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The First World War arose from a European crisis following the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne, Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo. Alliance obligations, mobilizations and reciprocal declarations of war widened the conflict within a few weeks. Belgium had declared itself neutral. Nevertheless, Germany demanded free passage for its troops in order to attack France from the north. After the Belgian government rejected this, the German army crossed the border on 4 August 1914.

The invasion shaped Belgium’s experience of the war. Numerous civilians were killed in the fighting and under the occupation; towns and cultural assets were destroyed. The burning of the University Library of Löwen became particularly well known. Most of the country remained occupied until the end of the war. The Belgian army under King Albert I held a small, unoccupied strip of land behind the Yser. Many inhabitants fled to France, Great Britain or the neutral Netherlands.

West Flanders (Westflandern) also became part of the Western Front. Several costly battles took place around Ypern. In 1915, one of the first large-scale uses of poison gas on the Western Front also occurred there. The years of trench warfare left military cemeteries, memorials and traces still visible in the landscape today.

The poppy became a symbol of remembrance for the war dead, particularly in the English-speaking world. Its connection with Flanders dates back to the poem “In Flanders Fields” by the Canadian military doctor John McCrae. He wrote it in 1915 after the death of a comrade near Ypern. The poem describes poppies among the graves of fallen soldiers; later, the artificial red poppy became widespread as a symbol of remembrance.

For Belgium, the centenary commemorated at that time therefore provided a directly national occasion. The country was not only a theatre of war, but also experienced invasion, occupation, flight and destruction. The English designation “Great War” at the same time refers to an internationally widespread culture of remembrance, particularly in states of the former British Empire whose soldiers fought and lie buried in Belgium.