The First Battle of the War
Introduction
World War One started when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28,1914 with Germany, France, Britain and etc. following after. Each country was already prepared to fight the war due to extreme mitiliarism and nationalism prior to the declarations of war. The actual fighting part of the war didn't start till August 1914 with the launch of the German offensive called the Schlieffen Plan. The Schlieffen Plan was a plan to knock France out of the war in six weeks while Russia was busy trying to organize their troops. Now the only way the Germans could attack France was by going through one obstical...Belgium.
The Battle of Liege
August 5th-16th 1914
The Battle of Liege was the first land battle fought in World War One as a result to German invasion through neutral Belgium. Field Marshal Karl Von Bulow commander of the German Second army and his 320,000 soldiers' objective was to capture the City of Liege becuase Liege block the slender gap between the Ardenne forest and the 'Limburg Appendix', the best way into Belgium. Liege was a town surrounded by twelve forts with six of them being on both sides of the Meuse River with each of the the forts being 3-5km apart from each other 6-10km away from the city. These forts were on high ground and were heavily armed with over 400 retractable guns up to 210mm in size.
The Germans attacked the forts at night on 5 August lead by General Emmich and 30,000 troops but sadly suffered heavy losses and made little to no progress. Rather then continue attacking the forts and lose more men, Erich Ludendorff called in for some Zeppelins( or German airships) to bomb the city and Citadel or strongholds where the people can take shelter. He also led the 14 brigade between a gap between the forts where the belgians were planning to build rifle trenches but were never built. After moving through that gap, the Germans made their way into the city thus making the Belgian garrison to surrender on August 7th. After this victory, the Germans did not want to continue their movement through Belgium without first capturing the rest of the forts surrounding Liege. With the Austrian manufactured 17-in howlizer(which before this point was unknown to the Allies) and the Dicke Berta or "Big Bertha" 420mm siege howlizer, the forts were finally captured on August 16th. On August 17th, the German 1st, 2nd, and 3rd armies moved on with the next step of the Schlieffen Plan which was to capture the rest of Belgium. The Germans would eventually capture Brussels without resistance and forced the Belgian army to Antwerp.
The Germans attacked the forts at night on 5 August lead by General Emmich and 30,000 troops but sadly suffered heavy losses and made little to no progress. Rather then continue attacking the forts and lose more men, Erich Ludendorff called in for some Zeppelins( or German airships) to bomb the city and Citadel or strongholds where the people can take shelter. He also led the 14 brigade between a gap between the forts where the belgians were planning to build rifle trenches but were never built. After moving through that gap, the Germans made their way into the city thus making the Belgian garrison to surrender on August 7th. After this victory, the Germans did not want to continue their movement through Belgium without first capturing the rest of the forts surrounding Liege. With the Austrian manufactured 17-in howlizer(which before this point was unknown to the Allies) and the Dicke Berta or "Big Bertha" 420mm siege howlizer, the forts were finally captured on August 16th. On August 17th, the German 1st, 2nd, and 3rd armies moved on with the next step of the Schlieffen Plan which was to capture the rest of Belgium. The Germans would eventually capture Brussels without resistance and forced the Belgian army to Antwerp.