Commerce.—Belgian commerce was as flourishing as Belgian industry. Facilitated by a network of ways and communications comprising 2,000 km. of water-ways (67 m. per sq. km.), 4,665 km. of broad-gauge railways (158 m. per sq. km.), 4,107 km. of narrow-gauge railways, 9,851 km. of main roads, and 32,000 km. of local roads, import and export trade and transport were intensely active. Belgium's free-trade policy largely contributed to her commercial prosperity. In 1913 the import duties affected only 16-8 % of imported goods. They were, moreover, extremely light, in 1900 representing 2-3% of the value of imports, in 1910 1-6%, in 1913 only 1-4%. It is true that a movement was already beginning towards the imposition of duties to check the dumping practised by certain foreign industries, or to induce other nations to admit Belgian goods freely; but this was merely a defensive policy, rendered necessary by that of foreign states.
Commercially Belgium held the sixth place in the world. The total figures of her import and export trades, not including goods in transit, rose as high as 8,765,673,061 francs. In 1913 this total was composed as follows:—
| Tons. | Francs. | |
| Imports | 32,656,282 | 5,049,859,234 |
| Exports | 20,885,182 | 3,715,813,827 |
| In Transit | 7,803,734 | 2,459,924,818 |
Between 1900 and 1913 Belgian trade had doubled, marking the greatest rate of progress it had ever achieved.
The following table analyzes the elements of the import and export trades:—
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Imports thousands of francs. Per cent. Exports thousands of francs. Per cent.
Live animals .... 65,273 1.3 4,444 1.2
Beverages and foodstuffs .... 1,034,822 20.5 327,663 8.8
Raw materials and goods having passed through only one simple process of preparation .... 2,667,035 52.8 1,826,078 49.1
Manufactured articles .... 869,478 17.2 1,436,430 38.7
Gold and Silver .... 413,251 8.2 81,230 2.2
The bulk of the imports consisted of foodstuff products and raw materials. Exports were chiefly manufactured articles and materials which had been subjected to a single process.
In 1913 the trade was chiefly with the following countries:—
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Imports in thousands of francs. Exports in thousands of francs.
France .... 1,000,297 762,187
Germany .... 761,765 940,378
Great Britain .... 518,475 511,710
Holland .... 356,998 320,930
United States .... 420,496 103,381
Argentina .... 316,797 91,154
Russia .... 267,237 88,379
Congo .... 48,674 26,978
It is interesting to note that 87.4% of goods in transit travelled by land and 57.4% by sea figures which demonstrate the immense importance to the port of Antwerp of the foreign hinterland.
Marine trade was served by the ports of Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, Zeebrugge and Nieuport. The total tonnage of Belgian ports amounted in 1910 to 15,101,171 tons, in 1911 to 16,353,933 tons, and in 1913 to 16,907,417 tons, Antwerp taking first place. The details are as follows:—
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1900 1910 1912 1913
Number of vessels .... 5,250 6,796 7,043 7,134
Tonnage .... 6,696,370 12,654,318 13,756,880 14,139,615
In 1913, out of 61,500,000 tons of total imports and exports, 23,650,000 tons passed through Antwerp. The public authorities had devoted ceaseless attention to the development of the port of Antwerp, and at the outbreak of the war it was one of the finest ports in the world, possessing 5,500 metres of riverside wharves, 19,000 metres of wharf-docks, 392 cranes of 2 tons, 8 cranes of 15 to 120 tons, 12 pneumatic floating grain-elevators, one automatic coal-weigher, one barge for ore. The Entrepot Royal could accommodate 100,000 tons of goods; the granary store had a capacity of 350,000 tons. Numerous private stores and warehouses, a close network of railway lines, and six great dry-docks completed the equipment of the port.
Agriculture.—Belgian agriculture was no less important than Belgian trade and industry. In 1911, the value of its products amounted to two milliards of francs. Agriculture was carried on at a high degree of intensity. Of the 2,945,000 hectares which constitute the national territory, 1,950,000 were in cultivation and pasture, among a population of nearly 7,800,000. The cultivable area per head of population was only 25 ares (in France 100 ares, in Great Britain 45 ares). Belgium, therefore, could not be self-supporting. She was importing ¾ of her consumption of corn. Other food-stuffs were produced in almost sufficient quantity, thanks to scientific specialization. In 1914 stock-breeding produced 300,000 tons of meat, 40 kgm. per head of population per annum. Of sugar, potatoes, fruit, vegetables and horses there was even a considerable surplus available for exportation. The subdivision of land had been carried to an extreme point, 1,950,000 hectares being divided among 829,000 cultivators; 458,000 holdings were of less than one-half hectare; the average for the rest being about five hectares per farm. Thanks to intensive breeding (Belgium in 1914 possessed 317,000 horses, 1,879,000 horned stock, and 1,954,000 pigs) agriculture commanded larger supplies of manure than in any other country (275 kgm. per hectare). It followed that the yield per hectare of wheat, rye, barley, oats and potatoes also exceeded that of any other country.
The area of cereal cultivation was not very extensive: 750,000 hectares out of a total of 1,430,000 hectares of ploughed land. Permanent pasture represented only 26% of cultivable land (65% in England) ; while on the other hand plants used for industrial purposes, root-crops and forage-crops which yield a much higher return in money, were largely cultivated.
Thus industrial crops occupied 95,000 hectares; forage, 292,000 hectares; orchards, 65,000 hectares; market gardens, 27,000 hectares; horticulture, practised especially in the environs of Brussels and Ghent, occupied 100,000 hectares, and provided a considerable export. As regards breeding, the export of Flemish horses brought in 50,000,000 francs.
Finance.—Depite the country's growing prosperity the revenue from taxes was not increasing in amount. Revenue and expenditure for the period 1910-4 (in thousands of francs) were as follows:—
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Revenue. Expenditure.
1910 815,404 829,456
1912 777,501 895,773
1914 807,314 806,754
Taxes produced an average of about 300,000,000 (40 francs per head of population) of the revenue. In 1913 the national debt amounted to 4,277,000,000 francs. The analysis is as follows (in thousands of francs):—
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Funded Debt. Floating Debt. Total.
1910 3,703,403 136,204 3,839,608
1912 3,739,133 352,485 4,092,119
1913 3,743,027 534,272 4,277,299
The Army.—Fully occupied with her economic development, and confiding absolutely in the neutrality which was supposed to be her safeguard, Belgium was giving no real thought in these years to defence. The Liberal party alone stood for the principle of universal military service. The Catholic party had always from electoral motives been firmly opposed to any reenforcement of the army or increase in military expenditure. The King, however, well informed on the international situation, never ceased to press for improvement in the country's military condition. In 1912 M. de Broqueville, then head of the Government, succeeded, despite his party's reluctance, in passing an Act establishing the principle of universal military service. In 1913 a complete reorganization of the army was voted. Having obtained the necessary credits for the fortification of Antwerp, Baron de Broqueville got several bills passed and promulgated numerous orders bestowing extended powers on the general military staff; creating a Supreme Council of National Defence (Conseil Superieur de la Defense Nationale); establishing schools of artillery, cavalry and military engineering; reorganizing the Ecole de Guerre and the Ecole Militaire; creating inspections generates of infantry, cavalry and commissariat ; and considerably improving the equipment. These reforms were to be completed as a whole in five years. Already, however, the effective forces were augmented in number; the inclusion of all social classes in the army made it truly representative of the nation; a completely organized mobilization was prepared; confidence was at last felt in both officers and troops.
Such was the situation when suddenly the army found itself called on to the stage of war, to confront alone the formidable hosts of Germany.
II. The World War, 1914.—On Aug. 2 1914, the German Minister at Brussels handed the Minister for Foreign Affairs an ultimatum requiring him to permit the German troops to pass through Belgian territory, and to use the citadels of Liege and Namur for the purposes of their operations against France. A delay of 12 hours was granted for the acceptance of Germany's proposals; on the expiration of that time Belgium would be treated as an enemy. That same night the King presided at the council of ministers; the reply was formal: Belgium was resolved to defend her neutrality, sword in hand. On July 29 the Belgian army had been placed on a reenforced peace footing. On July 31 mobilization had been ordered; 15 classes of militia had been called up, the eight first forming the offensive force, the others
