Were germans in ww1 always civilized?

[Roadhog]

Yeah Mike, I was gonna wait until Christmas to surprise you but me and some of the boys got together off line and, based on your past posts, we voted to make you an "Honorary Ayran." Dues are $65.00 a year, cash up front. VR Roadhog

[duckman]

Originally Posted by FliegerJG1

Imperial Germany and the Great War 1914-1918

This book by Roger Chickering looks at the war on the battlefield and on the homefront.

In view of the way the question was phrased, I would think the following to be far more relevant: Helen McPhail's "The Long Silence".

Amazon.ca: The Long Silence : Civilian Life Under...
Excellent, if rather depressing.

Or google any of
Louvain
Dinant
Tamines
Andenne

Should get you started.

[v.Tutschek]

Originally Posted by Willi Von Klugerman

I know that germans in ww1 were more civilized than in ww2,but I heard they did some un-civilized things.What did they do,I always wondered what it was.

not more than the french in algeria/tunisia, the russians here in germany after the 2.wk and the americans in vietnam

[Kilian]

Specify Germans in WW1 and we can have a discussion.

[Sreiko]

My country was under German attack in WW1 and I can talk about that. First thing is that even then we are threated as less "human". But all I know about crime is coming from Bulgarians [sorry YavorD] and Austro Hungary. There was robbery, rape, uncontrolled murders. In this way we have rebellion here and even one unit was I think in 1916 penetrate deep in Bulgaria and annihilated 40 km from Sofia. There are many of war stories but I would not going to boring you with...

[retread]

Was any army, in any conflict, "always civilized"?

A candidate for generally good behavior would be the Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War. They had a pay as you pillage plan in which any goods that they "foraged" during their merry travels through Maryland and Pennsylvania were either paid in Confederate script or in I.O.U's redeemable after the war. So if you were a Maryland farmer who lost his horses to Jeb Stuart you had a vested intrest in a Confederate victory.
R.E. Lee as well as many of his subs were certainly old school gentleman. That definitely had a trickledown effect on the behavior of his soldiers in general. That and a policy of severely punishing thievery, thuggery, rape, etc.
There is a letter written by a strongly Unionist Pennsylvania farmer who flatly admited he felt much safer with confederate troops in the vicinity then he did when federal troops were nearby.
As I understand it the Calvanists during the English Civil War were generally notable for behaving themselves.
On the other extreme the Thirty Years War apparently degenerated into pure barbarism that evidently took Germany well more than a century to recover from.For wanton destruction and indulgence of the less attractive human qualities the advance of the Red Army through Eastern Europe into Berlin is notable if largely unknown outside of Europe, apparently the Communists had no intention of being outdone by the Nazis. For pure bitterness and brutality the Pacific conflict between the U.S. and Japan in the Second World War deserves note. Certainly race contibuted to it.
War is a litmus test for both societies and individuals. A government will reveal its nature in its armies policies. Young men with weapons in a lawless situation will soon find out what their priorities are and who they are as human beings. Same as it ever was. Shakespeare had it right in his play Henry the V, in which his Henry states (from memory) , " No King, be his cause ever so pure ,will ever command an army composed of all pure warriors."

[v.Tutschek]

Was any army, in any conflict, "always civilized"?

thanks for this answer. i mean : NO
remember, we all like the aircraft 1.ww an we are intersted in the 1.ww in case of that.
but also, the fascinating aircrafts od ww.1 , both sides, was designed for only one thing:
to kill people..
and here in germany war is over for +/- 60 years.
no more war again!! freedom for all people in the world,
and freedom for all soldiers , they stay in war at the moment..
come home health and also remember the soldiers in air, on ground in the trenches and by the sea, they died for their countries

[agblume]

In response to the question posed by Willi von Klugerman, I would suggest that he buy the book by John H. Morrow, Jr., "The Great War - An Imperial History," published by Routledge in 2003. It will give him (and anyone else) a rather detailed look at all the "Imperial Powers" and how they treated people. They all had blood on their hands. Please check it out. You won't be disappointed. Best regards, agblume