ts the French Generals
could deliberately mass their armies, and the battle front could be
narrowed to such an extent that the preponderance of numbers which the
Germans could put in the field could not count.

For some years, however, German military writers had been advocating
that the German army of invasion should march through Belgium and
Luxemburg. It was known that the latter country could not object, but
with Belgium it was different. The Belgians had been warned, and were
busy arming, under the leadership of their ruler, who was universally
beloved. The Belgians are a proud people, and since the days of Caesar
they had on numerous occasions hurled the invading Germans back and
held their homes and frontiers inviolate. The Germans, however,
imagined, that once their vast armies crossed the Meuse and began a
march on Namur and Charleroi, the martial ardor of the Belgians would
cool and that beyond a formal protest, no resistance would be
offered.

As France and Belgium had been on terms of friendship for many years,
the Franco-Belgian frontier had not been protected by fortresses. The
German frontier of Belgium, however, had been fortified some years
before under the direction of a famous Belgian engineer, named
Brailmont, who was the successor of other eminent military Belgian
engineers, such as Vauban, who had taught the art of fortification to
a previous age.

On August 2nd, 1914, the Germans declared war on France, and the First
field army of Austro-Germans crossed the Meuse near Liege. For two
weeks the Germans delayed before Liege, expecting that the French
would send several armies into Belgium and thus weaken the forces
before Metz. The French generals refused the bait, and were ready when
the German main army struck along the old road from Metz to Paris. The
Germans were defeated and left 40,000 dead on the battlefield. This
was the greatest battle in the history of the world.

Great Britain declared war on Germany for violating the neutrality of
Belgium and the war feeling in Canada became intense. It was realized
that Canada must participate. The only question was what form aid
would take.

For a number of years the question of the "German Peril" had been
discussed, but a great many people imagined that the anti-German talk
was a mild form of Jingoism. It soon became known that Great Britain
would accept the defence of the sea as her share of the war, and that
only a small field army would be se