The Bavarian Army and French Civilians in the War of 1870-71, A Cultural Interpretation

Discusses the relationship of the Bavarian army with French civilians during its campaigns in the Franco-Prussian War. The experience of Bavarian soldiers with French people ran the gamut from cooperation and collaboration to fierce armed resistance. Draconian acts of reprisal were ordered and carried out against civilian snipers and their supporters. This cycle of civilian resistance and military retribution, coupled with the general staff's concepts of "military necessity," helped make possible the mindset that enacted the notorious and ubiquitous German atrocities of the two world wars.