Nieuwpoort : war monument and equestrian statue of King Albert I

World War One monument in honour of the Belgian Army and his leader, the King Albert I ; monument erected in Nieuwpoort beach resort on the banks of Yser River

(Browse the collection : West Flanders Province time lapse and video stock footage)

Albert I (1875 –1934) reigned as King of the Belgians from 1909 to 1934. This was an eventful period in the history of Belgium, which included the period of WW1 when 90 percent of Belgium was overrun, occupied, and ruled by the Germans. Because of his active role in WW1 he was nicknamed ‘the King Soldier’. King Albert died in a mountaineering accident in eastern Belgium in 1934.

(Equestrian Statue)

King Albert I is known as the King Soldier. Indeed, during the First World War, from 1914, he took command of the army in the field. After the war, King Albert I ordered very important reforms (positive changes for the people) in Belgium: the introduction of universal suffrage (giving the voting right to all men, regardless of their wealth), the equality of the two national languages and the improvement of working conditions for all.

(Monarchie.be)

The Belgian Army, led by His Majesty Albert the First, the “Soldier King”, never gave up its struggle throughout the period separating the end of the war of movement in 1914, from the war of position, punctuated by German gas attacks along the Yser during 1915, participating alongside the Franco-British at the second battle of Flanders between July and October 1917.

(Chemins de Mémoire)