![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The real rape of Belgium lasted more than fifty months under an occupation that kept seven million people in fear for their lives, liberty, and property. Allied propagandists invoked the "rape of Belgium" to claim that justice lay on their side, though they often argued the case by telling fables about "barbarians" who had done unspeakable things to women and children.īut no exaggeration was necessary. When the invaders shot thousands of civilians and burned and looted scores of towns, the news shocked a world that had taken European culture for granted. The attack violated a treaty that the German chancellor likened to a "scrap of paper," prompting many foreigners to conclude that Germany did not respect international law. In August 1914, the German Army invaded Belgium because the granite-block roads of Flanders and Brabant seemed to lead to Paris as veins lead toward the heart. ![]()
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