Additional smaller defensive positions were constructed at Liège and Namur, while several smaller, older fortifications such as those at Diest, Termonde, Dinant, Huy, Ostend, and other locations were kept in service, these last often being of Napoleonic origin (if not older), and all being outdated by the mid-19th century.

The defenses at Antwerp were conceived on a grand scale. The 1859 plans called for a double circle of fortifications to guard the city and harbor area to the north: an inner ring consisting of an intricate series of bastions, ravelins, water moats, causeways, raised earthen walls covering brick casemates and barracks, artillery positions, supply depots and fortified ornamental city gates controlling entrance and egress, and a second ring of fortifications, some 7 km distant from the city center, consisting of eight brick-built forts, once again encompassing artillery positions, barracks, and depots, built at intervals of 5 km apart to allow mutual artillery support, but otherwise not connected to each other. To the north, south, and west of the city extensive flooding was planned in the event of an attack on the city.

The two encircling rings of fortifications were built during the years 1859-1865, despite ineffectual protest from citizens and merchants alike. It was a showcase example of military architecture, incorporating all the latest advances and techniques. It was built at great cost, and the main contractors, having apparently misjudged the complexity of things, went bankrupt. Nevertheless, the works were completed in the planned timeframe.

But by 1878 it was already agreed that the fortifications were in need of extension. Artillery range and explosive power increased at a steady pace, and to compensate for this a third encircling series of forts was planned to be built 15 km from the city center, in a great 100 km-long perimeter, which would hopefully keep all vital parts of the city and harbor safely out of enemy artillery range.

The long siege of Port Arthur in the Far East during the Russo-Japanese War of 1905-06 drove home the need for updated and enlarged fortifications if Antwerp were to hold against a modern army. In 1907 the political decision to build the third line of 17 forts, smaller redoubts, and field positions was finally taken and funds allocated by the Belgian parliament. These 17 outer perimeter forts were the most modern then available, built in non-reinforced concrete several meters thick and incorporating almost every modern design and military application then conceivable: revolving retractable steel turrets housing long-range artillery directed by an intricate system of field telephones and forward observers; steel observation turrets; concrete walls and subterranean tunnels; retractable drawbridges; independent electrical power stations in each fort; flood and searchlights positioned on the walls; concrete-protected machine gun positions and powder magazines; positive-pressure ventilation systems to evacuate noxious gases; and supply rooms and infirmaries.

These forts were built in the following years, with most finished by 1912 or 1913, though in August 1914 there was still work to be completed, often involving the fire and control systems and the protection of steel copulas. They were the most modern and up to date series of fortifications on the Continent, and, therefore, upon the outbreak of war in 1914, the Belgian government and both France and Britain were confident that even in the face of a determined German assault, the city would be able to hold out indefinitely.

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The Siege of Antwerp: Belgium's New Capital

King Albert in Antwerp

The first German troops crossed the Belgian border on 4 August and started operations against the Liège forts the following day. Initially, the first assaults—overconfident and hurriedly carried out—were repulsed, much to the satisfaction of the newspaper press, especially in Great Britain, which carried overconfident headlines about the resistance of the gallant Belgians. By the 10th, however, German heavy artillery was brought to Liège, and when the 420mm siege guns started firing on the 12th, it was only a matter of time before a breach was created in the Belgian fortifications. One by one the forts fell, in one of which, Fort Loncin to the west of Liège, General Leman the Belgian commander at Liège, was knocked unconscious and wounded when the powder magazine of that fort was hit and exploded, all but obliterating almost half of the underground casemates and gun turrets. Overnight, General Leman became the first Entente hero of the war and a symbol of Belgian resistance to the invading German armies.

The Belgian government and the king and queen officially relocated to Antwerp upon the occupation of Brussels early in August. There was no shortage of large buildings to house the ministries and parliament and senate. The Atheneum (or high school) and the grand and ornate municipal ballroom were pressed into service for government use. Hotels, of which there was a multitude in Antwerp for use by businessmen and emigrants awaiting departure to the New World, were soon full to capacity, housing diplomats, officers, journalists, and refugees from all over the occupied parts of the country. The rich and wealthy opened their homes for use as hospitals or nursing stations. The Antwerp Zoo, with many large festival and conference halls, was also turned into a casualty recovery ward, and a number of municipal trams were converted into useful and picturesque Red Cross streetcars, plying the routes from outer fortifications to the city center with wounded and injured soldiers.

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The German military command was not overly concerned with the fate of Antwerp and the Belgian Army at this time either, its main objective still being the capture of Paris and hopefully the encirclement and destruction of the bulk of the French Army. Therefore, a numerically smaller German force of mostly second-line quality, Landwehr (territorials and reservists) was left behind as a screening force around Antwerp. It was more an army of observation than a besieging force, as at no time was it strong enough to mount an assault on any of the outer fortifications. In fact, it was the Belgians who went over to offensive operations three times before the main German assault on the city started on 28 September.

The first sortie in force from the Antwerp entrenched camp was on 24 August, and by nightfall Belgian forces had advanced into Malines, a medium-sized city to the south, situated just outside the outer ring of forts. It was largely deserted and would be fought over several times during the coming weeks, changing hands back and forth. Once beyond Malines, the Belgians advanced farther along the Louvain road, pushing German troops, mostly inexperienced territorials, back to the outskirts of Louvain itself where, in the nighttime confusion, Germans fired upon each other, causing widespread fear of Belgian civilians acting as franc-tireurs (civilian snipers). This led the next day to the burning of the city, an act that had severe negative repercussions worldwide for the German cause.

The German command took the decision to reduce Antwerp on 8 September.

A second Belgian sortie took place during early September, at the height of the battle of the Marne, the intention being to take pressure off the Entente forces fighting to the south. A third and final sortie and advance took place on 13 September.

Designated German Commander for the Siege: Gen. Hans H. von Beseler

When it became clear after the battle of the Marne that Germany was to be denied Paris and the destruction of the French armies after being forced to withdraw to the Aisne river, the German command decided it was finally time to remove the irritant of the enemy army entrenched in Antwerp. It was all well and good to bypass enemy strongpoints such as Maubeuge and Antwerp and to contain them with covering forces when engaged in a rapid advance, but once the trench lines were more or less consolidated, leaving even small numbers of enemy forces in the rear of the main army made for bad strategy. The Belgian Army in Antwerp was uncomfortably close to German supply lines running from the German border through Brussels and southward, and the prospect of Antwerp being reinforced by Entente forces was alarming as well. Lines of communication to the Belgian coast were still open and functioning, and it took about a day by motor transport for troops disembarking at Ostend to reach Antwerp. Neither Great Britain nor France had any troops to spare at that time, but the threat was always present.

The Siege of Antwerp: Under Heavy Fire

German Siege Artillery Being Placed

The German and Austrian siege artillery that was used to reduce Liège, Namur, and Maubeuge was diverted from its destination of Paris and brought to bear on the Antwerp forts. Finding adequate placements was a problem, as these artillery pieces needed a concrete flooring from which to fire. Factories and warehouses in the areas surrounding the outer forts were used to this purpose, their outer walls demolished, or else hastily constructed narrow gauge railways were used to bring up the artillery and building material. The actual number of German artillery pieces used during the siege was surprisingly small. There were four 420mm cannon with a range of about 15 km, the famous Big Berthas constructed by the Krupp works. These outranged the heaviest Belgian artillery by at least 5 km or more. There were also five 305mm naval mortars and four 305mm Austrian Skoda mortars, thus 13 artillery pieces in all that formed the backbone of the coming German assault. They were set up in four positions to the south and southeast of the city.

Command of the upcoming operation was given to German General Hans von Beseler (1850-1921), an unimaginative but thoroughly competent commander. After making his name by taking the hitherto considered impregnable fortress of Antwerp, in the coming years he would also be given command of other siege operations, mainly on the Eastern Front, and end his military career as governor-general of the German-occupied part of Poland from 1916 till 1918. Von Beseler's plan was simple: he would concentrate his forces and artillery to the south and southeast of the outer perimeter of forts and attack a small sector of the line running from the forts of Walem, Duffel, St.Catherine Wavre, Koningshooikt, and Lier. These he would subject to a concentrated artillery barrage, and when they were put out of combat, infantry attacks would follow.

Antwerp Fort Utterly Destroyed by German Artillery

The siege operations commenced on 27 September with a bombardment of the city of Malines. Just outside the city, the main pumping station for the Antwerp waterworks was hit and rendered inoperable, thereby depriving Antwerp and much of the surrounding region of potable water. Subsidiary stations were activated, of course, but during the siege, the city would be faced with a shortage of drinking water, and what water there was had a distinctly brackish and unhealthy taste to it. Lack of sufficient water pressure also hindered fire fighting in the last days of military operations. When the main bombardment started on the 28th, Belgian troops had been holding positions beyond the outer perimeter.

The bombardment against the outer forts lasted four days and was of a hitherto unknown intensity and violence. The main problem facing the Germans was to confine the bombardment to a very specific area. Accuracy in shooting from a distance of 15 km was not always guaranteed, and many shells fell short or wide. But by the law of averages, enough heavy-caliber shells hit the targeted forts in strategic places, blowing up munitions depots, such as happened at Fort Loncin at Liège, or simply putting Belgian artillery out of combat or penetrating the thick concrete walls of the forts, demolishing barracks or underground casemates in a roar of fire and acrid smoke. The demoralizing effect of the bombardment was great. Noise of impacts and explosions thundered throughout the forts, dust and smoke made breathing nigh impossible, and electrical equipment was often destroyed, throwing the forts into darkness, even at high noon. Though it was certainly not diagnosed as such at the time, cases of shell shock were prevalent, and soldiers were hospitalized with violent and uncontrollable shaking.

It did not take long before the Belgian command realized that the forts and the city could not be held, certainly not by Belgian forces alone. On 30 September the Belgian government formally asked for aid from Great Britain and France. Belgium was not an ally to either nation, merely a co-belligerent, but both Britain and France, though short of reserves, quickly dispatched token units to Antwerp with plans for more substantial reinforcements to follow.

In next month's issue we will focus on the evacuation of Antwerp and its ensuing occupation by German Forces. MH