100 years ago today, Germany began its invasion of neutral Belgium, which lasted until October. Almost immediately, the Germans began committing war crimes against the Belgian citizens, earning the invasion the name "the Rape of Belgium."
The Germans victimized women, evacuated the citizens, burned libraries, shot people where they stood and forced a group of nuns to strip naked.
The Rape of Belgium was quickly made into propaganda to garner support for war against the Germans. Prior to the invasion, the British had difficulty justifying their declaration of war when the whole affar was sparked by the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand.
The Rape of Belgium allowed British propagandists and recruiters to exploit the people's morals. In addition to gaining British support, it was hoped that the Americans would feel compelled to support the war effort on behalf of the Belgian people who had been so terrorized.
Since the war, the atrocities committed by the Germans have been brushed aside as only British propaganda but recent research says otherwise. There were some fabrications, but there was also truth behind many of the stories.
No comments:
Post a Comment