"Entrenched." This is an appropriate word for describing the Europe that the First World War destroyed, as it describes the armies which fought it. When the armies were destroyed, so with them was Europe. In my view, it's this destruction, by their own design, which is much more interesting, and the ultimate cause for why the modern world is the way it is today.
Now let's not get carried away here. I'm not a historian of any stripe. Most of my understanding of the outbreak of the war is from Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August". So I'm sure there are many people far more knowledgable who can say I am speaking out of turn. But speak out of turn I shall.
King Albert I is in charge of the army. |
Belgium was also important because Germany's decision to violate Belgian neutrality is the reason why an essential power, the United Kingdom, entered the war. Its decision to resist also evoked a punitive response from Germany who took reprisals against Belgium's civilian population. While German crimes were likely exaggerated, these atrocities helped form the moral basis for the UK's commitment to the war, and was an important development as the world began to develop the concept of human rights and codification of acceptable laws of war.
I think King Albert I was wrong about one thing. The course of European history ran right through Belgium. It's fitting that the Belgian city of Brussels is the European Union capital. Flawed as the European Union may be, its creation represents the best hope for the Europe of war and aggression permanently transformed (at least for western Europe), a continent that has warred for thousands of years at peace. In these days, Belgium faces internal challenges, including pressure from some quarters to its own existence. They will decide in the coming years and decades how much longer they remain united, but they should never forget that Europe runs directly through them. Right now, Belgium a nation AND a road.
On August 4th, 2014, I will cross the frontiers form Germany to Belgium at Gemmenich, one of the sites where 100 years ago to that day the first German soldiers began their march to Paris. While I'm uncertain where I will go after that, I'll spend most of the month of August making my way through Belgium from the point of view of both the invaders and the retreating defenders. The First World War is in all practical sense no longer in living memory. But I wonder if the people along this road have heard stories or things about what happened in that brief interval. Perhaps I will ask them.
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