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Also worth noting: Belgium was traditionally neutral, having been set up as effectively a buffer state in the wake of the Napoleonic wars. The bloody quagmire F
by cstross 13y ago
Also worth noting: Belgium was traditionally neutral, having been set up as effectively a buffer state in the wake of the Napoleonic wars. The bloody quagmire First World War was in no small part precipitated by Germany's violation of Belgian neutrality, which brought Great Britain into the war on the Franco-Russian side -- the UK had committed as a guarantor of Belgian neutrality. So despite strong misgivings about German revanchism during the 1920s and 1930s, Belgium was also historically somewhat ambivalent about joint defense projects with foreigners.
- walshemj 13y agoBut if they had allowed the British and French to advance to the defense line before the Germans invaded ww2 would have turned out very different. Part of the reason that the German blitzkrieg worked so well is the french and British forces where out of position.
- cstross 13y agoYes, absolutely. And I note that these days Belgium is home to NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). They might not have worked it out after WW1, but after WW2 ...