The Rape of Belgium
The German invasion of Belgium initially caused outrage over the violation of the Treaty of London (1839). However, this was not a convincing issue to the average British citizen. What unfolded next however, proved to be more motivating. As the German campaign in Belgium proceeded, atrocity stories poured into the press from all sources. This allowed the former legal argument against the Germans to be discarded in favor of a much stronger pathos argument.
While the German coastal raids has supplied some amount of brutalist imagery, such as the bombed home, Belgium allowed propagandists and yellow journalists to let their imaginations run wild. Stories of babies being bayonetted, farmers being nailed to their front doors, and women being viciously ravaged made headlines across the country.
One of the main sources of atrocity stories was the Report on Alleged German Outrages in Belgium, also know as The Bryce Report, published in May of 1915. The report outlined all of the collected stories, but failed to provide any evidence that these events really occurred. Many of the worst atrocity stories were based on tamer Bryce Report events which were then hyperbolized by journalists.
While the German coastal raids has supplied some amount of brutalist imagery, such as the bombed home, Belgium allowed propagandists and yellow journalists to let their imaginations run wild. Stories of babies being bayonetted, farmers being nailed to their front doors, and women being viciously ravaged made headlines across the country.
One of the main sources of atrocity stories was the Report on Alleged German Outrages in Belgium, also know as The Bryce Report, published in May of 1915. The report outlined all of the collected stories, but failed to provide any evidence that these events really occurred. Many of the worst atrocity stories were based on tamer Bryce Report events which were then hyperbolized by journalists.