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

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resistance of the population there. 125 But, as the Dutch authorities well knew, the border
between the two Low Countries proved easy to cross and difficult to patrol effectively. As a
result, in April 1915, the Gennan leadership decided to erect a 300-kilometre fence along
the frontier, charged with a lethal cUlTent, in an attempt to isolate Belgium from the
Netherlands. Unfortunately, extant Gennan sources on the fence are difficult to find. 126
Nevertheless, the tremendous effort and huge cost involved in building the structure signals
how hannful Gennany believed use of the frontier was for its war effort. The existence of
the fence also says a great deal about the value Gennany placed on keeping the Netherlands
neutral while preventing its enemies from enjoying the advantages of that neutrality. It
would not have taken such extreme steps, if it had wanted to include the Netherlands in the
war.
Map 19: The electric fence (and graphic representation offence in relation to the Dutch border)
125 Vanneste, Kroniekvan eell Dorp Volume 1, pp. 236 - 242. For stories of Belgian men leaving the Netherlands and
letter smuggling see: Gaston Durnez, Zeg mij waar de bloemen zijn. Beelden !lit de Eerste Wereldoorlog in
Vlaanderen. [Tell me where the flowers are. Images from the First World War in Flanders] Leuven: Davidfonds,
1988, pp. 31, 99 - 100, 103; Streuvels, III Oorlogstijd p. 248.
126 Vanneste surmises that the Prussian archives on the electric fence were destroyed during the Second World War
(Kroniekvan een Dorp Volume 1, p. 260). I have been unable to find many sources in the Dutch archives either.