What was the myth of neutrality in World War 1?

Answer 1

The myth of Neutrality was that if you were a neutral country, as many were in Europe during ww1, you could easily be overpowered and overtaken. This was due to the fact that you personally as a country didn't want to fight or participate in the war, and you would then be invaded by the opposing countries that took a side. There was also the fact that if you took a side, and the opposing side won, then you would either get invaded or punished due to your alliance to the looser.

Hope that helps =)

Answer 2

The myth of neutrality was that declarations of neutrality would actually be respected by warring parties. Prior to World War I, if countries A, B, and C all bordered each other, A went to war against B, and C declared neutrality, then A and B would do their utmost to avoid having any part of the war spilling over in C's territory.

In World War I, you had a similar situation where Germany, France, and Belgium were countries that all bordered each other. Germany declared war on France on August 3, 1914 and Belgium had already declared neutrality. Germany should have respected Belgian neutrality and invaded France directly, but the Franco-German border was too well-defended, so the Germans invaded Belgium to get to France. This was a violation of Belgium's neutrality and the intentional involvement of neutral party in war.