Recht

During World War One, the occupation and administration of foreign territories developed as a task hitherto unknown to European militaries in form, scope and duration. Due to the operational development between 1914 and 1918, occupation became a task for the German army in particular. In the occupied territories, soldiers encountered civilians of the enemy warring powers and vice versa. The zones of occupation became areas for rest and recreation for the forces and an economic reservoir to be exploited in a totalizing conflict.

The First World War centenary has offered, with the exception of Christopher Clark’s The Sleepwalkers, few surprises. Pretty much everything has been said and there is clearly agreement on many subjects. Last year, however, the question of German war crimes during the march into Belgium and France in the summer of 1914 re-emerged – albeit well after its hundredth anniversary, although with much greater intensity than many of the other debates.

Hamburg and Algiers are in some ways two rather atypical models of success of the Early Modern Era. Until the late 18th century, both were constantly threatened by powerful neighbors (the former by the kingdom of Denmark, the latter by the kingdom of Spain) and yet they managed to retain their independence due to impressive fortifications around the respective cities and a skillful use of diplomatic contacts with other powers, especially the Netherlands, Great Britain and France.