This gruesome scene is of Belgian soldiers who were likely wounded in August 1914 during the defense of their homeland against the invading Germans.  

 

Germany knew that it would have to fight on two fronts: France and England on the West, and Russia on the East. To avoid simultaneous engagement on both fronts, the Germans followed a strategy known as the Schlieffen Plan, which called for rapidly conquering the France by taking Paris, and then turning their attention to Russia, which, given its size and the internal political challenges faced by the Czar, would be slower to mobilize. 

 

But in order to get to Paris, German forces would first have to move through Belgium. Therefore, when the Belgian government refused free passage to German troops on August 2, 1914, they launched a full assault. However, the Belgian forces were unexpectedly effective in combatting the German offensive, holding out for several weeks. This, in turn, gave the French and British forces time to plan important defensive and offensive countermeasures.