Context

This year will see the first commemortions of the centenery of the First World War. This is an opportunity to raise awareness among the general public, both the older and younger generations, both in Belgium and abroad.

Historians of the Great War describe this conflict as setting new heights of violence. Belgium suffered many atrocities during those four years. The massacres of more than 5,000 civilians in August 1914, the entire destruction of several towns, the generalised violence both on and off the battlefield, the exodus of refugees, the rigours of the occupation by the German army, the deportations and the repression of the civilian population all exceeded anything that had gone before, from 1914 right up until 1918.