A perpetually neutral state—August 2

Alfred von Schlieffen's plan

In the morning, German military patrols crossed into France for the first time since 1871. Corporal Andre Peugeot was killed, becoming number one of what would be over over 1.3 million French military deaths in the war.

At seven o'clock in the evening Germany demanded that Belgium agree within 12 hours to allow free passage to her troops. Belgium—backed by the 1839 Treaty of London which guaranteed her neutrality and had been signed by Britain, Prussia, Austria, France and Russia—refused to sacrifice, "the nation's honor".

Germany's plan to win a swift war depended on her violating Belgian neutrality. The idea was to sweep the army through Belgium and northern France in an arc, taking Paris and trapping the French armies against their own fortifications along the border. If this was down quickly enough, the German armies could then be released to go and defeat Russia who was expected to be very slow to mobilize.  The originator of this vast war scene, Alfred von Schlieffen, is supposed to have said of this vast undertaking, "Let the last man on the right brush the channel with his sleeve."