Three days in Augusts 1914

Because the Germans where only moving true the province of Limburg and not moving to invade the entire country.

Here is the story, made some things different and added some stuff.

Chapter I: Augusts 3rd (The attack)

The German units in the border region received from the German headquarters early in the morning of Augusts 3rd the order to attack. The phone not only rang at the Belgian border but due to a error of the central also on the Netherlands border. When the commander of the Uhlans asked for confirmation, the sector headquarters commander who was irritated responded that the Uhlans where to advance as quickly as possible to the Maas. Speed was of the essence.

The Netherlands defense was stunned and surprise, but the German attackers quickly encountered fierce resistance by the Netherlands defenders who where supported by accurate 6-veld infantry gun fire belonging to the border troops. Was the Netherlands in war with the Empire of Germany?

A picture of a 57 mm infantry gun [6-veld]



Chapter II: Augusts 3rd ( tension in Den Haag)

While the Germans where moving true the Netherlands province of Limburg, in the Netherlands capitol of Den Haag the entire cabinet-Cort van der Linden had been assembled in one of the Haags departments of the prime minster.

Picture of prime minster Cort van der Linden


If anybody looked closely they could see the white faces of the minsters, all had a major question, what was the current situation in Limburg? and what would we going to do about it and also who are we going to ask for help? also how is the young queen going to react.

Prime Minster Cort van der Linden repeated what he had already heard from his meeting with the Commander-in-chief of the Armed forces General Cornelis Jacobus Snijders. In the small area of Middle-Limburg located between Sittard and Roermond a Calvary attack by the Germans was underway. The Netherlands supreme command had already send reinforcements to the east and the passage which the Germans where advancing towards the Maas was being sealed off.

At 10:30 the German emissary F. von Muller had reported to the Netherlands ministry of foreign affairs. Prime Minster Cort van der Linden had met him and asked the emissary what the Germans where thinking. the emissary handed the prime minster a document and apologized for the 'incident'.

After the German emissary had left the Prime Minster read the document and learned that these recent developments in Limburg where due a technical error. But as the attack was already underway, the German government requested that the German troops already on Netherlands soil where to be allowed to advance to Belgium. Germany also offered according to the document a very generous damage payment and would make sure that the Uhlans regiments would be gone as soon as possible. But the document also made it clear that if the Netherlands troops would continue to attack the Germans, than war would be only question of time.

But there where already complications, there where messages coming in from headquarters that German cavalry units had manged to fight themselves a way to the Maas and that already several hundreds of them had crossed the river and where already advancing true Belgium. There where also reports that fire fights between Netherlands and German troops where happening.

The whole country was in turmoil, thousands of citizens where massing and reading bulletins who where pasted across the cities and the extra editions of the major news papers where being sold as crazy.

Now it was time for the prime minster to meet the queen, driving with his Daimler to the Palace Noordeinde, he was brought into the study room of the Queen.

Chapter III: Augusts 3rd (Meeting the queen)

The queen was surprising calm, not something the prime minster was expecting, after having been given a seat Prime Minster der Linden discovered during the conversation that Queen Wilhelmina already knew a lot of the current situation, apparently she had already been briefed by Commander-in-chief of the Armed forces General Snijders. The queen despite only being twenty-four years old showed a lot of interest in military affairs and regularly was briefed directly by members of the General Staff.

Prime Minster der Linden told the queen of the German document regarding what the Germans where calling a 'incident', the queen asked what the options where which the Prime mister responded.

- option I: accept the German apologize and try to resolve the case if the attack was really due a technical error ore faulty communication.

- option II: declare war on the mighty Germany, but not before the British and French have guarantee that they will come to the Netherlands defense.

After hearing the two options the queen asked the prime minster, what do you think in which the prime minster responded that both a settlement and war would have consequences , the uncertain support of the British and French was also a reason to continuity negotiations with Germany. Not only would fighting a bloody war of which the outcome would be already know, which was the Netherlands being occupied by the Germans, the loss of lives would be enormous and the material damages would be extreme.

The queen after hearing this knew that while she wanted to defend here country, she also knew that the cost of war would beyond imagination and thus reluctant she gave here blessing to the prime minster for hem to make a settlement with Germany. 
 

Chapter V: Augusts 3rd (situation in Limburg)

While the debates about what to do where going on in Den Haag, the situation in the Netherlands Province of Limburg was not looking good, A German AEG B.I two-seat biplane reconnaissance aircraft was shot down and crashed inside the province, Netherlands corporal Wadmuts and two soldiers who where in a nearby bunker where send out to investigate, when they came to the crash they discovered that one of the German pilots was death and another was being treated by German soldiers, the Netherlands corporal knowing that he and his two soldiers who he had with him where outgunned decided to return to his bunker and report what he saw.

A picture of a AEG B.I two-seat biplane reconnaissance aircraft


After a half hour of traveling the came to the bunker where he saw his commanding officer Van Groen talking to a local farmer who was angry about the German invasion, before the farmer left he told that there would be a big officer party at a German farm not far from the bunker. Van Groen told corporal Wadmuts that he was unable to get in contact with either regional ore local headquarters and thus he had to send the corporal to the city of Sittard which was the nearest to this Bunker and that the commander in Sittard would most likely be in contact with regional headquarters located in Roermond.

After a hour of traveling corporal Wadmuts manged with out being seen by the Germans to reach the city of Sittard, there he was received by the commander of the battalion border security. He told the corporal that the Germans had made no move yet to depart Netherlands territory, also the commander had receive word that the Germans where not happy with the downing of their plane and might be even thinking of declaring war on the Netherlands. The Commander told corporal Wadmuts before the corporal heading back to his unit that he would send his report, including that of the big officer party to general headquarters.

Under those circumstances, with the Germans already taking a very hard line against Dutch efforts to defend its own territory, I suspect that trying to take a high level hostage would probably only make them more belligerent. [True since it turns out to be Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm this might end up with the result your assuming but the Dutch don't know who it is at the moment.]

Chapter VIII: Augusts 4th (the kidnapping part I)

The day was almost at the end, when several German officers belong to the Uhlan regiment where taking another beer in a well supplied barn of a farm, one of the officers, a major named Reger was celebrating his 30 birthday, one of hiss fellow collages told him that as special guest would arrive to congratulate him, not soon as that was told the door of the farm was open and in came a tall German officer wearing a general uniform, a cheer went up ''Es lebe der Kronprinz', the offer that stepped into the barn was none other than the German Crown Prince Wilhelm, commander of the 5th German Army who was inspecting German border troops.

After having spend some time among the officers the crown prince went outside to order his bodyguards to feed his horse, but when he did not return one of the German officers inside the barn went outside and discovered that the crown prince after having given his bodyguards some orders has disappeared.

Chapter X: Augusts 4th (the kidnapping part II)

What the German officers did not know, was that Crown Prince Wilhelm after having given orders to his bodyguards, had gone to take a pee, but not knowingly had crossed the German-Netherlands border, there a group of Netherlands soldiers had waited for a opportunity to take a German officer, manged to take the crown prince and quikly manged to take him into a nearby car who drove him to the regional command located in the city of Sittard before the crown prince was transported to a secure location somewhere in the Netherlands.