Belgian neutrality,
which England pretended to defend, was nothing but a disguise.
On the evening of Aug. 2 we informed Brussels that we were obliged, in
the interest of self-defense and in consequence of the war plans of
France, which were known to us, to march through Belgium, but already,
on the afternoon of the same day, Aug. 2, before anything of our action
in Brussels could have been known in London, the British Government
promised France unconditional assistance in case the German fleet should
attack the French coast. Nothing was said about Belgium neutrality.
How can England maintain that she drew the sword because we violated
Belgian neutrality? How could the British statesmen, whose past is well
known, speak at all of Belgian neutrality? When, on Aug. 4, I spoke of
the wrong which we were committing with our march into Belgium it was
not yet established whether the Belgian Government at the last moment
would not desire to spare the country and retire under protest to
Antwerp. For military reasons I cannot go into whether there was the
possibility of such a development on Aug. 4.
As to the guilt of the Belgian Government, many indications were already
known at that time, but there were no positive and written proofs. Now,
however, that it is demonstrated by documents found in Brussels how the
Belgians surrendered their neutrality to England the entire world knows
two facts.
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