August 25, 1914

One hundred years ago today the last of the fortresses at Namur were captured by the German army. Now the Germany could move troops and supplies unhindered from Germany to its armies in France.

In Belgium the German army had been engaged in a campaign of terror to punish the Belgian people for resisting the German invasion from the onset of the war. Some of the worst atrocities happened on the August 25, 1914 in the city of Leuven. Hundreds of civilians were killed, thousands were forced from their homes and thousands of structures were purposely were burned down. The university of Leuven's library was famed for its collection of medieval and renaissance era manuscripts and books. These were intentionally soaked in gasoline and set on fire. In total over 300,000 original medieval and renaissance work of literature were destroyed as the library burned. 

The Belgium army was trapped north in Antwerp were it could not assist, nor could it be assisted by the French and British armies. The German army begins to use Zeppelins to drop bombs on the city of Antwerp killing dozens of civilians with each attack.

In Asia, Japan declared war on Austria-Hungary.