French soldiers wearing Stahlhelm impersonating surrendering German soldiers, 1916 - 1918

French soldiers wearing Stahlhelm impersonating surrendering German soldiers, 1916 - 1918

Today I'll write about the action of surrendering in the First World War, by no means a safe one to take, for a myriad of reasons.

Surrendering could either happen in the heat of battle or voluntarily sneaking out to the enemy lines when others weren't looking. For the latter, the main motive for surrendering was escaping the frontlines by being taken prisoner instead.

However, soldiers surrendering during an enemy attack was far more common, but also far more dangerous. Although killing surrendering and unthreatening enemy soldiers was and still is a war crime, it was still a widespread occurrence which happened during attacks.

The majority of such cases came down to the individual soldier's decision. There were various motives for killing surrendering enemy soldiers, such as fearing the surrender was just a bluff, and if it was inconvenient for the attackers to have to escort prisoners away from the battlefield.

If the battle had been long and hard-won, the attackers might not accept surrender, only being satisfied with the demise of the enemy soldiers.

However, by far the most frequent motive was revenge. If the attackers had lost a lot of men in the past or while conquering the position, they would avenge their fallen comrades by returning the favor. This was especially the case for machine-gunners, who could've inflicted a lot of losses before surrendering.

Attackers might also get so caught up in the fear and adrenaline rush that they wouldn't think twice and kill the surrendering soldiers upon sight. 

Due to the loud and heavy artillery bombardment, shock and confusion of the situation, it was common for surrendering soldiers to not throw away their weapon fast enough when ordered by the attackers, often resulting in their death.

It is estimated the chance of survival for a surrendering soldier was just 50%, of course depending on certain factors, such as the tenseness of the relationship between the enemy soldiers and the manner which the battle and surrender took place.

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