Albert I of Belgium

“ Surely if one man, one leader, has come out of this severe trial unstained, with his virtue untarnished, it is indeed Albert the First, King of the Belgians. His simple and loyal attitude in face of the German ultimatum, the indomitable courage which he showed during the Belgian campaign, his dignity, his reserve, his almost exaggerated modesty, ought to have won for him, besides the deep admiration of the Allies and of the neutral world, the respect and esteem even of his worst enemy. ”

“ CHAPTER XXXII THE QUEEN OF THE BELGIANS On the third of August, 1914, the German Army crossed the frontier into Belgium. And on the following day, the fourth, King Albert made his now famous speech to the joint meeting of the Belgian Chamber and Senate. Come what might, the Belgian people would maintain the freedom that was their birthright.
"I have faith in our destinies," King Albert concluded. "A country which defends itself wins respect and cannot perish." ”

“ It is determined to repel any assault upon its rights by every means in its power.”
What will King Albert do? He knows Germany too well not to feel certain that the rejection of her demands will be followed by an instant swoop of her formidable army. Three days before, our Sovereign had written a personal letter to William II. Since the Emperor had professed to be his friend, he took343 the liberty of asserting Belgium’s right to see her neutrality respected. This appeal failed to move the stony heart of the Kaiser. On 3rd August, King Albert turned to the King of England. ”

“ The names of the hero-king, Albert, and of his brave consort, Queen Elizabeth, are honored by inscriptions, and their pictures, cut from, newspapers, decorate the schoolrooms and the little family cubicles.
The brutal power which reigns at Berlin may drive the Belgians out of Belgium by terror and oppression. But it cannot drive Belgium out of the hearts of the Belgians. While they live their country lives, and Albert is still their King. ”

“ If we are unable to hold Belgium, any pro-German demonstrations in the Northern provinces may suggest the idea that it is the wish of the Flemings to be bound to the Empire and give a pretext for the annexation of Antwerp and Flanders. If even that is impossible and if we are obliged to give back his Kingdom to King Albert, we shall have sown so many germs of discontent in the country that it will be impossible for the Government to restore Belgium in her full unity and power. She will never become against us the strong bulwark of the Allies. ”

“ On Sunday night, August 2, 1914, Germany sent an ultimatum, demanding passage of her armies through Belgium to France. To the Kaiser, Belgium was no more than a turnpike road to Paris. The hero, King Albert, knowing he had his people behind him, refused to cringe and become a German slave. It was like the boy David defying the giant Philistine. The national flag—black, yellow and red—the ancient colors of Brabant, the central province in the kingdom of the nine that made Belgium a nation—was unfurled everywhere by “men determined to be free.” ”

“ King Albert on that day addressed the Belgian Parliament, amid a scene of patriotic enthusiasm, and urged a united and stubborn resistance. "A nation which defends itself," he said, "commands the respect of all. Such a nation cannot perish." The union of the nation was marked by [Pg 366] the appointment of M. Vandervelde, the Socialist leader, to be a Minister of State. Meanwhile the King had telegraphed a personal appeal for aid to King George V., and had received a reply assuring him of British support to protect the independence, integrity, and neutrality of Belgium. ”

“ Had the first pioneers of the independent State not displayed an untiring activity, had they not ever made generous sacrifices, we should not to-day be in possession of the Congo. Let us follow this magnificent example; let us continue to display a constant energy full, above all, of confidence in our own forces.
Belgium has immense riches and can count upon men of great value who direct the investment of its financial reserves. May these distinguished men be also the artisans of the prosperity of our over-sea possessions ”

“ Belgian independence would be a shadow.
In their extremity King Albert and his Ministers turned to Great Britain. They had good reason. The independence of modern Belgium is the work of British statesmanship. Great Britain had, in 1831, initiated the Guarantee although France was the first Power to sign it, and Great Britain had always looked upon the Guarantee as a solemn obligation. “We are bound to defend Belgium,” Lord John (then Earl) Russell said in the House of Lords in explaining the policy of the Government in 1870. “I am told that may lead us into danger. ”

“ She knows them all. King Albert is not a figure-head; he is the actual fighting head of his army. The murder of Belgium has been done before his very eyes.
In those long evenings when he has returned from headquarters; when he and Queen Elisabeth sit by the fire in the room that overlooks the sea; when every blast that shakes the windows reminds them both of that little army, two-thirds gone, shivering in the trenches only a mile or two away, or of their people beyond the dead line, suffering both deprivation and terror—what pictures do they see in the glowing coals? ”

“ He is a most amiable man, so kind and well-meaning, and seems so much beloved. He is so amusing too. He is very anxious that Belgium should become liée with Germany, and I think, dearest Uncle, that it would be for the real good of Belgium if it could be so. You will have heard how perfectly and splendidly everything went off on the 25th. Nothing could have done better, and little Albert (what a pleasure that he has that dearest name!) behaved so well. The King left us yesterday morning to go to town, where we follow him to-morrow; he was quite sad to leave Windsor, which he admired so much. ”

“ Under Albert I the wise policies of his predecessors were continued, and the little country was enjoying peace and contentment such as never came to it during the centuries of foreign oppression and tyranny that began with the acquisition of Flanders and Brabant by the Dukes of Burgundy. It is the greatest moral issue in this war whether Belgium, after being free for less than eighty-five years, shall once more pass into the hands of a foreign power. ”

“ Although artistic, literary, and scientific interests flourished during the reign of Albert and Isabella, the trade and industry of Belgium enjoyed no such revival. Antwerp was closed and had no access to the sea, as the Dutch blocked the Scheldt, and all commerce with the colonies of the New World was forbidden to the people of Belgium by Spain. Moreover, the peace and safety necessary to the development of trade were continually threatened by France in the south and by the United Provinces in the north. ”

“ Through him I learned to know Belgium, today all the world knows. Her cities are laid waste now and her people scattered, but her people will return and rebuild the cities, and the enemy will be dust. The day will come when the war will be far distant, a thing of the past, remote, forgotten, but never, while men endure or heroism counts, will it be forgotten what the Belgians did for Liberty's sake and for the sake of Albert, their King. ”

“ KING ALBERT AT THE HEAD OF THE HEROIC SOLDIERS OF BELGIUM
It is universally agreed that the Belgian monarch was no figurehead general but a real leader of his troops. These were the men who, facing annihilation, astonished the world by opposing the German military machine successfully enough to allow France to get her armies into shape and prevent the immediate taking of Paris that was planned by Germany.
The heroic defense of the Belgian army at Liége against the Army of the Meuse delayed the operation of Germany’s plans and in all probability saved Paris. ”

“ THE SACKING OF BELGIUM.
There is one idea which dominates the Belgian tragedy: "The body may be conquered, the soul remains free." These words were uttered for the first time, I believe, by the Belgian Premier, Baron de Broqueville, in the solemn sitting of the House, when the German violation of Belgian neutrality was announced to the representatives of the people. The idea is supposed to have been expressed by King Albert, in another form, before the evacuation of Antwerp. ”

“ The death of their son Prince Baldwin in 1891 was held to be a national calamity. This left the nephew of Leopold II, Prince Albert (the present King of Belgium) , the heir presumptive to the throne. He married in 1900 the Princess Elizabeth of Bavaria; to them have been born three children, two boys and a girl. Both the King and Queen, the objects of intense devotion on the part of the Belgians, are very simple and democratic in their bearing toward the people. The Queen is a very beautiful woman, and a most devoted wife and mother.... ”

“ March 9—As a result of new royal decrees calling refugee youths to the colors the number of recruits is increasing daily; a few days ago King Albert presented a number of recruits to two veteran regiments in a speech; Belgian officials are arrested by Germans on charge that they induced Belgian customs officials to go through Holland to join Belgian Army.
March 17—Government issues protest against the German allegation that documents found in Brussels show that Belgium and England had a secret understanding before the war of such a nature as to constitute a violation of Belgium's neutrality ”

“ The real object of these confidential outbursts is not hard to discover. They were an invitation to our country, face to face with the danger that threatened Western Europe, to throw herself into the arms of the stronger, arms ready to open, to clasp Belgium—yes, and to crush her. When we think of the ultimatum issued to Belgium38 on the following 2nd of August, we realize to what an act of servility and cowardice William II., through this Potsdam interview, would fain have driven King Albert. ”

“ An Englishman asked a Belgian soldier if King Albert was beloved. The answer was, “No, Monsieur, he is not beloved.... Before the war he was beloved—today he is adored.”
Emile Verhaeren wrote in King Albert’s book: “At this moment you are the one King in the world whose subjects, without exception, unite in loving and admiring him with all the strength of their soul. This unique fate is [125] yours, sire. No leader of men on earth has had it in the same degree as you. ”

“ The number of the invading troops was so great and the danger of the Belgians being cut off from their Antwerp base so imminent, that King Albert decided to retire, after some combats at Haelen, Hauthem, and Aerschot, to the entrenched position of Antwerp. This happened on August 19. The flood of the invaders went over Louvain, Brussels, and then turned southward. There, thanks to the delay procured by the resistance of Liège, stood, on the Sambre, the Fifth French Army, and, on the canal from Mons to Condé, the British Expeditionary Force under Sir John French. ”

“ All have in view the welfare of the natives and are inspired by a policy of generous liberty, for in the Congo, as in Belgium, we wish to enjoy the esteem of our neighbors and, surrounded with the sympathies of other nations, advance incessantly in the path of progress. ”

“ It helps to appreciate the depth of the love of53 freedom and the steadfast fortitude which have justly won the admiration of liberal Europe.
Taking up his headquarters in Louvain, King Albert disposed his forces along a line from Diest to Wavre. Between Wavre and Namur, with headquarters at Gembloux, the country was watched by a division of French cavalry. This line, it will be noted, describes an arc some 45 miles in extent, covering both Brussels and Antwerp. At this stage of the hostilities the necessity was for a strong force of cavalry. That of the Belgian army was in numbers inadequate. ”

“ What we lack in the Congo and what we need is a well-established system of means of communication, and, if I dare to thus express myself, a special policy of railways. This policy must have a national character. We can not better show its vital importance than by citing the example of the United States. ”

“ The railway of the lower Congo will indeed remain a gigantic enterprise, unique in the economical history of Africa; but, since its achievement, aside from the railway of the great lakes, the essentially Belgian lines have but slightly progressed. It is desirable that we have at least a line of transportation, conceived and built by our compatriots, clear across the colony, and connecting the capital with the heart of the Katanga district. ”

“ Our policy in regard to the means of transportation in the Congo must be seconded with fearlessness and foresight; we must take into consideration, first of all, the general interest of the colony. Enterprises as vast in scope as these we have undertaken bring with them great duties and necessitate incessant efforts. ”

“ The credit institutions of this country have a patriotic function to accomplish—that of encouraging the expansion of capital in the Congo and of thus powerfully cooperating in the success of the highly civilizing work which helps promote the honor of our course of action in Africa. ”

“ This task comprised the exploring of those mysterious territories of Central Africa, their effective occupation by means of advance posts which were to be created, the crushing of the slave traders who spread terror and misery through all this part of the continent—in a word, the organizing of a real State by the delimitation of a vast district and the exerting to its furthermost frontiers, of the beneficent action of the metropolis—a glorious but difficult mission coming to our officers as early as 1878. ”