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Batalla del Yser
Parte de la carrera hacia el mar en el frente occidental de la Primera Guerra Mundial
Battle of the Yser2.jpg
Representación de la "admirable resistencia" de las fuerzas belgas
Fecha16 a 31 de octubre de 1914
Localización
River Yser , Bélgica
51 ° 09′10 ″ N 02 ° 43′23 ″ E / 51.15278°N 2.72306°E / 51.15278; 2.72306 Coordenadas: 51 ° 09′10 ″ N 02 ° 43′23 ″ E  / 51.15278°N 2.72306°E / 51.15278; 2.72306
ResultadoVictoria aliada

Cambios territoriales		Yser Front creado
Beligerantes

 Bélgica Francia
 

Apoyo naval : Reino Unido
 		 imperio Alemán
Comandantes y líderes
Belgium Rey Alberto I Émile Dossin Augustin Michel Alphonse Jacques Pierre Ronarc'h Paul Grossetti Horace Hood
Belgium
Belgium
Belgium
French Third Republic
French Third Republic
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 		German Empire Alberto de Württemberg Hans von Beseler
German Empire
Fuerza
Bélgica : 52.000 hombres [1]
Francia : 6.600 hombres (1.450 infantería) [2]
Gran Bretaña : 3 supervisa
varios barcos auxiliares		60.000 a 85.000 hombres [1]
Víctimas y pérdidas
Bélgica : 3.500 muertos [3]
15.000 heridos [3]

The Battle of the Yser (French: Bataille de l'Yser, Dutch: Slag om de IJzer) was a battle of the First World War that took place in October 1914 between the towns of Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide, along a 35 km (22 mi) stretch of the Yser River and the Yperlee Canal, in Belgium.[4] The front line was held by a large Belgian force, which halted the German advance in a costly defensive battle.

La victoria en el Yser permitió a Bélgica retener una porción de territorio con Alemania en control del 95 por ciento del territorio belga, lo que convirtió al rey Alberto en un héroe nacional belga, mantuvo el orgullo nacional y proporcionó un lugar para las conmemoraciones del heroico sacrificio durante el próximo siglo.

Antecedentes [ editar ]

Invasión alemana de Bélgica [ editar ]

Véase también: Invasión alemana de Bélgica , Asedio de Amberes (1914) y Carrera hacia el mar

On 2 August 1914, the Belgian government refused passage through Belgium to German troops and on the night of 3/4 August the Belgian General Staff ordered the Third Division to Liège to obstruct a German advance. The German army invaded Belgium on the morning of 4 August.[5] Covered by the Third Division, the Liège fortress garrison, a screen of the Cavalry Division and detachments from Liège and Namur, the Belgian field army closed up to the river Gete and by 4 August, the First Division had assembled at Tienen, the Fifth Division at Perwez, the Second Division at Leuven and the Sixth Division at Wavre , que cubre el centro y oeste de Bélgica y las comunicaciones hacia Amberes. La caballería alemana apareció en Visé a principios del 4 de agosto, para encontrar el puente caído y las tropas belgas en la orilla occidental; los alemanes cruzaron en un vado y obligaron a los belgas a retirarse hacia Lieja. Al anochecer, el Alto Mando belga tenía claro que la Tercera División y la guarnición de Lieja se encontraban en el camino de una gran fuerza de invasión. [6]

With information that five German corps and six reserve corps were in Belgium and with no immediate support available from the French army and British Expeditionary Force (BEF), the Belgian field army was ordered to withdraw towards the National Redoubt on the evening of 18 August and arrived on 20 August. At an engagement between the First Division and the German IX Corps near Tienen, the Belgians suffered 1,630 casualties.[7][8] The Belgian government of Charles de Broqueville left Brussels for Antwerp and the Belgian capital was occupied unopposed on 20 August, as the Belgian field army completed its retreat to Antwerp. The German El asedio de Namur terminó con una capitulación belga el 24 de agosto, cuando el ejército de campaña hizo una salida desde Amberes hacia Bruselas. [9] [10] Los alemanes separaron el III Cuerpo de Reserva del 1º Ejército para enmascarar la ciudad y una división del IV Cuerpo de Reserva para ocupar Bruselas. [11] [12]

Soldados belgas en 1914

On 1 October, General Hans Hartwig von Beseler ordered an attack on the Antwerp forts Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Walem and the Bosbeek and Dorpveld redoubts by the 5th Reserve and Marine divisions. By 11:00 a.m. Fort Walem was severely damaged, Fort Lier had been hit by a 16 in (410 mm) shell, Fort Koningshooikt and the Tallabert and Bosbeek redoubts were mostly intact and the intervening ground between Fort Sint-Katelijne-Waver and Dorpveld redoubt had been captured. A counter-attack failed and the Fourth Division was reduced to 4,800 infantry. The Belgian commanders ordered the left flank of the army to withdraw to a line north of the Nete, which covered the gap in the outer defences and kept the city out of range of German super-heavy artillery. Proclamations warning the inhabitants that King Albert I and the government would leave Antwerp were put up during the day.[13] Early on 9 October, German troops found some forts of the inner ring empty; Beseler ended the bombardment and summoned the military governor, General Victor Deguise, to surrender. About 30,000 men of the Antwerp garrison surrendered and the city was occupied by German troops. About 33,000 soldiers of the garrison (c. 30 percent of the Belgian Army) fled north to the Netherlands, where they were interned for the duration.[14]

During the siege of Antwerp, the German and French armies fought the Battle of the Frontiers (7 August – 13 September) and then the German armies in the north pursued the French and the BEF southwards into France in the Great Retreat, which culminated in the First Battle of the Marne (5–12 September), followed by the First Battle of the Aisne (13–28 September). Reciprocal attempts by the Franco-British and German armies to envelop the northern flank of the opposing army, the Race to the Sea took place through Picardy, Artois and Flanders (17 September – 19 October.La "carrera" terminó en la costa del Mar del Norte de Bélgica, cuando la última área abierta desde Diksmuide hasta el Mar del Norte fue ocupada por tropas belgas de Amberes. [15]

Retirada aliada al Yser [ editar ]

Caída de Amberes y retirada aliada, 1914

British and French forces in Belgium covered the withdrawal of the Belgians and British from Antwerp.[16] The First, Third and Fourth divisions reached Ostend, the Fifth and Sixth divisions arrived at Torhout and Diksmuide and the Antwerp garrison troops moved to an area north-west of Ghent. The Germans 4th Ersatz Division and Landwehr troops at Lokeren and Moerbeke turned east towards Ghent before the withdrawal was discovered. The III Reserve Corps and the 4th Ersatz Division were then ordered to turn west and advance on Kortrijk, to prolong the main German front, before being sent towards Ghent and Bruges, with orders to reach Blankenberge and Ostend on the coast. On 11 October, German troops were detected advancing on Ghent, by which time the Belgian fortress troops had joined the field army. A retreat from Ghent from 3:00 to 10:00 p.m. began, after which German troops entered the city. Several bridges were demolished during the retirement, although crowds of civilians on the main road and rail bridges led to them being left intact.[17]

Captains of the French Fusiliers marins at the Yser

By 18 October, the Belgian, British and French troops in northern France and Belgium had formed a defensive line, the British II Corps assembled with the 5th Division from La Bassée Canal north to Beau Puits, the 3rd Division from Illies to Aubers and three divisions of the French Cavalry Corps (General Louis Conneau) deployed from Fromelles to Le Maisnil. The British III Corps had the 6th Division from Radinghem to Epinette and the 4th Division from Epinette to Pont Rouge, the BEF Cavalry Corps with the 1st and 2nd Cavalry divisions, from Deûlémont to Tenbrielen. The British IV Corps with the 7th Division and 3rd Cavalry Division from Zandvoorde to Oostnieuwkerke; the French Groupe Bidon and the de Mitry Cavalry Corps covered the ground from Roeselare (Roulers) to Kortemark (Cortemarck), the 87th and 89th Territorial divisions from Passendale (Passchendaele) to Boezinge (Boesinghe) and then the Belgian field army and fortress troops from Boezinge to Nieuwpoort. The Brigade de fusiliers marins (Rear-Admiral Pierre Alexis Ronarc'h were sent from Pierrefitte, near Paris, on 7 October, to Flanders and by 18 October were at Diksmuide (Dixmude). The fusiliers marins comprised six battalions of mostly reservists, with 6,670 men of whom 1,450 were fusiliers, a machine-gun company (16 guns) and four machine-guns in each battalion.[18]

Flanders terrain[edit]

View of the flooding in Ramskapelle

Part of northern France and north Belgium from the Pas-de-Calais to the Scheldt estuary had been known as Flanders since the eleventh century. West of a line between Arras and Calais in the north of France lie chalk downlands covered with soil sufficient for arable farming, and east of the line the land declines in a series of spurs into the Flanders plain. By 1914, the plain was bounded by canals linking Douai, Béthune, Saint-Omer and Calais. To the south-east, canals run between Lens, Lille, Roubaix and Kortrijk, the Lys river from Kortrijk to Ghent and to the north-west lies the sea. The plain is almost flat, apart from a line of low hills from Cassel, east to Mont des Cats (Katsberg), Zwarteberg (Mont Noir), Rodeberg (Mont Rouge), Scherpenberg and Kemmelberg (Mount Kemmel). From Kemmel, a low ridge lies to the north-east, declining in elevation past Ypres through Wijtschate (Wytschaete), Geluveld (Gheluvelt) and Passendale(Passchendaele), girando hacia el norte y luego hacia el noroeste hasta Diksmuide, donde se fusiona con la llanura. Una franja costera de aproximadamente 10 millas (16 km) de ancho está cerca del nivel del mar y bordeada por dunas de arena. En el interior, el terreno es principalmente pradera, cortada por canales, diques, zanjas de drenaje y carreteras construidas en calzadas. El Lys, Yser y el Escalda superior se han canalizado y entre ellos el nivel del agua subterránea está cerca de la superficie, sube más en el otoño y llena cualquier buzamiento, cuyos lados luego se derrumban. La superficie del suelo rápidamente adquiere una consistencia de queso crema y en la costa los movimientos de tropas se limitaban a las carreteras, excepto durante las heladas. [19]

El resto de la llanura de Flandes son bosques y pequeños campos, divididos por setos plantados con árboles y cultivados en pequeños pueblos y granjas. El terreno era difícil para las operaciones de infantería debido a la falta de observación, imposible para la acción montada debido a las muchas obstrucciones y difícil para la artillería debido a la vista limitada. Al sur del canal de La Bassée, alrededor de Lens y Béthune, había un distrito de minería de carbón lleno de montones de escoria , cabezas de pozo ( fosses ) y casas de mineros ( corons ). Al norte del canal, las ciudades de Lille, Tourcoing y Roubaix forman un complejo industrial, con industrias periféricas en Armentières , Comines ,Halluin y Menen , a lo largo del río Lys, con refinerías aisladas de remolacha azucarera y alcohol y una acería cerca de Aire-sur-la-Lys . Las zonas intermedias son agrícolas, con carreteras anchas sobre cimientos poco profundos, pistas de barro sin pavimentar en Francia y estrechas carreteras pavimentadas a lo largo de la frontera y en Bélgica. En Francia, las carreteras fueron cerradas por las autoridades locales durante los deshielos para preservar la superficie y marcadas por Barrières fermėes , que en 1914 fueron ignoradas por los camioneros británicos. La dificultad de movimiento después del final del verano absorbió gran parte de la mano de obra civil disponible en el mantenimiento de carreteras, dejando que las defensas de campo fueran construidas por soldados de primera línea. [20]

Preludio [ editar ]

Operaciones militares en Bélgica, octubre de 1914

La retirada belga continuó los días 11 y 12 de octubre, cubierta por secciones de caballería, ciclistas y ametralladoras a motor. El 14 de octubre, el ejército belga comenzó a excavar a lo largo del Yser, las divisiones sexta y quinta al norte de las divisiones territoriales francesas, reunidas en Boezinge , luego hacia el norte a lo largo del canal Yser hasta los Fusiliers Marins en Diksmuide (Dixmude). Las divisiones Cuarta, Primera y Segunda prolongaron la línea hacia el norte, con puestos avanzados en Beerst , Keiem (Keyem), Schoore y Mannekensvere , aproximadamente 2 km hacia adelante en la orilla este. También se llevó a cabo una cabeza de puente cerca de la costa alrededor de Lombartzyde y Westende., para cubrir Nieuwpoort (Nieuport), con la 2.a División de Caballería en reserva. [21] El 18 de octubre, las 87.a y 89.a divisiones territoriales francesas se hicieron cargo de la defensa de la línea del frente al sur de Fort Knokke de la Sexta División, que se trasladó al Frente Yser. El 21 de octubre, el ejército belga en apuros fue reforzado por la 42 División francesa (el general de división Paul François Grossetti ). [22]

Los aliados reunieron una fuerza naval bajo el mando del almirante británico Horace Hood con tres monitores , HMS  Severn , Humber , Mersey y una variedad de naves para proporcionar apoyo de artillería pesada a los defensores del flanco mar adentro. [23] Las fuerzas alemanas comprendían el nuevo 4º Ejército ( Alberto Duque de Württemberg ), con el III Cuerpo de Reserva de Amberes y cuatro nuevos cuerpos de reserva de Alemania, junto con unidades de caballería y artillería pesada. Se desplazó hacia el sur desde Brujas y Ostende en dirección al río Yser, para tomar la línea de Nieuwpoort a Ypres (Ieper). [24]

Batalla [ editar ]

Yser inundaciones, 1914

El 16 de octubre fue atacado Diksmuide, guarnecido por tropas belgas y francesas al mando del coronel Alphonse Jacques . A pesar de muchas bajas, los belgas y franceses tomaron la ciudad. La prensa, los políticos, las figuras literarias y los militares canalizaron la opinión pública, dando a entender que la defensa de la ciudad era estratégica y heroica. [25]

El 18 de octubre, comenzó la ofensiva alemana e invadió a las tropas aliadas desde Nieuwpoort hacia el sur hasta Arras. El objetivo era derrotar a los ejércitos belga y francés y privar a los británicos del acceso a Calais, Boulogne y Dunkerque . El III Cuerpo de Reserva atacó las defensas belgas desde Diksmuide hasta el mar, independientemente de la pérdida. Los alemanes capturaron puestos avanzados en Keiem , Schoore y parte de Mannekensvere y alcanzaron el Yser, a pesar de los bombardeos de la flotilla anglo-francesa, que se enfrentó a tropas alemanas a lo largo de la costa hasta Middelkerke . A la 4ª División Ersatz se le prohibió cruzar el Yser en Nieuwpoort debido al fuego de artillería de los barcos aliados. [26]

On 21 October, the Germans established a small bridgehead on the west bank, despite a counter-attack by the French 42nd Division, which had just arrived and the last bridge was blown on 23 October. Diksmuide was constantly bombarded and attacked but the defenders managed to hold on. The Grand Quartier Général, the French high command, planned to flood the land to obstruct the Germans, which would trap the Belgian army between the flood and the Germans or force them to abandon the last part of unoccupied Belgium. The plan was postponed because the Belgian army was preparing to flood the area between the Yser and its tributary canals.

On 25 October, the German pressure on the Belgians was so great that a decision was taken to inundate the Belgian front line. After an abortive attempt on 21 October, the Belgians managed to open the sluices at Nieuwpoort during the nights of 26–30 October, during high tides, steadily raising the water level until an impassable flooded area was created of about one mi (2 km) wide, stretching as far south as Diksmuide.[27][a]

The Germans attacked again on the Yser front on 30 October, overran the Belgian second line and reached Ramskapelle and Pervijze.[28] Belgian and French counter-attacks recovered Ramskapelle and the final attack, planned for the next day was called off when the Germans realised that the land behind them was flooding. The Germans withdrew in the night of 30–31 October.[29] On 10 November, Diksmuide fell and the fighting continued further south until 22 November, in the First Battle of Ypres.[30]

Aftermath[edit]

The Belgian Army and its allies had managed to hold the last corner of Belgium, ending the Race to the Sea and the period of open warfare. The front line along the Yser River became known as the Yser Front and was held by the Belgian Army until 1918. James Edward Edmonds wrote in 1925, in the History of the Great War, that from 18 October to 30 November 1914, between Gheluvelt and the coast, the Germans suffered an estimated 76,250 casualties.[31]

In 2010, Jack Sheldon wrote that from 18 to 30 October, the Belgian army sustained 20,000 casualties and that German casualties may have been much greater.[32] The struggle of the Belgian army to hold on to its territory during the remainder of the war and the experiences of ordinary Flemish infantrymen, led to an increase in Flemish national sentiment and the foundation of the Frontbeweging, the first party of the Flemish Movement, in 1917.[33]

See also[edit]

  • Dodengang
  • Belgium in World War I
  • German occupation of Belgium during World War I

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Two sluiceworkers, Karel Cogge and Hendrik Geeraert, became national heroes in Belgium for their role in the inundations.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Amez 2013, p. 53.
  2. ^ Edmonds 1925, p. 51.
  3. ^ a b Schaepdrijver 2004, p. 171.
  4. ^ Barton, Doyle & Vandewalle 2005, p. 17.
  5. ^ Falls 1959, p. 41.
  6. ^ Edmonds 1926, pp. 31–32.
  7. ^ Edmonds 1926, p. 34.
  8. ^ Tyng 2007, p. 96.
  9. ^ Strachan 2001, pp. 211, 217–218, 231, 241.
  10. ^ Edmonds 1926, p. 48.
  11. ^ Edmonds 1925, p. 38.
  12. ^ Barnett 2001, pp. 31–32, 39–40.
  13. ^ Edmonds 1925, pp. 35–38.
  14. ^ Dumoulin et al. 2005, p. 93.
  15. ^ Doughty 2005, pp. 103–104.
  16. ^ Edmonds 1925, pp. 64–65.
  17. ^ Edmonds 1925, pp. 65–66.
  18. ^ Edmonds 1925, pp. 51, 117–119, 125.
  19. ^ Edmonds 1925, pp. 73–74.
  20. ^ Edmonds 1925, pp. 74–76.
  21. ^ Edmonds 1925, pp. 67, 117–118.
  22. ^ Edmonds 1925, pp. 147, 182.
  23. ^ Rickard 2013.
  24. ^ Joffre 1920, p. 331.
  25. ^ Fichou 2010, pp. 5–21.
  26. ^ Edmonds 1925, p. 118.
  27. ^ Edmonds 1925, p. 257.
  28. ^ Edmonds 1925, p. 300.
  29. ^ Edmonds 1925, pp. 300–301.
  30. ^ Edmonds 1925, pp. 125–469.
  31. ^ Edmonds 1925, p. 468.
  32. ^ Sheldon 2010, p. 91.
  33. ^ Cook 2004, pp. 104–105.

Sources[edit]

Books[edit]

  • Amez, Benoît (2013). Vie et Survie dans les Tranchées Belges: Témoignages Inédits [Life and Survival in the Belgian Trenches: Unpublished Evidence]. Brussels: Editions Jourdan. ISBN 978-2-87466-318-5.
  • Barnett, C. (2001) [1963]. The Swordbearers: Supreme Commanders in the First World War (Cassell ed.). London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN 978-0-304-35283-8.
  • Barton, P.; Doyle, P.; Vandewalle, J. (2005). Beneath Flanders Fields: the Tunnellers' War, 1914–1918. Staplehurst: Spellmount. ISBN 978-0-7735-2949-6.
  • Cook, B. A. (2004). Belgium: A History. New York: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-0-8204-5824-3.
  • Dumoulin, M.; Gerard, E.; Van den Wijngaert, M.; Dujardin, V. (2005). Nouvelle Histoire de Belgique: 1905–1950 [New History of Belgium: 1905–1950]. II. Brussels: Éd. Complexe. ISBN 978-2-8048-0078-9.
  • Doughty, R. A. (2005). Pyrrhic victory: French Strategy and Operations in the Great War. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01880-8.
  • Edmonds, J. E. (1926). Military Operations France and Belgium, 1914: Mons, the Retreat to the Seine, the Marne and the Aisne August–October 1914. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. I (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan. OCLC 58962523.
  • Edmonds, J. E. (1925). Military Operations France and Belgium, 1914: Antwerp, La Bassée, Armentières, Messines and Ypres October–November 1914. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. II (1st ed.). London: Macmillan. OCLC 220044986.
  • Falls, C. (1959). The Great War 1914–1918. New York: Putnam. OCLC 833884503.
  • Joffre, J. (1920) [1915]. "The Battle of the Yser". In Horne, C. F. (ed.). Great Events of the Great War. II (repr. ed.). New York: J. J. Little & Ives. OCLC 1209172. OL 15057141M.
  • Schaepdrijver, Sophie de (2004). La Belgique et la première guerre mondiale [Belgium and the First World War] (2nd ed.). Brussels: Lang. ISBN 978-90-5201-215-5.
  • Sheldon, J. (2010). The German Army at Ypres 1914 (1st ed.). Barnsley: Pen and Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-84884-113-0.
  • Strachan, H. (2001). The First World War: To Arms. I. Oxford: OUP. ISBN 978-0-19-926191-8.
  • Tyng, S. (2007) [1935]. The Campaign of the Marne 1914 (Westholme ed.). New York: Longmans, Green. ISBN 978-1-59416-042-4.

Journals[edit]

  • Fichou, J-C. (2010). "Les pompons rouges à Dixmude: l'envers d'une légende" [The red bobbles in Dixmude: the Birth of a Legend]. Guerres Mondiales et Conflits Contemporains (in French). IV (240). ISSN 0984-2292.

Websites[edit]

  • Rickard, J. (2013). "Battle of the Yser: 18 October – 30 November 1914". Historyofwar.org. Retrieved 6 April 2013.

Further reading[edit]

  • Carton de Wiart, Henri (1920). "The Battle of the Yser". In Horne, C. F. (ed.). Great Events of the Great War: 1915. Adelaide Nutting Historical Nursing Collection. III. New York: National Alumni. pp. 324–329. OCLC 1209172. OL 15057141M.
  • Cowley, Robert (1989). "Albert and the Yser". MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History. Society for Military History. I (4): 106–117. ISSN 1543-7795.
  • Clayton, A. (2003). Paths of Glory: The French Army 1914–18. London: Cassell. ISBN 978-0-304-35949-3.
  • Foch, F. (1931). Mémoire pour servir à l'histoire de la guerre 1914–1918: avec 18 gravures hors-texte et 12 cartes [The Memoirs of Marshal Foch] (PDF) (in French). trans. T. Bentley Mott (Heinemann ed.). Paris: Plon. OCLC 86058356. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016.
  • Edmonds, J. E. (1922). Military Operations France and Belgium, 1914 Mons, the Retreat to the Seine, the Marne and the Aisne August–October 1914. I (1st ed.). London: Macmillan. OCLC 58962523.
  • The Yser and the Belgian Coast (English ed.). Clermont Ferrand: Michelin. 1919. OCLC 43197675.
  • Van der Essen, L. J. (1917). The Invasion and the War in Belgium from Liège to the Yser. London: T. F. Unwin. OCLC 800487618.
  • The War of 1914 Military Operations of Belgium in Defence of the Country and to Uphold Her Neutrality. London: W. H. & L Collingridge. 1915. OCLC 8651831.
  • Van Pul, P. (2006). In Flanders' Flooded Fields: Before Ypres there was Yser. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-84415-492-0.

External links[edit]

  • IJzerfront 14-18
  • German Official History situation map, November 1914
  • Flanders Fields tourism information site
  • Battle of the Yser, fww.com