Was Invading Belgium an Unecessary "Mistake" for Germany in WWI?

[bayonetbrant]

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/11/19/christopher-clark-the-great-belgian-blunder/

As the moment approached for German mobilization on August 1, 1914, the policy-makers in Berlin made two further epic blunders.

The execution of the western deployment plan required the swift and immediate invasion of Belgium. Delaying the violation was out of the question, argued Helmuth von Moltke, Chief of the German General Staff, because the completion of Belgian defence measures in and around fortified Liège would block the German advance and cost huge casualties. This insistence on immediate action was politically problematic. Had Germany waited until its forces were actually concentrated and ready for attack before crossing the Belgian border, the Belgian and French armies would have acquired more time to consolidate their defensive arrangement. On the other hand, it would have been much harder (though probably not impossible) for the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, and his colleagues to make a case for intervention. Grey's opponents could have pointed out that Russia and (by extension) France, not Germany, were forcing the pace; the British interventionists would have been deprived of one of their most effective arguments. Recognizing this, German Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, a navalist who understood the importance of the British role, later posed the angry question: "Why did we not wait?"

The presentation of an ultimatum to the Belgian government on August 2 was another disastrous mistake. Given the decision to breach Belgian neutrality and the pressing need for speed, it might well have been better (from Germany's point of view) simply to break into and across Belgian territory, making one's excuses as one went and dealing with the matter afterwards as a fait accompli by means of an indemnity. This is exactly what the British government had been expecting the Germans to do. And the ministers in H. H. Asquith's cabinet — including Winston Churchill — had repeatedly expressed the view that Britain would not necessarily regard a German transit through Belgium as a casus belli, so long as the Germans stayed south of the Sambre-Meuse line and thus kept clear of the strategically sensitive region around Antwerp and the Schelde estuary.

more at the link - an excerpt from a book

[Gusington]

As far as public perception and sympathy for Germany...hell yes.

[Airborne Rifles]

The Belgians also put up quite a fight.  Their fortresses didn't do too well, but their army stayed in the fight until the end of the war.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I just watched a documentary last night about the Germans in Belgium during the beginning of the war.  Seems like the Germans felt that the Brits were going to get into the war regardless so there was no point in worrying about the fact that the Brits were guaranteeing Belgian neutrality.   They felt that the Belgian defensive works were much less formidable than the French ones so it would be worth the diplomatic fallout. 

You can watch the documentary on YouTube.

[Gusington]

Cool, thanks for the post SDR.

[JasonPratt]

Someone from Battlefront posted an AAR link here early this year or maybe last year, just on the West Front campaign (from SC:WW1Breakthru), where the German main strategy was DON'T INVADE BELGIUM!! Worked, too: he kept his military power focused (with some smaller flanking actions) where it could do the most harm early in the war, and eventually punched through the French line and rampaged toward Paris. Took the city only a turn or two before scenario end. Epic fight (and defense by France + Britain).

[Gusington]

^Awesome. I've tried to do that in Commander: The Great War but have failed.

[MengJiao]

^Awesome. I've tried to do that in Commander: The Great War but have failed.

  It's true that in many ways going through Belgium and attempting a rapid envelopment played to the strengths of the allies: French, light mobile rapid-fire artillery, rail system, flexible command -- and the British Army was there as well.

   About the only thing the Germans had going for them in going to envelope on the northern flank was better cavalry overall.  Everything else involved in going the long way around was very bad: unbelievably bad command system, no rail system, no telephone system.

   Attacking elsewhere had the disadvantage that the French were essentially more dug in in depth on all the other approaches than any other region on the planet.  The German artillery advantages would not overcome that.

   The real advantage of the Moltke revision of the Schlieffen plan was that it offered the illusion of the possibility of a quick victory in a two-front war.  Without a "beat France quickly by envelopment plan" there was no rationale for going to war at all.

[The Puss]

Jez Brant, 2 hours ago I read "War by Timetable: How the First World War Began" by A J P Taylor in under 2 hours covering this subject. Only cost £1.99 on Kindle and very informative. He asserts that Helmuth von Moltke picked up on Schlieffen's plan and that committed Germany to invading Belgium. If only the crown princes of Europe had ditched their advisors and got round a table you wonder if WWI would ever have happened. Very good read. 

[Staggerwing]

Jez Brant, 2 hours ago I read "War by Timetable: How the First World War Began" by A J P Taylor in under 2 hours covering this subject. Only cost £1.99 on Kindle and very informative. He asserts that Helmuth von Moltke picked up on Schlieffen's plan and that committed Germany to invading Belgium. If only the crown princes of Europe had ditched their advisors and got round a table you wonder if WWI would ever have happened. Very good read.

Makes you wonder what the Western World would look like if some of those monarchies were still around.

Austro-Hungarian jet fighters anyone?

[mirth]

Austro-Hungarian jet fighters anyone?

We call it the F-35.

[bayonetbrant]

Jez Brant, 2 hours ago I read "War by Timetable: How the First World War Began" by A J P Taylor in under 2 hours covering this subject. Only cost £1.99 on Kindle and very informative. He asserts that Helmuth von Moltke picked up on Schlieffen's plan and that committed Germany to invading Belgium. If only the crown princes of Europe had ditched their advisors and got round a table you wonder if WWI would ever have happened. Very good read.

Makes you wonder what the Western World would look like if some of those monarchies were still around.

Austro-Hungarian jet fighters anyone?

this discussion has come up occasionally...  most recent cut-&-paste of the original thread from back there is here

http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=6859

[Gusington]

I think Europe might be a better place in many ways if the Austro-Hungarian Empire survived in some form.