Battle of Liege

A silly German sausage

Dreamt Napoleon he'd be,

Then he went and broke his promise,

It was made in Germany.

He shook hands with Britannia

And eternal peace he swore,

Naughty boy, he talked of peace while he prepared for war.

He stirred up little Serbia to serve his dirty tricks

But naughty nights at Liege

Quite upset this Dirty Dick.

His luggage labelled 'England'

And his programme nicely set,

He shouted 'First stop Paris',

But he hasn't got there yet.

For Belgium put the kibosh on the Kaiser;

Europe took the stick and made him sore;

On his throne it hurts to sit,

And when John Bull starts to hit,

He will never sit upon it any more.

He'll have to go to school again

And learn his geography,

He quite forgot Britannia

And the hands across the sea,

Australia and Canada,

the Russian and the Jap,

And England looked so small

He couldn't see her on the map.

Whilst Ireland seemed unsettled,

'Ah' said he 'I'll settle John',

But he didn't know the Irish

Like he knew them later on.

Though the Kaiser stirred the lion,

Please excuse him for the crime,

His lunatic attendant wasn't with him at the time.

Battle of Liège (1914)

Erin Walsh, Anna Yuen

Map

Schlieffen Plan

Song

Poem

http://bartleby.com/266/40.html

"Belgium put the Kibosh on the Kaiser"

• An outsider's view on the conditions for the Germans and the Belgians in the battle of the Liège
• Portrayed Belgium as victims that were terrorized by the Germans
• Shows that Liège was the city that helped Germany reach Paris, France
• Shows Germany's victory over Liège but also describes the brutality and deaths suffered

• British view on Germany during WWI
• Shows Great Britain's anger at Germany for starting a war with neutral Belgium and bringing the British into the war
• Mocks Kaiser Wilhelm and Germany and commends Belgium
• Although Belgium lost Liège, it brought Great Britain into the war on the side of the Allies, who eventually defeated Germany

Liège

• Germany wanted to use the the city of Liège as a gateway to France through Belgium for the Schlieffen Plan

• However, doing so would violate Belgium's neutrality and potentially create more enemies for Germany

The Battle

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0kvczF1p04#t=3m47s

Significance

Works Cited

• Located in east Belgium

• Liège was heavily guarded, with 12 forts surrounding the city, and a total of 400 heavy guns

• Belgians were outnumbered. Germany had 320,000 men, while the Belgians only had 70,000

Play Minutes 3:47 - 8:32

• August 5, 1914: Germans attacked Liège, but failed to take over the city, because of the heavily loaded forts in Liège.
• With the help of the most powerful Howitzer (an artillery piece), Big Bertha, Germany captured the 12 forts and thus defeated Liège on August 16, 1914
• After the capture of Liège, Germany began to sweep across Belgium

Andrew. "Section 117." Section 117 RSS. WordPress, 21 Mar. 2011. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Burnet, Dana. "40. The Battle of Liege by Dana Burnet. Clarke, George Herbert, Ed. 1917. A Treasury of War Poetry." 40. The Battle of Liege by Dana Burnet. Clarke, George Herbert, Ed. 1917. A Treasury of War Poetry. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Duffy, Michael. "Firstworldwar.com." First World War.com. N.p., 22 Aug. 2009. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

"Map of Belgium." Map of Belgium. Lonely Planet, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.

Margaret. "Timewalker Talk." Timewalker Talk. WordPress, 22 June 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Sheridan, Mark. "Belgium Put the Kibosh on the Kaiser" Mark Sheridan. Rec. 6 Oct. 1914. 1914. MP3.

"University of Texas Libraries." World Maps. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

"World War I: Schlieffen Plan 1/4." YouTube. YouTube, 28 Aug. 2009. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

• First land battle of the war

• Start of the Schlieffen plan

• Germans violated Belgium's neutrality, bringing Great Britain into the war

German Soldiers at Liège

Big Bertha