Recent content by benben

  1. WI: Maginot Line Extended Into Belgium's Border, Stopping At Netherlands?

    What you describe is exactly the reason why the border between Belgium and Germany was not heavily defended. The first alternative considered was the Meuse and the Albert canal, but that made a very long front to defend with a salient in Liège, hence the decision to go for the Dyle line.
  2. AHC: Prevent the Fall of France in 1940

    Neutrality was a mistake but I would take exception with the qualifier that it was “strict”. It was clearly leaning on the side of the Allies, be it in terms of set-up of the defence lines or sharing of military intelligence, for instance. This said, the difficulty of Belgium was that any...
  3. AHC: Prevent the Fall of France in 1940

    Please, read Stengers’s “L’action du Roi depuis 1831” and I am sure you will develop a more nuanced and correct view. Diplomacy had actually hardly been a prerogative of the King, except to a certain extent under Leopold I. Defence was the domain where the King could traditionally exert a bit...
  4. AHC: Prevent the Fall of France in 1940

    There are persisting myths on this board that (1) Belgian foreign policy is somehow determined by the King and not by a government that is itself the outcome of the balance of forces in Parliament, (2) Albert would somehow have been more friendly to the French than his son, (3) the Belgians...
  5. Albert Capitulates (World War I)

    What is this BS ? This runs contrary to what had been settled foreign policy doctrine for Belgium for several years. And also contrary to all the testimonies how the reaction against the German ultimatum had been. And you are pushing forward some dubious hearsay against all the other...
  6. Albert Capitulates (World War I)

    There was resistance, but only by the army in uniform. The Belgian government was very legalistic and didn’t want at all to have what happened during the French-Prussian war. They took measures to actually disarm civilians at the beginning of the invasion
  7. Albert Capitulates (World War I)

    Why would Belgians act as francs-tireurs against the British when they didn’t do it against the Germans OTL? That myth has been seriously debunked by both Belgian and German historians, so why are you bringing it up?
  8. Albert Capitulates (World War I)

    Then your reading was too quick indeed. The other powers were not only bound to respect Belgium’s neutrality, but also to guarantee it.
  9. WI Saarland offensive continued

    To Michele: My apologies for taking the time to respond, but real life took over, and I had on top some issues with my computer. I find these exchanges stimulating, as it can certainly help refine the understanding of particular points of history, and I hope we can keep this civil. The...
  10. WI Saarland offensive continued

    Except Belgium was not a French ally and requested several times the extension of the line along its border even in the early 1930’s
  11. WI Saarland offensive continued

    Calling this agreement “Accord militaire défensif pour le cas d’une aggression alllemande non-provoquée” certainly sounds better towards internal and international opinion than “Accord de coopération militaire pour l’organisation pratique de l’occupation de la Ruhr”, which this was mostly about...
  12. WI Saarland offensive continued

    Sorry, what I meant is that this high water thing was one of the excuses found ex-post whereas the fundamental reason for not prolonging the line was to make sure that Belgium would be forced to ally with France and serve as battleground. I don’t deny there may have been technical difficulties...
  13. WI Saarland offensive continued

    I will search for you a couple of links that explain exactly what was in that agreement, as I think Wikipedia is really too light and a bit distorted on the topic. For the moment, suffice to say that it was an agreement that was signed purely between the military chiefs of staff, with a formal...
  14. WI Saarland offensive continued

    This water table thing is a legend. As to Belgium’s status as a French ally, see my previous post.
  15. WI Saarland offensive continued

    Belgium was not a French ally until 1936. The only treaty that Belgium was party to was the Locarno treaty, which was a multilateral treaty between Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and Great Britain. It was the failure by the other powers to fulfill their obligations under that treaty following...
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