Why were so many countries vying for the soveriegnity of Belgium before and during WW1?
2007-05-15 20:35:16 · 10 answers · asked by skull_on_concrete;-P 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
Hi Jimmy,
It's not that people were vying for Belgium's sovereignty, they were trying to control the territory. It was crucial to the Germans as a means of invading France, and to the French and British as a means of defending their lines. Belgium's importance was purely geographical.
2007-05-15 20:51:21 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
because belgium in that time seems to be a easy portway to enter into europe and the allies also can easily attack the enemies via belgium hence so many countries vyed the soveriegnity of belgium
2007-05-16 03:56:55 · answer #2 · answered by pradheeps l 1 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Sorry for Belgium, but countries didn't care about it's sovereignty, as much as they cared about keeping Germany and Austria in check.
Belgium just happened to become a major battleground, but it was just the place where the war was fought. It was not the place the war was fought *over*.
Germany's idea was that it would take the Russian Tsar months to gather his army. The Tsar had to do so by treaty, when his allies in Western Europe were attacked.
To avoid a war on two fronts, the plan was to conquer France in 40 days, and then to send the troops eastward to conquer Russia before its army was ready.
Check the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlieffen_Plan if you want to know more about the strategy.
As it turned out, Germany was unable to execute the first part of the plan. It got stuck in Belgium and France and never conquered France.
2007-05-16 07:22:58 · answer #3 · answered by mgerben 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Belgium was one of the few neutral countries during the war an each side wanted its on their side.
2007-05-23 11:07:40 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Mainly it was the British. The Brits thought that if Germany invaded Belgium, the homeland would be threatened. Belgium is the main reason Britain entered the war.
M
2007-05-21 21:10:09 · answer #5 · answered by Matt 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
the Franco-German border is heavilly fortified- even before the construction of the WW2 Maginot line. There are also mountains (Ardennes, Jura) which make progress difficult. Belgium is flat country with an excellent road and railway network- promising rapid progress (as it turns out, that expectation was correct)
Bear in mind however that the quarrel started over Serbia- which had guarantees from Russia who was in turn allied with France
when Austria attacked Serbia, Russia butted in. That got germany (ally of Austria) involved and they tried to pre-empt France- attacking via Belgium. Which happened to be neutral and guaranteed by Britain...
And all hell broke loose.
2007-05-16 05:35:15 · answer #6 · answered by cp_scipiom 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
That's easy. Belgium was one of the few neutral countries during the war an each side wanted its support. Also it was a centric and strategic territory in Europe during the war.
2007-05-20 11:09:52 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
because belgium was a country who's administration was the best .
2007-05-16 03:41:01 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋
Perhaps long-term strategical reasons (i.e. Maginot line). With the German invasion of France during WWII, France and Germany had already been contemplating this possibility much earlier.
2007-05-16 04:01:35 · answer #9 · answered by lawofconstantcomposition 2 · 0⤊ 5⤋
they had Alliances w/ Bellgium.
learn more @ www.history.com
do a search on WWI/Belgium
2007-05-21 20:30:54 · answer #10 · answered by Layla 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋