Wire of Death

Many of these refugees were also men trying to get to France through the Netherlands and the United Kingdom to enlist in the Allied armies, encouraged by Albert I of Belgium and Cardinal Mercier to defend the last remaining unoccupied Belgian territory.

[2] Therefore, the Germans decided to build the wire to prevent these volunteers as well as spies from frequently crossing the Belgian-Dutch border and reaching the British secret service in Rotterdam.

[4] Construction began in the spring of 1915 and consisted of over 200 km (125 mi) of 2,000-volt wire with a height ranging from 1.5 to about 3 m (5 to about 10 ft) spanning the length of the Dutch-Belgian border from Aix-la-Chapelle to the River Scheldt.

However, many also succeeded in overcoming the fence, often by employing dangerous or creative methods, ranging from the use of very large ladders and tunnels to pole vaulting and binding porcelain plates onto shoes in an attempt to insulate themselves.

[8] The (neutral) Dutch government, which initially did not object, protested the wire later on several occasions after its existence caused public outrage in the Netherlands.

The great number of fatalities not only resulted in a sharp increase in Dutch Anti-German sentiment (in a country which had up until then been mostly hostile to Britain due to the Second Boer War) but also made smuggling goods in the border area much more dangerous and therefore more lucrative for local smugglers.

Immediately after the signing of the armistice in November 1918, the power plants around the wire were shut down and locals on both sides of the border soon destroyed the much-hated fence.