The London Times on Belgian Neutrality
WWI Document Archive > 1914 Documents > The London Times on Belgian Neutrality
The "Official Statement" on the neutrality of Belgium.
The German press has been attempting to persuade the public that if Germany
herself had not violated Belgian neutrality, France or Great Britain would
have done so. It has declared that French and British troops had marched
into Belgium before the outbreak of war. We have received from the
Belgian Minister of War an official statement which denies absolutely
these allegations. It declares, on the one hand, that "before August 3
not a single French soldier had set foot on Belgian territory," and again,
"it is untrue that on August 4 there was a single English soldier in
Belgium." It adds: --
For long past Great Britain knew that the Belgian army would oppose by
force a "preventive" disembarkation of British troops in Belgium. The
Belgian Government did not hesitate at the time of the Agadir crises
to warn foreign Ambassadors, in terms which could not be misunderstood,
of its formal intention to compel respect for the neutrality of Belgium
by every means at its disposal, and against attempts upon it from any and
every quarter.
WWI Document Archive > 1914 Documents > The London Times on Belgian Neutrality