During more than seven days, 48,000 Belgian infantrymen, “in the last stage of exhaustion”--so said Sir John French in his dispatch to the War Office--supported by a force of not more than 6,000 French marine fusiliers defended the Yser positions against some 100,000 enemies, provided with very heavy artillery and all the means of modern warfare. On October 25, when at a certain point the Germans finally broke through, French reinforcements arrived and the Belgian General Staff decided to flood the positions in front of the last Belgian line. This put an end to the struggle. The troops of the Duke of Würtemberg suffered an ignominious defeat. They never reached either Dunkirk or Calais. The Germans were not more fortunate on the Ypres front: here the British of Sir John French, supported by some French troops, also held their line, and at the close of November, 1914, the struggle ended in the south of Belgium and the long period of trench warfare began. Except for that little slip of country including Dixmude, Nieuport, and Ypres, Belgium was now under German occupation. Then began the “war of the civilians.” Already during the invasion, in that fateful month of August, many civilians had been killed by the invading troops. Under pretext that there were _francs tireurs_--which should be categorically denied, there never being an organized “_franc-tireur_” war in Belgium--the invaders committed horrible atrocities in the region of Liège, at Aerschot, Louvain, Tamines, Andennes, Namur, Termonde, and in the south of Luxemburg, burning a large number of houses, pillaging, and killing over 6,000 people, among them old men, women, and children. Terrorization seemed the immediate aim of this peculiar system of warfare. When these troops had disappeared in the direction of Paris, General von der Goltz was intrusted with the task of organizing the administration of occupied Belgium. He arrived at Brussels on September 1, 1914, with some 25 military and civilian officials. Belgium was now divided into two parts: the “General Government,” including the whole of the occupied territory, except both East and West Flanders, and the “Etappengebiet” or “army zone,” including these last two provinces. The “General Government” was subject to the authority of the Governor General, residing at Brussels; the “Etappengebiet” was responsible to the army commanders. Along the coast was established the “Marine-gebiet” or coast defense, under the command of Admiral von Schroeder, residing at Bruges. At the head of each province was put a military governor, and in every district a _Kreischef_. Every town had a local “Kommandantur.” Besides these military officials were the civilian officials of the “Zivilverwaltung.”