艾泽尔河战役

The Battle of the Yser was a battle of the First World War that took place in October 1914 between the towns of Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide, along a 35 km (22 mi) stretch of the Yser River and the Yperlee Canal, in Belgium. The front line was held by a large Belgian force, which halted the German advance in a costly defensive battle.

The victory at the Yser allowed Belgium to retain a small strip of territory, with Germany in control of 95 per cent of Belgian territory, which made King Albert a Belgian national hero, sustained national pride and provided a venue for commemorations of heroic sacrifice for the next hundred years.

Background

German invasion of Belgium

On 2 August 1914, the Belgian government refused passage through Belgium to German troops and on the night of 3/4 August the Belgian General Staff ordered the Third Division to Liège to obstruct a German advance. The German army invaded Belgium on the morning of 4 August. Covered by the Third Division, the Liège fortress garrison, a screen of the Cavalry Division and detachments from Liège and Namur, the Belgian field army closed up to the river Gete and by 4 August, the First Division had assembled at Tienen, the Fifth Division at Perwez, the Second Division at Leuven and the Sixth Division at Wavre, covering central and western Belgium and communications towards Antwerp. German cavalry appeared at Visé early on 4 August, to find the bridge down and Belgian troops on the west bank;……

Prelude

The Belgian retreat continued on 11 and 12 October, covered by cavalry, cyclists and motor machine-gun sections. On 14 October, the Belgian army began to dig in along the Yser, the Sixth and Fifth divisions to the north of French territorial divisions, assembled at Boezinge (Boesinghe), then northwards along the Yser canal to the Fusiliers Marins at Diksmuide (Dixmude). The Fourth, First and Second divisions prolonged the line north, with advanced posts at Beerst, Keiem (Keyem), Schoore and Mannekensvere, about 1 mi (2 km) forward on the east bank. A bridgehead was also held near the coast around Lombartzyde and Westende, to cover Nieuwpoort (Nieuport), with the 2nd Cavalry Division in reserve.……

Battle

On 16 October Diksmuide, garrisoned by Belgian and French troops (Colonel Alphonse Jacques), was attacked. Despite many casualties, the Belgians and French held the town. The press, politicians, literary figures and the military manipulated public opinion, making out that the defence of the town was strategically-important and heroic.

On 18 October, the German offensive began and overran Allied troops from Nieuwpoort southwards to Arras. The objective was to defeat the Belgian and French armies and to deprive the British of access to Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk. The III Reserve Corps attacked Belgian defences from Diksmuide to the sea, regardless of loss.……

Aftermath

Analysis

The Belgian Army and its allies had managed to hold the last corner of Belgium, ending the Race to the Sea and the period of open warfare. The front line along the Yser River became known as the Yser Front and was held by the Belgian Army until 1918. The struggle of the Belgian army to hold on to its territory during the remainder of the war and the experiences of ordinary Flemish infantrymen, led to an increase in Flemish national sentiment and the foundation of the Frontbeweging, the first party of the Flemish Movement, in 1917.

Casualties

The British official historian, James Edmonds, wrote in 1925, in the second 1914 volume of the History of the Great War, that from 18 October to 30 November 1914, between Gheluvelt and the coast, the Germans suffered an estimated 76,250 casualties.……