Preliminary Programme

At the end of World War One, Belgium, the only country having experienced occupation of practically all its territory, had to judge its « traitors to the Country »: the “unpatriotics”. Due to the complete disorganization of the judicial apparatus, that mission initially fell, for the most part, to military judges just back from the front. It was an essential mission, for it had to respond both to exacerbated calls from the population but also to the need for legitimization of the victory by a State whose foundations had been threatened during the conflict. It was also a temporary mission, for the lifting of the state of war in April 1919 reinstated the former competencies of the ordinary justice system, among which we find dealing with attacks on state security.

Using three types of different, but complementary, sources, that is official judicial statistics, documents produced by the military institution and, finally, the press, this contribution seeks to present an analysis of the behaviour and activity of military jurisdictions in punishing the guilty. Our approach is problematical in two ways. On the one hand, it analyses the work of military judicial institutions and their actors at the end of a particularly troubled period and in an altogether particular mental environment, that of soldier-heroes, defenders of Justice and the Country on the front. On the other hand, it analyses the viewpoints taken by various institutions and social groups toward military justice : for example, members of the civil judiciary corps, the accused « unpatriotics », the press and public opinion in general.

This paper will first of all present a comprehensive statistical approach to the repression carried out by the Belgian military courts. Subsequently, we shall study in particular the activity of a provincial military court (Hainaut) and its functioning in cooperation with the SHQ Military Court, headquartered in Brussels. The latter was the central hinge of the military judiciary system, in charge of dealing with affairs it became aware of, as well as regulating the flow of affairs intended for the various military courts around the country. (Show less)

The March and April 2006 media reports of the rape and murder of Iraqi civilians by US soldiers are but recent examples of capital crimes committed by US soldiers during war. This paper is the latest development in a long series of criminological investigations into the neglected topic of serious crimes committed by US soldiers in European Theater of Operations, WW II. Prior work has studied the racial discrimination of US soldiers executed for capital crimes, and the patterns of rape committed by US soldiers in England, France and Germany. The data are from official military records located in the National Archives; they include trial transcripts and the written opinion of military judges. A total of 446 soldiers were charged with murdering Americans, nationals and enemy nationals. (Show less)

The abuse of combatants and non-combatants in wartime is a tragic, yet regular occurrence. Earliest published histories make reference to actions which today we would define as war crimes. The development of modern international law and definitions regarding acceptable behavior in war have made some impact in protecting the rights of combatants and non-combatants alike but war crimes at both the large and small scale continue. One of the reasons for this is that societal attitudes regarding proper conduct are confined to a cultural moment. What is viewed as an acceptable action by one people at one time may differ considerably from how others view the same action. Also, what a society may deem morally acceptable in peacetime can radically differ from the behavior it condones during wartime. Defining proper behavior and aberration is only one part of the equation. Another is the action taken to prevent misconduct. Notions of discipline and punishment are subject to the same societal forces.

In general, my project is an investigation of crime, discipline, and punishment in the late Victorian army. I will look at what British society defined as criminal acts and if the army, as an institution, used the same interpretive framework. I will examine how abuses were investigated and how the army pursued the charges. I will also look at how punishment was meted out. In addition to these points, I will attempt to answer the following questions: Did punishment affect morale in the British army? Were discipline and punishment defined by the army differently in the field than they were at home? Did punishment in the field affect how locals treated the British army? Did the definition of crimes and punishments change over the period? Did it change over the geographic extent of the British Empire?

Specifically, this paper will address crime and punishment in the British army during the South African War, 1899-1902, and will be based on published and unpublished letters, memoirs, and diaries of soldiers' and court-martial records. Although several books have been published in recent years on similar themes as applied to 20th century conflicts, the Victorian period has been largely ignored. The only major incident of crime and punishment in the South African War that has been investigated to any extent is the case of the murder of a predikant (Dutch Calvinist minister) and the execution of prisoners by the Imperial Light Horse. This episode was popularized in the film Breaker Morant. The historical community has yet to engage in any meaningful dialogue regarding the extensive looting, rape, abuse of the Black communities, and other war crimes which took place in the war. Likewise, no one has yet examined the attitudes of British soldiers in regards to their actions in the war. (Show less)