Yser front

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Front line in Flanders 1914

The Yser Front (fr .: Front de l'Yser , ndl .: Front aan de Ijzer ) was part of the Western Front during the First World War from 1914 to 1918 . It was defended against the Germans by Belgian troops and protected a small part of Belgium ( Yser area ) from occupation. The front was fiercely fought for in the Battle of the Yser as part of the First Battle of Flanders in autumn 1914.

prehistory

The Belgian troops, initially around 200,000 men, offered massive resistance to the German invasion. They were able to hold the Liège fortress ring for a while, until the Germans used the Fat Bertha , a fortress-breaking gun, from August 15th. The first phase of the German invasion was overshadowed by attacks on the civilian population and war crimes such as the destruction of lions (see Rape of Belgium ).

On August 24th , the fortress of Namur fell ; Antwerp capitulated on October 10th . The army withdrew behind the Yser River . To the west of it in West Flanders was a small area of ​​unoccupied Belgium that bordered the Channel coast. King Albert I and the military leadership decided to keep their troops intact as much as possible and not to take part in Allied offensives against German positions. Their goal was to hold the Yser Front until the end of the war.

Battle of Yser

In the Battle of Yser in October / November as part of the first Battle of Flanders, the front was fought over. The British expeditionary force was south of the Belgian positions near Ypres . The French 10th Army protected the area around La Bassée . Heavy fighting has raged on all three sectors of the front since mid-October.

The German army wanted to break through on the Yser between Ypres and Nieuwpoort . The Belgian troops, supported by British warships, suffered heavy losses. A breakthrough of the German III. Reserve Corps seemed imminent and Belgian troops had to retreat when the Germans managed to cross the river on October 24th. Due to the floods triggered by the Belgians on October 29, 1914, the Ysertal was flooded, which finally forced the Germans to go back to the right bank of the river on November 2. Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide were still contested until November 10th . With French support, the Belgians were able to hold Nieuwpoort, while Diksmuide fell to the Germans. In the battle the Belgians suffered 18,500 casualties, including 3,000 dead.

Trench warfare

After the Battle of the Yser started for the Belgian army trench warfare .

The first winter of the war was tough for the army because it was not prepared for a long war. A typhus epidemic was prevented by vaccinating the troops . Since the German army had similar problems with cold, wet and generally poor living conditions, they temporarily stopped their attacks.

In June 1915, the conspicuous blue uniforms of the Belgian troops were replaced by those in khaki colors . In 1915 the troops were increased by 34,000 men. The soldiers were recruited in the unoccupied part of the country and among Belgians abroad. A total of 60,000 men were called up during the war. There were also 32,000 volunteers. Shortly before the liberation, the army numbered 168,000 men. During the war, around 25,000 to 30,000 young Belgians from the occupied part of the country were brought across the Dutch border to join the army.

Four field hospitals were set up behind the front. While the risk of dying in combat was relatively low compared to other fronts, the civilian population of the free area and the soldiers were at risk of disease. Around 40,000 people died there from epidemics.

A total of 40,000 Belgian soldiers died during the war. In 1914, with its war of movement , it fell 31.7%, in 1915 it was 13.7%, in 1916 8.5%, in 1917 it was 9.7% and in 1918 it was 31.1%. The greatest losses were therefore in the occupation and liberation of the country. The proportion of deaths among the Belgian troops (11.1%) was lower than in other countries (France 17.6%, Germany 14%, Italy 13.4%, Great Britain 13%).

In addition to Belgian troops, troops from other countries and from Belgian colonies also fought on the Yser Front . The units there came from fifty countries or regions.

War fatigue and internal tension

The Belgian soldiers were the only warring nations who were not given home leave because of the German occupation of their country. The postal traffic to Belgium via the Netherlands worked to a certain extent despite censorship. Nevertheless, the separation and the concern for families were decisive for the soldiers in their everyday lives. Only through the liberation of the country did the soldiers hope to see their relatives again. This was a major driving force behind further fighting. In contrast, soldiers from other countries could only hope to return home if the fighting was broken off.

The enthusiasm for war of the first time quickly disappeared in favor of perseverance and an apparently pronounced sense of duty. War patriotism subsided over time and the number of desertions increased. The deadlocked military situation, but also the lack of food, led to pronounced war fatigue in 1917.

Since then there has also been tension between the Dutch - and French - speaking soldiers. The background was, among other things, the feeling of discrimination on the part of the Flemings in a force dominated by predominantly French-speaking officers, although bilingualism was officially decreed for the army in 1913. Advancement or certain coveted posts were still reserved for French speakers. This seemed all the more unfair because the Flemings made up over 64% of the soldiers, while they made up about 55% of the Belgian population. The front movement was formed , which demanded the formation of regiments separated by language. The Yser Front later became the founding myth of the Flemish national movement of the post-war period. The front movement in no way questioned loyalty to Belgium, on the contrary. There was no question of defeatism or even of a collaboration with the Germans.

meaning

In order to maintain state sovereignty, it was of considerable importance that the Belgians maintained the unoccupied rest of the country. This was one of the reasons why the king stayed at the front until the end of the war, while the Belgian parliament had fled to Le Havre in France . Until the end of the war, Albert I refused to put the Belgian troops at risk with large Allied offensives.

literature

Web links

Commons : Yser-Front  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Oliver Janz: 14 - the great war . Campus-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2013, p. 85.
  2. ↑ Entry in the portal be14-18 , accessed on November 1, 2014.
  3. ↑ Laurence van Ypersele: Belgium in the "Grande Guerre" . In: APuZ, July 12, 2004, p. 23f.
  4. ↑ Jörn Leonhard: Pandora's box . Munich 2014, p. 284.
  5. ↑ Jörn Leonhard: Pandora's box . Munich 2014, p. 169.
  6. ↑ Bruno Benvindo, Benoît Majerus: Belgium between 1914 and 1918. A laboratory for total war , p. 131f.
  7. ↑ Jörn Leonhard: Pandora's box . Munich 2014, p. 561.
  8. ↑ Bruno Benvindo, Benoît Majerus: Belgium between 1914 and 1918. A laboratory for total war , p. 132.
  9. ↑ Bruno Benvindo, Benoît Majerus: Belgium between 1914 and 1918. A laboratory for total war , p. 133.
  10. ↑ Bruno Benvindo, Benoît Majerus: Belgium between 1914 and 1918. A laboratory for total war , p. 134; Jörn Leonhard: Pandora's box . Munich 2014, p. 134.