government on the 1<sup>st<\/sup> of August, demanding that they allow German troops access to France through Belgium. Belgium had already confirmed their neutrality leading up to the conflict, and after receiving the ultimatum, Great Britain promised military support to Belgium in the event of an invasion. When the Belgian government refused, the German army began the invasion of Belgium on the 4<sup>th<\/sup> of August, and the Government of Great Britain sent a declaration of War to Germany. On the 5<sup>th<\/sup> of August, the first battle of World War I began with the Battle of Leige. Germany planned to use the main railway line from Germany via Brussels and down to Paris, running right through the City of Li\u00e8ge.\u00a0 This made the city of Liege very important in terms of a military invasion, and as such, many forts had been built there. The forts were self-sustaining, with their own water and electric supplies, as well as having sophisticated armour and weaponry. They were able to hold out against the mighty German army until the 17<sup>th<\/sup> of August, when the Belgian Government was forced to leave the capital city of Brussels. 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