After Germany, Italy and Austria declared war on each other, Britain as the other giant of the Entente became a little unusual at this time.

Within a week, Britain removed six ministers from office. The reason why Britain is so aggressive and carry out the removal of officials is because there is a pro-German faction in Britain. This faction believed that Britain should be friendly with Germany and avoid drawing Britain into war.

However, when the majority of ministers were in favour of participating in the war, the faction was abandoned, and the ministers with a pro-German attitude were purged from the government.

At this time, Britain had just completed its internal integration and was preparing to join the war.

At this time, Germany sent an excellent reason for the British government to be treasured.

That is, in order to carry out the Schlieffen plan, Germany submitted to Belgium a request to allow German troops to cross the border the day after it declared war on France.

Due to the good relations between France and Belgium, there were no fortifications on the border between the two countries, and the troops of the two sides on the border were very small.

As for the German-French border, France has been building fortifications since its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. They built a series of fortresses centered around four cities along the 150-mile Franco-German border. The southeast begins in the Alps, Switzerland's impregnable barrier, with strong concrete fortresses stretching out from Berfort, Urbinar, Tühl and Verdun.

A wide gap was designed between Erbinar and Tur to serve as a huge trap to welcome the enemy in, which was then annihilated by crossfire fired from a well-covered concrete box bunker. About 20 miles north of Verdun are Luxembourg, Belgium and the rugged Ardennes Forest.

The undefended Franco-French border, and then compare the fortified German-French border, so you don't have to think about breaking through there.

And for Schlieffen, who was then planning the Franco-Russian war against Germany, this was simply the perfect breakthrough. As long as the German army passed through Belgium, it would be so long to suddenly manifest itself in northern France, and the French army, which was pinned down on the German-French border, would never react. Next, as long as the German army carried out a revolving door-like battle plan according to his plan, then France would be wiped out near the German-French border.

So for Germany, going through Belgium was an inevitable choice.

In that case, time has to be fast. In order not to give France time to react, the next day it submitted a request to Belgium to allow the German troops to cross the border.

Faced with German demands, the relatively young Kingdom of Belgium, led by King Albert I, rejected German demands, saying that German demands undermined Belgium's neutral status.

He also informed Britain and France of the news, and Britain, upon receiving the news, immediately warned Germany that Britain would declare war on Germany if Germany undermined Belgium's neutrality.

At this time, it was impossible for the German troops, who were carrying out the Schlieffen plan, to stop. If it was feared by the British warning, it would have brought confusion to the German army.

Therefore, even if Britain threatened to declare war, the Germans could not stop. Besides, the Triple Alliance was not much worse than the Triple Entente, so there was no fear of the British threat at all. And as early as when Field Marshal Schlieffen formulated the plan, he prepared in advance for the British, who were uncertain.

According to his estimates, Britain might send 100,000 troops to help France in carrying out the plan.

It can be seen that Schlieffen deserves to be regarded as a great military strategist, and his plans have taken all factors into account.

As for the Kingdom of Belgium's refusal of Germany's request for military access, it also has its confidence, that is, the fortress of Liège. The city of Liège is located in the narrow gap between Dutch territory and the Aden Forest, and is the railway hub of Belgium. Unless the Germans borrowed from the Netherlands, they had to pass through the fortress of Liège in order to move south to France.

The fortress of Liège was built on a steep slope on the west bank of the Meuse, 100 meters above the riverbank, which served as a natural moat. There are 12 batteries around 30 kilometers along the river bank, each battery is 6 kilometers away from Liege, and the distance between the batteries is also 6 kilometers, 6 of these 12 batteries are facing the German direction on the east bank, and 6 are protecting the rear of Liege on the west bank, radially surrounding the city of Liège, forming a circular fire network across the Meuse River.

Each fort is made of reinforced concrete cast in one piece, and most of it is built underground, with only the triangular top exposed.

All the weapons and personnel of the battery were hidden underground, and a total of 400 cannons and a large number of light and heavy machine guns were deployed.

On average, each turret has 8 120mm fortress guns and 8 210mm howitzers, all of which are protected by steel armor, rotate at a 360-degree angle, and can be raised and lowered automatically. The battery was also equipped with searchlights for night fire, which could be raised and lowered like the turret, and rapid-fire guns and machine guns blocked the wilderness around the battery and the nearby dead ends. Under the fort, there are passages and basements of all kinds, which store a large amount of food, drinking water, ammunition, medical supplies and power facilities.

There were also deep protective trenches dug around each fort, and a large number of barbed wire and obstacles were laid on the outside of the trenches. The Belgian army guarding each battery generally consisted of 2 artillery companies and 1 infantry company, a total of 400 men, and there were mobile infantry companies defending the wilderness between the batteries, with a total strength of 25,000 men, and the entire Liège defense system was considered the strongest fortress in Europe.

By the way, many of the cannons used in the fortress of Liège came from Krupp.

Although the Belgians used the fortress of Liège in their hands as a barrier, intending to hold off the attack of the German army.

But it's still that sentence, the arrow is on the bow, and it has to be sent.

Therefore, after Belgium refused Germany's request, the German side submitted a declaration of war to Belgium that night.

And in the face of Germany's declaration of war on Belgium, the British did exactly what they wanted. Early the next morning, London declared war on Germany on the grounds that it had violated the Treaty of London signed in 1839.

In the face of the declaration of war by the British, the Germans also declared war on them by color. Although Wilhelm II still had a certain affection for Britain, the German people were generally dissatisfied with Britain, especially the German business community. Because the other side refused to allow their goods to enter their colonial markets, they raised their hands in favor of declaring war on Britain.

Since Germany had declared war, Italy and Austria, as allies, were no exception, and they also declared war on Britain two days later.

The British Empire also declared war on Italy and Austria, and thus the two camps of the Alliance and the Entente officially opened the curtain of the European War.