Albert was determined not to take sides, correctly interpreting the treaty of 1839 to mean that Belgium’s right to neutrality was balanced by the requirement to avoid commitment to any foreign power.20 It was for that reason his government had so peremptorily rejected a British offer of 1912 to lend assistance in the event of a German invasion; to have accepted it would have been to prejudice Belgium’s enjoyment of the international guarantees of its independence.
