Sexual violence in Allied war propaganda
Sexual violence in Allied war propaganda The atrocities committed against Belgian and French civilians by German troops was a central focus of Allied war propaganda. Pictures of defiled and mutilated women and children were used to justify the war and to mobilise the population of the Allied countries. Between August and October 1914 German troops committed brutal acts of violence against Belgian and French civilians. These “German atrocities” or “atrocités allemandes” cost 5,521 Belgian and 906 French civilians their lives. Rumours of mass rape and mutilation of Belgian and French women spread in the first weeks of the war. As a result, Belgium, France and Great Britain set up a committee of inquiry to document the German war crimes in accordance with the Hague Convention of 1907. The committee confirmed the reports of massive sexual assaults on the female civilian population by German soldiers. The number of raped and mutilated women is difficult to determine today. Regardless of ...