At the beginning of World War I, Albert resisted the illegal Germany demand to move troops through neutral Belgium in order to attack France.

August 4 - German troops invade neutral Belgium at 8:02 AM (local time).

At 7:00 pm (local time) Germany issues a 12-hour ultimatum to neutral Belgium to allow German passage into France.

Germany acted to quickly neutralise France by a well-planned surprise invasion through neutral Belgium - the 'Schlieffen Plan'.

In 1914 the German army attempted a surprise invasion of France by invading neutral Belgium.

As Germany invaded neutral Belgium, Belgians began to cross the border to the Netherlands en masse.

The plan was to have one force hook through neutral Belgium and enter France from the north, while another German army led a holding battle on Germany's borders.

Then, in January 1940, a German plane crashed in neutral Belgium, with a copy of the attack orders on board.

The whole world, he wrote, would turn against Germany, which for the second time within 25 years assaults neutral Belgium!

This is the second time in twenty-five years that Germany has committed a criminal aggression against a neutral and loyal Belgium.