To the left, caricatures of a fallen King Albert of Belgium, Tsar Nicholas of Russia, President Poincare of France, generic (?) caricatures of an English man and a Japanese soldier, Kings Peter of Serbia, and Nikola of Montenegro engaging in a tug of war, the rope being held on the right by a German (in gray) and an Austro-Hungarian soldier. Between the teams and behind the rope stands the diminutive caped figure of King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, all hat, mustache, and chin.

Das Europaische Gleichgewicht 1914



The European Equilibrium, 1914

Other views:

Tuesday, August 4, 1914

""Our invasion of Belgium is contrary to international law but the wrong — I speak openly — that we are committing we will make good as soon as our military goal is reached.""

Quotation Context

Addressing the Reichstag on August 4, 1914, German Chancellor Bethman Hollweg told the Reichstag that German troops had invaded Luxemburg and might already be in Belgium (they had been since early morning). The Chancellor claimed this was done because Germany knew that France would violate its pledge of Belgian neutrality.

The Reichstag unanimously voted five billion marks for the war.

Tuchman, p. 152; see Jannen, p. 353

Source

The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman, copyright © Barbara W. Tuchman 1962, publisher: Dell Publishing Co., Inc., publication date: 1963

Tags

1914-08-04, Bethman Hollweg, invasion, Belgium, invasion of Belgium, Reichstag