From Antwerp the Belgian Army retreated in the first instance on Ostend, its retreat being immediately covered by 8,000 men of the British Naval Brigade and 6,500 French bluejackets, and, farther off, by the British force under Sir Henry Rawlinson, operating in the neighbourhood of Ghent (p. [222]).[25] But the Germans, after severe fighting, occupied Ghent on October 12; next day the Belgian Court and Government left Ostend (which the Germans occupied October 16) and proceeded by sea to Havre, where the suburb of St. Adresse became the temporary capital of Belgium. The Germans now occupied Bruges and Zeebrugge, strongly defending the latter place with a view to its conversion into a base for submarines; the Belgian Army, now reduced to some 60,000, at first had been directed to make a stand in French territory, but eventually took up a position extending along the canalised Yser, from Nieuport-Bains on the Channel by Lombaertzyde to Dixmude; from the last-named place to Ypres and the French border at Ménin the Allies' line was held by French forces and by Sir Henry Rawlinson's troops. On October 17 the German front in Belgium extended from Ostend through Thielt and Roulers to near Ménin; and their primary aim was to capture Dunkirk and Calais as bases for an attack on England. Their direct route thither was blocked by the Belgian Army in the Battle of the Yser (Oct. 16-Nov. 2) in which some French troops, including marines and territorials, took part. Three points in the front were of special importance—the village of Lombaertzyde, a bend of the river near Tervaete, projecting towards the German front, and Dixmude. After two days' fighting, the Belgian advanced posts were driven back (Oct. 10-19); for the next four days the Belgians, now behind the Yser, were fiercely attacked, those in the salient at Tervaete being enfiladed by German heavy artillery; on the night of October 22 the Germans crossed the Yser at Tervaete, and the Belgians, though reinforced and partly relieved by a French force, the 42nd division, were gradually driven back (Oct. 23-30) to a front behind the railway from Nieuport to Dixmude, two or three miles from the Yser. Reinforced again on October 31, but forced back by overwhelming numbers, they opened the dykes, flooded the land with sea-water, and gradually forced the Germans back across the Yser, except from a few isolated farms among the flooded land, which were fiercely and repeatedly contested for some time. On November 16 the Germans fell back from the left bank of the Yser Canal; and for some weeks there was little change in the positions, but in December there was a renewal of activity, and on Christmas Day the Belgians were again on the right bank of the Yser.
During the Battle of the Yser and for some time afterwards—altogether from October 17 to November 9—the Belgians were supported on the left by a British squadron under Rear-Admiral Hood, consisting at first of the river monitors Humber, Mersey, and Severn (p. [224]), the light cruisers Attentive and Foresight, and some destroyers, and subsequently reinforced from time to time by the battleship Venerable and a number of older cruisers and sloops, carrying heavier guns, which bombarded the German troops along the coast and prevented them from advancing on Nieuport by land, while precluding any effort to do so by sea. Machine-gun detachments were landed, German submarine attacks were repelled, and on October 30 the Admiral led a French destroyer flotilla into action off Lombaertzyde. The arrival of French reinforcements and the flooding of the country rendered further bombardment unnecessary; and the Germans, instead of showing themselves in the open, were driven to construct hidden artillery defences in the sand dunes along the coast. Some of the British ships, among them the Amazon, Mersey, Wildfire, and Vestal—the two latter old sloops of war—were damaged, and there were some British casualties from the Germans' shrapnel and heavy guns. In all thirty British vessels took part, including two submarines, and five French destroyers. The Germans were again bombarded at Westende by a British squadron on December 16; but a month earlier their efforts to reach Dunkirk and Calais by the coast route had been definitely checked by the Belgians—supported by French marines, bluejackets, and territorials on land, and by the British and French squadron at sea. Their attempts to reach the coast through Belgian territory farther south, round Ypres, had meanwhile been frustrated by the British and French forces, and the year closed amid signs that they were now on the defensive, and with a reasonable hope that they would be driven back by the Allied Forces in the spring.
Throughout the war King Albert acted as Commander-in-Chief of his Army and displayed the utmost heroism. He was visited by King George V. on December 4 (p. [245]) on the only fragment of Belgian territory not occupied by German troops. The Queen brought her children to England in August, but soon returned to her country.
A Belgian Mission visited the United States in August and September, and had an excellent reception from both people and Government. Much was done to shelter and provide for the 200,000 refugees in Great Britain and the 500,000 in the Netherlands, and for the comparatively small numbers which reached Switzerland; and those who remained in Belgium were actually saved from starvation by philanthropic effort from the United States, directed by an American Commission, and largely administered by Rhodes scholars from Oxford. Belgium had earned the gratitude of the non-Germanic world. Her first resistance to the invaders gave time for the British and French Armies to concentrate, the defence of Antwerp held back forces which would otherwise have been hurled at the Allies on the Aisne, and the battle of the Yser saved Calais and Dunkirk. The Allies were firmly resolved that no peace should be concluded which did not secure the Belgian people all the reparation possible for their tremendous losses, and that they should receive a due recognition of their heroic resistance.
II. THE NETHERLANDS.
Since the formation of a non-party Cabinet in August, 1913, political conflict had been suspended; and for the first seven months of the year the country had little history. In January a Royal Commission was appointed to devise a settlement of the schools question, which had been the subject of repeated controversies since 1878. It was understood that, while regard was to be paid to the interest of denominational schools, the existing State schools would be left untouched. An attempt to settle another controversial question of long standing was made by the Royal Commission on Proportional Representation, whose Report (issued in June) recommended a complicated modification of the Belgian system, treating the whole country as a single constituency, but providing for the representation of localities by allowing voters to indicate their preference for particular candidates on the list put forward by their respective parties. An elaborate and intricate method of determining the successful candidates was also recommended, but the Report was not acted on during the year. A great demonstration in favour of equal suffrage for both sexes had been held in February at Amsterdam by the extreme Liberals and Social Democrats. The heavy cost of social legislation, especially the old-age pensions, necessitated increased direct taxation and an addition to the excise duty on beer. The creation of a new Navy for colonial defence was also proceeded with (A.R., 1913, p. 365). The anxiety set up in France and Belgium by the projected fortifications at the entrance to the Scheldt (A. R., 1913, p. 364) was enhanced early in the year by the announcement that the new fort would not, as had been expected, be situated on a shoal opposite Flushing, where it would have prevented the occupation by an enemy of that town or the coast opposite, but would be placed higher up the Scheldt: so that it might conceivably serve to block that river against the approach of a fleet sent to relieve Antwerp in the event of the violation of Belgian neutrality. Just before the war broke out, again, it was stated that the German Vulkan Company, which owned a huge shipyard at Stettin and was controlled by a well-known millionaire, Herr Thyssen, had acquired a site for a harbour on the Nieuwe Waterweg, one of the chief approaches to Rotterdam. This it was feared might ultimately be used as a German naval base. Questioned on the subject in the House of Commons, Sir E. Grey stated that he was informed that the place would only serve for the transfer of iron ore from sea-going ships to river barges. But anxieties as to German influence in Holland were swept away by the events of the war.
On the outbreak of the war the Government issued a declaration of neutrality (Aug. 3); it had already mobilised its army, to the extent of some 125,000 men, with remarkable efficiency and speed. The export of coal, food, horses and vehicles was prohibited, and an opening of the dykes was contemplated so as to protect the land frontier of the "Holland Fortress," or defended area of the kingdom, if necessary, by inundation. This, however, was not done, since no attempt was made to violate Dutch territory—except, indeed, that a German airman dropped bombs on Maastricht, probably by mistake. The financial disturbance set up was serious for a time; there was a run on the savings banks, and a tendency to hoard coin. The Post Office Savings Bank exercised its right to defer payments to depositors for a fortnight—a step which caused some comment. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange was closed, and a Bill was passed empowering the Bank of the Netherlands to reduce the proportion of specie it was bound to hold against liabilities to 20 per cent. Small paper money was also created, in the form of "silverbons" of one, two and a half, and five florins, and fresh silver was rapidly coined; but some of the towns issued their own "silverbons," to make good the lack of change. A Credit Bank was formed by the retail traders, to enable them to meet the demands of manufacturers and wholesale dealers for payment in cash, and arrangements were made for advances by the Bank of the Netherlands on approved security, under a guarantee from a group of banks against possible loss. A Bill was passed in September, after considerable opposition, enabling the courts to extend the time allowed for payment of debt. The Bourse was placed under Government supervision. A loan of 275,000,000 florins (about 22,000,000l.) was issued in November, subscription being compulsory on persons whose fortunes exceeded 75,000 guilders (about 6,500l.).
The Queen's Speech at the opening of the States-General (Sept. 14) appealed confidently to the nation to avoid endangering neutrality in trade and traffic, and expressed satisfaction at the success of the mobilisation and the union of the people, noting also some improvement in certain branches of trade.
The war, however, did grave injury to industry, notably to the Amsterdam trade of diamond cutting, and to shipping, and food prices rose sharply. Moreover, the country was burdened with the support of some 1,560 British marines and bluejackets and some 22,000 Belgian soldiers who accidentally entered Dutch territory after the fall of Antwerp, besides half a million Belgian refugees. But the burden was borne nobly, and though there was an active German propaganda, the fate of Belgium estranged Dutch sympathy from the German cause.
Luxemburg. The visit of the King and Queen of the Belgians (April 27-29) was entirely successful, and their Majesties received a most cordial welcome. It was thought likely to open the way to closer commercial connexion between the two countries, thus tending to counterbalance the growth in the Grand Duchy of German industrial and trade interests. A projected visit from the Queen of the Netherlands in August was prevented by the war.