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

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avoided Dutch territory on 4 August, the immediate need for proclaiming a staat van oorlog
throughout the Netherlands passed. Nevertheless, ministers recognised the impOliance of
improving the fortified positions, and for that reason declared all municipalities in or near
the Waterline, Den Helder, the mouths of the Maas river and Haringvliet, the lone standing
fortifications ofWestervoort (Arnhem), Hoofddam and Ellewoutsdijk, and the coastal
battery at Neuzen, in a "state of war" on 5 August. 24 As the Gennan annies progressed into
Belgium, the possibility of a border violation in the south by Belgian or Gennan troops
became more likely, and, as a result, the Field Army moved closer to the border on 4
August. 25 Five days later, Snijders wrote to the cabinet urging it to declare a "state of war"
in the southern provinces, so that the Field Army could take extra steps to prepare for a
possible invasion or large-scale contravention of neutrality?6 The ministers agreed, placing
the provinces of Zeeland, Limburg, North Brabant, and Gelderland (below the Waal River)
in a "state of war" on 10 August, immediately after the German capture of the Liege
fortifications. 27
Military security motivated the declarations of 5 and 10 August, which placed the
most strategically significant areas - the fortifications and areas in which the Field Anny
operated - in a "state of war". Commanders operating in the "state of war" could take
important steps to improve the general safety and security of their allotted area. In the small
town ofNeuzen (Temeuzen), for example, the commander of the coastal battery, Captain
D. Putman Cramer, made some important decisions. Putman Cramer kept a diary of the
orders he gave during the first few months of his "state of war" command in N euzen and
the nearby settlements of Hoek and Zaamslag,28 which included restricting access to certain
areas for civilians, requisitioning buildings, demolishing patiicular bridges, and getting
locals to help with defensive preparations. Likewise, in Utrecht, the "state of war" let troops
requisition goods and buildings, including a public waiting room, a motor-boat, and
24 Staatsblad. no. 375, 5 August 1914; Bosboom, 111 Moeilijke Omstal1digheden p. 30l.
25 See: Chapter 4, p. 131.
26 Commander-in-Chiefto Minister President, 9 August 1914, in ARA, "Archieven van de Generale Staf' entry no.
2.13.70, inventory no. 1.
27 Staatsblad. no. 406,10 August 1914; Bosboom, In Moeilijke Omstandighedel1 p. 302.
28 Commander of Coastal Battery near Neuzen, "Dagboek van 5 Augustus 1914 tim 31 December 1914 omtrent de
uitoefening van het Militair Gezag te Neuzen Hoek en Zaamslag" in ARA, "Archieven van de Generale Staf' entry
no. 2.13.70, inventory no. 98.