The rape of Belgium : the untold story of World War I / Larry Zuckerman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zuckerman, Larry.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1914-1918--Belgium.

World War, 1914-1918.

War and society--Belgium.

War and society.

World War, 1914-1918--Evacuation of civilians.

Evacuation of civilians.

World War, 1914-1918--Social aspects--Belgium.

Belgium--History--German occupation, 1914-1918.

Belgium.

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 339 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, [2004]

Summary:

In August 1914, the German Army invaded neutral Belgium, violating a treaty that the German chancellor dismissed as a "scrap of paper." The invaders terrorized the Belgians, shooting thousands of civilians and looting and burning scores of towns, including -- most infamously -- Louvain, site of the country's preeminent university. The Rape of Belgium recalls this bloodshed and destruction, and the outrage they inspired abroad. Yet Larry Zuckerman does not stop there, taking us on a harrowing journey through the next fifty months of German occupation. Relying extensively on untapped Belgian and American archives, he documents how the occupiers systematically plundered a major industrial power and crippled it, deported Belgians en masse as forced laborers to make weapons and build defenses, and placed virtually all aspects of life under military surveillance. In other words, occupied Belgium was a forerunner of Nazi Europe. Nevertheless, history has largely forgotten the occupation, focusing almost wholly on the "scrap of paper" and the invasion. Now, The Rape of Belgium draws on a little-known story to remind us of the horrors of war. Further, Zuckerman shows why the Allies refrained from punishing the Germans for the occupation and controversially suggests that had the victors followed through, Europe's reaction to the rise of Nazi Germany might have taken a very different course.

Contents:

1. Your neighbor's roof

2. Marching through hell

3. The ghost of 1870

4. Belgium does not ask for pity

5. A vague and misty unreality

6. This poisoned atmosphere

7. At least they only drown your women

8. Hell's premises

9. Taking note of these things

10. Mort pour la patrie

11. Like a thief in the night

12. It is impossible that we will be abandoned

13. A trifle

14. A popular delusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 277-328) and index.

ISBN:

0814797040

OCLC:

52595214