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The Rape of Belgium is the usual historical term regarding the treatment of civilians during the 1914–18 German invasion and occupation of Belgium during World War I. The term initially had a propaganda use but recent historiography confirms its reality.〔It was described as such in the following books: * * * * * * * 〕 One modern author uses it more narrowly to describe a series of German war crimes in the opening months of the War (4 August through September 1914). The neutrality of Belgium had been guaranteed by the Treaty of London (1839), which had been signed by Prussia. However, the German Schlieffen Plan required that German armed forces violate Belgium’s neutrality in order to outflank the French Army, concentrated in eastern France. The German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg dismissed the treaty of 1839 as a "scrap of paper".〔''Memoirs of Prince Von Bulow: The World War and Germany's Collapse 1909–1919'', translated by Geoffrey Dunlop and F. A. Voight, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1932: There is no doubt that our invasion of Belgium, with violation it entailed of that country's sovereign neutrality, and of treaties we ourselves had signed, and the world had respected for a century, was an act of the gravest political significance. Bad was made worse when than ever by Bethmans Hollweg's speech in the Reichstag (August 4, 1914). Never perhaps, has any other statesman at the head of a great and civilized people (...) pronounced (...) a more terrible speech. Before the whole world—before his country, this spokesman of the German Government—not of the Belgian!—not of the French!—declared that, in invading Belgium we did wrong, but that necessity knows no law (...) I was aware, with this one categorical statement, we had forfeited, at a blow, the imponderabilia; that this unbelievably stupid oration would set the whole world against Germany. And on the very evening after he made it this Chancellor of the German Empire, in a talk with Sir Edward Goschen, the British Ambassador, referred to the international obligations on which Belgium relied for her neutrality as "un chiffon de papier", "a scrap of paper"...〕 Throughout the beginning of the war the German army engaged in numerous atrocities against the civilian population of Belgium, and destruction of civilian property; 6,000 Belgians were killed, 25,000 homes and other buildings in 837 communities destroyed. One and a half million Belgians (20% of the entire population) fled from the invading German army.〔Lipkes J. (2007) ''Rehearsals: The German Army in Belgium, August 1914'', Leuven University Press〕 Just how many Belgians were still on the run within their own country is not known: estimates vary between another half a million and even up to 1.5 million. ==War crimes== In some places, particularly Liège, Andenne and Leuven, but firstly Dinant, there is evidence that the violence against civilians was premeditated.〔 However, in Dinant, the German army believed the inhabitants were as dangerous as the French soldiers themselves.〔Horne & Kramer, ''German atrocities'', Chapter I, ''Third Army and Dinant''〕〔Beckett, I.F.W. (ed., 1988) ''The Roots of Counter-Insurgency'', Blandford Press, London. ISBN 0-7137-1922-2〕 German troops, afraid of Belgian guerrilla fighters, or ''francs-tireurs'', burned homes and executed civilians throughout eastern and central Belgium, including Aarschot (156 dead), Andenne (211 dead), Tamines (383 dead), and Dinant (674 dead).〔John N. Horne & Alan Kramer (2001) ''German Atrocities, 1914: A History of Denial'', Yale University Press, New Haven, Appendix I, ''German Atrocities in 1914'' (from 5 August to 21 October and from Berneau (Province of Liège) to Esen (Province of West Flanders)), ISBN 978-0-300-08975-2〕 The victims included women and children.〔Alan Kramer (2007) ''Dynamic of Destruction: Culture and Mass Killing in the First World War'' Oxford University Press, pp. 1–24. ISBN 978-0-19-280342-9〕 On August 25, 1914, the German army ravaged the city of Leuven, deliberately burning the university's library of 300,000 medieval books and manuscripts with gasoline, killing 248 residents,〔Spencer Tucker, P. M. R. (2005) ''World War I: Encyclopedia'', Volume 1, ABC-CLIO/Greenwood, p.714〕 and expelling the entire population of 10,000. Civilian homes were set on fire and citizens often shot where they stood. Over 2000 buildings were destroyed and large quantities of strategic materials, foodstuffs, and modern industrial equipment were looted and transferred to Germany. (There were also several friendly fire incidents between groups of German soldiers during the confusion.〔) These actions brought worldwide condemnation.〔Commission d'Enquete (1922) ''Rapports et Documents d'Enquete'', vol. 1, book 1. pp. 679–704, vol. 1, book 2, pp. 605–615.〕 In the Province of Brabant, nuns were ordered by Germans to strip naked under the pretext that they were spies. In Aarschot, between August and September, women were repeatedly victimised. Looting, murder, and rape was widespread.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Rape of Belgium」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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