WHO ARE THE HUNS?

2 The Neutrality of Belgium.
poorest workman, the forces of war were unleashed against us
in a single night.
As England based her declaration of war entirely upon
the breach of Belgian neutrality by the German army, this
question of international law shall be threshed out at once.
I. The Vienna Congress of 1815 incorporated the Belgian
territories with Holland by agreement of the latter and the
four allied Great Powers, as the kingdom of the Netherlands.
This created a barrier against new efforts by a restless France
towards expansion in a northerly direction. When Belgium
declared herself independent after the Revolution of 1830, this
standpoint was recognized by the Powers, and the newlyestablished
kingdom of Belgium was neutralised by the treaties
of November the 15th, 1831. The course pursued towards Holland
was dictated by the same political purpose as that towards Belgium.
The resistance of Holland was broken by the armed intervention
of France, and Belgium's new position was recognized by
Holland in the Treaty concluded in London, April 19th, 1839.
On that day the two countries signed an agreement in
which, in Article 7, it is stated:
"Belgium forms an independent and permanently neutral
state. It is bound to observe the same neutrality towards
all other states."
On the same day France, Austria, Great Britain, Prussia
and Russia signed treaties both with Belgium and the Netherlands,
in which the agreement between these two countries was
inseparably incorporated. It is upon these treaties that the
independence of Belgium is based.
The German Empire has now become the guarantor of
Prussia.
As previously indicated, the kingdom of Belgium was
originally founded by the other Great Powers as security
against France. For various reasons, similarity of language,
descent and so on, there was a gradual rapprochement of the
Walloon Belgians towards France. We elders may recall that
already in 1870 there were strong protests against the anti-
German demonstrations on Belgian soil. Bismarck was even
obliged on one occasion, as we may read in his "Reminiscences,"
to "throw cold water" on the fever that prevailed in Brussels