Neutral Netherlands commiserates with its invaded, war-battered neighbor Belgium. One of a series of 1916 postcards on neutral nations by Em. Dupuis.
Pauvre petite Voisine va!. . .Poor little Neighbour.HollandeEm. Dupuis, 1916Signed: Em. Dupuis 1916Reverse:Visé Paris. No. 109Logo: Paris Color 152 Quai de Jemmapes
Netherlands, or Holland, was neutral during World War I. Although the Schlieffen Plan, Germany's war plan for invading France not along the eastern border it shared with Germany, but along its northern border with Belgium and Luxembourg, called for invading and crossing Belgium, Luxembourg, and Netherlands, Helmuth von Moltke, Schlieffen's successor as German Chief of the General Staff, modified the Plan to avoid Netherlands, in hopes of having a neutral trading partner with ports on the North Sea and access to global trade. (Britain's blockade would minimize the value of the Dutch ports.)As a neutral nation, Netherlands was obligated to impound military personnel and assets of combatant nations. Among those it interned were British marines and soldiers who had crossed, mistakenly or otherwise, into the country after the retreat from Antwerp in October 1914.British nurse Edith Cavell helped French and British soldiers and military-age Belgian men to Netherlands. Some made their way to Britain and wrote to her from their, evidence that was used to show she had conducted soldiers to the enemy. She was convicted of treason and executed on October 12, 1915.Britain declared a war zone in the entire North Sea on November 5, 1914. Germany responded on February 4, 1915, declaring a war zone around the British Isles but excluding the waters within 30 miles of Netherlands.Germany's submarine war hit Dutch shipping including the liners Tubantia, Palembang, and ships traveling to and from Britain.Pilots of both planes and airships occasionally crossed into Dutch airspace.On November 10, 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm fled to Netherlands.
Netherlands is a country in Europe.
