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In 1915, the Germans closed off the border between Belgium and the neutral Netherlands with the 'Wire of Death'. Clandestine attempts to scale this high voltage fence were extremely dangerous: if you were not electrocuted, you risked being shot by German border guards. But this did not deter all refugees, or indeed spies, from trying to ...
In the First World War, the Dutch-Belgian border was not an ordinary national boundary. South of the border there was war, while to the north lay the peaceful, neutral Netherlands. The Germans army did not initially invest very heavily in the defence of this northern border, as an attack from the neutral Netherlands seemed unlikely.
The Germans ...
In the early days of aviation in 1914, people already had soaring expectations of it. The airplane would allow humanity to go further, faster and higher. When the First World War broke out, both the Germans and the Allies immediately started exploring the military possibilities of aviation. Both sides set up their own air force, using the ...
At the start of November 1918, an allied delegation and representatives of the new German government came together to prepare an armistice. The negotiations were conducted in a train carriage in the woods of Compiegne, on the allied side of the front. The Germans, however, did not have much room for negotiation. Their troops were demoralised, and ...
The hardship, continuous fear and the powerlessness of the individual made life in the trenches a physically, but above all psychologically, horrifying experience. Though not visibly injured, many soldiers suffered nervous breakdowns and were no longer able to function. The British army counted 80,000 cases of shell shock by the end of the ...
Vier augustus 1914. De Duitse legers vallen België binnen en veroveren op enkele maanden tijd het grootste gedeelte van ons grondgebied. Al snel kampt het bezette gebied met een immens probleem: voeding en goederen tot bij de bevolking krijgen. Nationaal Hulp- en VoedingskomiteitDe oplossing dient zich aan in de vorm van een fijnmazig ...
Framing is een begrip dat vaak opduikt in de media. Frames kunnen vergeleken worden met vensters waardoor je de werkelijkheid bekijkt. Deze werkelijkheid is echt en hierin verschillen frames van ‘fake news’. De maker van het frame kan het venster wel zodanig manipuleren dat hij of zij bepaalt wat de kijker van de werkelijkheid ziet en ...
Durch den Krieg gab es 1915 keine Gemeinderatswahlen. Die amtierenden Gemeinderäte blieben einfach „an der Macht“. Obgleich das eine irreführende Formulierung ist. Der Bürgermeister und die Beigeordneten blieben zwar im Amt, aber sie unterstanden den deutschen Besatzern. Sie konnten allenfalls versuchen, ihre Bürgerinnen und ...
En raison de la guerre, il n'y eut pas d'élections communales en 1915. Les conseils communaux en fonction demeurèrent simplement « au pouvoir ». Même si la formulation est trompeuse. Le bourgmestre et les échevins continuèrent à siéger, mais ils étaient subordonnés à l'occupant allemand. Ils pouvaient ...
Op 11 november 1918 eindigt de Eerste Wereldoorlog met een wapenstilstand. De wereld staat in brand, België staat in brand. Vier lange oorlogsjaren hebben landschap en maatschappij in puin achtergelaten. Het volk smacht naar veranderingen. Al tijdens de oorlog denken politici na over mogelijke oplossingen om aan deze vraag tegemoet te ...
In oktober 2018 mogen we allemaal stemmen om een nieuwe gemeenteraad te kiezen. Dat doen we elke 6 jaar. Voor de Eerste Wereldoorlog was dat zelfs om de 4 jaar! Toch bleven de burgemeesters en schepenen die in 1911 verkozen waren bijna tien jaar op post.Door de oorlog waren er in 1915 geen gemeenteraadsverkiezingen. De zetelende gemeentebesturen ...
Der Erste Weltkrieg versandete schnell in einem Grabenkonflikt mit fast völlig festgefahrenen Frontlinien. Alle kriegsführenden Parteien machten sich darum eifrig auf die Suche nach Auswegen aus dieser Sackgasse. Die Franzosen und Briten kamen unabhängig voneinander auf eine gleichartige Idee: motorisierte und gepanzerte Fahrzeuge, bewaffnet ...
In 1915, the Germans closed off the border between Belgium and the neutral Netherlands with the 'Wire of Death'. Clandestine attempts to scale this high voltage fence were extremely dangerous: if you were not electrocuted, you risked being shot by German border guards. But this did not deter all refugees, or indeed spies, from trying to ... 
