How Belgium Held Off Mighty German Army

This month marks the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of the Yser in the Great War, where Belgian forces stemmed a brutal German offensive that had already consumed the vast majority of the country’s territory.

To defeat France, the German Empire used a plan, originally developed years before the war by Count Alfred von Schlieffen, to invade Belgium and then turn south to outflank and encircle France’s armies. Germany’s execution of the Schlieffen Plan, however, prompted Britain’s entry into the war as it had guaranteed Belgium’s neutrality in a treaty signed in 1839. German forces began their attack on Aug. 4, 1914. Although Belgian troops surprised the Germans with a fierce defense, they ultimately were defeated at the Battle of Liege. Brussels then fell on Aug. 20.

After the German advance into France had been stopped at the First Battle of the Marne in September, the Franco-British and German armies attempted to outmaneuver one another north toward the Belgian coast in what became known as the “Race to the Sea.” Meanwhile, Belgian forces were forced to withdraw from the besieged city of Antwerp and to dig in along the Yser River near the English Channel and the French border. Belgium retained only a small corner of its territory in western Flanders, but King Albert I refused to leave his country.

By mid-October, a French infantry division and the brigade de fusiliers marins (a sea-to-land naval unit) and British naval support had arrived to support the Belgians. The Battle of the Yser opened on Oct. 16 when German forces attacked the city of Diksmuide. Despite heavy casualties, Belgian and French troops held the city. As the press reported the story, the defense became a rallying cry for the Belgian people. Two days later, German forces began their assault along the river and on the city of Nieuwpoort, where the Yser flows out into the North Sea. The German army intended to drive the Allies back and deprive the British of access to the ports at Dunkirk and Calais.

The carnage continued for several days as the Germans struggled to take the river. Diksmuide was reduced to rubble. German forces were unable to cross the river at Nieuwpoort as British and French ships shelled their advances. By Oct. 25, Allied forces were being pushed to the breaking point, so a decision was made to open up the sluices at Nieuwpoort to flood the low-lying region. On Oct. 31, after 15 days of continuous fighting, in order to avoid being trapped by the flood, the Germans were forced to withdraw.

The newly stabilized frontline at the Yser became known as the Yser Front, which the Belgians held until 1918. The defensive victory was a source of pride for Belgium, but it also led to increased Flemish regional pride. The end of the Race to the Sea also brought about a general end to open warfare on the Western Front as tactics in Belgium, France, and Germany came to be dominated by the trench warfare we frequently associate with the Great War.