The Belgian city of Liège has figured prominently and frequently in wars from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. In a border location and an important manufacturing centre with, at least during the Middle Ages, a very independent citizenry, the town of Liège has often found itself under attack. In 1345, the Liègeois rebelled against their ruler, Prince-Bishop Engelbert de la Marck, who advanced on the town and was met by the rebels at Vottem, a suburb of Liège, where they conclusively beat him.
At the end of the Hundred Years War, the French King Louis XI was forced into a reluctant alliance with Charles ‘the Bold’, Duke of Burgundy. Together, they attacked Liège. Operations were undertaken during the winter and deep mud around the gates hampered the attackers. The Liègeois made unexpected sorties and nearly captured the king and duke. The city was finally stormed by surprise attack on a Sunday, in defiance of the belief that the sabbath should be treated as a truce day.
The fortifications of Liège were remodelled by Brialmont in the 1880s, and outlying forts were added to keep an attacker at arm's length from the city. In 1914, the Schlieffen plan meant that the Germans needed to capture the twelve forts around Liège so that their armies could pass between the ‘Maastricht appendix’ of Dutch territory and the Ardennes on their wide encircling march into France. The attack began on 5 August and the forts were battered into submission by massive siege guns, the last falling on 16 August. Any delay was harmful to the success of the plan, and although the forts were expected to hold out much longer, their defence added sand to the German machine and contributed to its eventual failure. They were able to contribute far less during WW II. At the outset of the battle leading to the fall of France in 1941, the Germans occupied Liège within three days of their invasion of Belgium and the forts either surrendered or fell easily to specialist assault units.
Bibliography
- Bradbury, Jim, The Medieval Siege (Woodbridge, 1992)
— Chris Mann
