The Couillet Treaty details the heavy war reparations imposed by the Imperial German Army on the Belgian town of Charleroi and its surrounding communes, in retaliation for the action allegedly carried out by francs-tireurs against its soldiers as they entered Charleroi.
On 22 August 1914, during the Battle of Charleroi at the start of World War I, German General Max von Bahrfeldt, commander of the 19th Reserve Division, set himself the objective of taking the bridges over the Sambre located at Charleroi and Couillet and held by soldiers of the French 3rd and 10th Corps. As they advanced through the town, the German soldiers were rarely fired upon by the French soldiers. Convinced of the presence of snipers, the Germans took civilians hostage and set fire to houses.
On 23 August, fearing that the town would be completely destroyed, a group of Carolorégian notables, including the burgomaster Émile Devreux, went to meet the general to negotiate. He accused the civilians of firing on his soldiers. Under threat of cannon fire, he forced the members of the delegation to sign the "Treaty of Couillet", which stipulated the payment of a hefty war indemnity in money and other assets, to be settled at 6 p.m. that same day.
The toll of German atrocities was 41 civilians killed and 159 homes burnt down in Charleroi itself. Around 250 civilians were killed and 1,300 buildings were destroyed throughout the Charleroi region.
The Charleroi region at the beginning of the 20th century
After the depression of the last quarter of the 19th century, the twenty or so years leading up to World War I saw Belgian production rise at a rate of over 3% a year.
Given that coal was the main source of energy at the time, and that the region's subsoil contained different qualities of this fuel, Charleroi saw the emergence of a large number of industries linked to coal production. This growth was also linked to the technological skills of local and foreign entrepreneurs, the support of financial groups, and the exploitation of the working masses, who in 1914 had one of the lowest rates of unionization in Europe.
The Charleroi Exhibition of 1911 was the golden age of the Charleroi region. For the city, it was the year of its demographic peak, with 32,553 inhabitants, a record never reached again until the merger of the communes in 1977. The budget was balanced at just under 2,400,000 Belgian francs.
World War I and the invasion of Belgium
The tensions caused by the international situation in the spring of 1914, and the assassination of Archduke François-Ferdinand of Austria on 28 June and its aftermath, led King Albert I to decide on general mobilization on 31 July 1914. Germany demanded free passage for its troops through Belgian territory on 2 August and sent an ultimatum to the government.
On the following day, 3 August, this ultimatum was rejected. That same day, the 1st Regiment of Foot Chasseurs left Charleroi for Liège to the applause of the crowd. The brewery "Aux caves de Munich", in the rue du Comptoir, was ransacked by a few rioters. The Germans entered Belgium near Aachen on 4 August. The King appealed to France and the United Kingdom. In Charleroi, the mob attacked the German consulate, taking down its flag and coat of arms. However, it escaped the fate suffered by the brewery the day before. The following day, the Garde Civique was mobilized.
On 16 August, the last fort in Liège surrendered. The press began to report German atrocities, including the massacre of civilians and the burning of houses. From then on, the authorities issued a series of calm orders to the population to prevent any acts that might provoke retaliation. In Charleroi, seven ambulances manned by volunteer doctors were ready for action. Over the next few days, several thousand people, mainly families of industrialists and shopkeepers, left Charleroi by train for other Belgian towns or France. On 20 August, the 3rd and 10th corps of the 5th French army commanded by General Lanrezac arrived in the town, where the population greeted them enthusiastically and awaited the British Expeditionary Force, which they knew was not far off.