Between the devil and the deep blue sea - University of Canterbury

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newspapers, Le Matin and Illustration even published maps marking the supposed route
taken by the Gennans. 73 These were serious allegations that had the potential to jeopardise
Dutch neutrality, since neither France nor Great Britain had yet recognised the Netherlands'
neutrality (they would do so on 6 August).74 As a result, even if true, the Dutch had little
choice but to deny the claims, for fear that the Allies would use it as a reason to invade.
Even an acknowledgement that a few German soldiers had accidentally crossed into
Limburg could endanger the image of the Netherlands as a nation able to protect its
territorial boundaries .
•
Li.egeiL uik
Map 12: Limburg
Instead, the Dutch government did everything in its power to not only deny the
claims but also prove that they were wrong. Many Dutch newspapers printed articles
73 Treub, In Oorlogstijd p. 35; Moeyes, Bliiten Sehot p. 85.
74 See: Appendix 4, p. 453.