Information[]
Operation: Weiß Pferd (Operation: White Horse) was a German military plan to reclaim the ethnic German regions of the Low Countries. It later just became a planned invasion of the Low Countries, instead of taking back German Minorities.
Occupation of east Belgium.
Forces[]
Central Powers[]
Germany[]
65th Infantry Regiment (4,000)
Imperial German Air Service (2, 8,000)
VIII Army Corps (120,000)
V Army Corps (120,000)
1st Imperial Panzer Regiment (100, 4,000)
1st Imperial Panzer Division (1,000, 40,000)
1st Imperial Anti-Panzer Division (1,000, 40,000)
Austria-Hungary[]
13th Infantry Corps (20,000)
Low Countries[]
Belgium[]
Belgian Army (117,000)
The Netherlands[]
Dutch Army (7,000)
Luxembourg[]
Luxembourger Army (0)
Plans[]
Wilhelm II, after waiting over a year for an attack to take place on Germany, grew impatient. He looked at a map of Europe, and the German ethnic areas. He decided first to occupy eastern Belgium, in the Liege region. This region is where an estimated 100,000 Germans lived. He ordered the 65th Regiment from Cologne to occupy the area in late 1915. He first sent two Zeppelins across the borders of the Netherlands and Belgium for reconnaisance. After seeing no large Belgian or Dutch formations near the border, they signalled a clear. The 65th then marched in from Germany to occupy the German speaking areas of Belgium.
This resulted in a major backlash from the UK, who condemned Germany's actions and closed the London Conference until further notice. The United States took notice of this, yet did no major actions.