6i8 General History oj Europe proceeded to overrun Belgium. They captured Antwerp, October 10, and conquered the whole country, except a tiny corner southwest of Ostend. It was their hope to push on to Calais and occupy this port nearest to England as a base of attack against the British Isles, but they were checked at the Yser River. They treated the Belgians as a conquered people, exacted huge tributes, partially burned the city of Louvain, brutally executed many civil- ians, and seized any machinery or supplies they desired. This treatment of a peaceful little neighbor, whose safety from invasion they themselves had solemnly guaranteed, did more to rouse the anger of the rest of the world than any other act of the German government. 1121. The German Occu- pation of Northeastern France. Thus the first three months of the war saw the Germans in practically com- plete possession of Belgium and Luxemburg, together with a broad strip of northeastern France, filled with prosperous manufacturing towns, farms and vineyards, and invaluable coal and iron mines. The Germans were ordered to do all they could to destroy the machinery in the factories, cut down the fruit trees, and wreck the mines, so as to disable and impoverish France in every way possible. 1122. Permanence of the Battle Line in France. The lines established after the battle of the Marne and the check on the Yser did not change greatly in four years, in spite of the constant fighting and the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of men on both sides. The Germans were not able to push very much Ha KING ALBERT
