While the European nations were fighting to the death, East Africa launched a full-scale offensive, quietly expanding across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Beyond seizing markets and raw-material supply regions that had originally belonged to Europe, it also kept making small moves against the colonies of various countries.
Among them, East Africa was especially covetous of the Dutch East Indies, but it had made no major moves and could only make small maneuvers around Borneo.
September 1914.
Germany and the Anglo-French Allied Forces began the bloody Battle of the Marne.
Germany's military operations in Belgium had basically concluded. Although it had ultimately captured Liège Fortress, the outcome fell short of Germany's expectations.
Moltke had not fully carried out Schlieffen's entire plan before his death. He had transferred one-third of the forces originally assigned to the Belgian battlefield to other regions, and the harm caused by weakening the right wing soon became apparent. The Belgian campaign on the Western Front, which had originally been planned to end within days, was delayed by more than ten days at Liège Fortress.
The Schlieffen Plan had been designed from the very beginning as a plan for swift victory, but Moltke's underestimation of the enemy had dragged down the German army's operations across the entire Western Front. Of course, Germany still held the advantage for now and had successfully pushed the front line into France. So long as it made no further mistakes, the Schlieffen Plan could still be carried out.
At this time, Britain and France also began tightening their naval blockade against Germany. The powerful offensive strength displayed by the German army was enough to make any country's heart pound in fear.
Port of Rotterdam.
By the early twentieth century, the Port of Rotterdam had developed, backed by shipping, into one of Europe's