Louvain (Flemish: Leuven) Belgian university town west of Brussels, celebrated for its university and magnificent Gothic buildings. Here between August 25 and 28, 1914, German troops killed 248 civilians and destroyed a sixth of the buildings. The university library, with its valuable collection of manuscripts from the Middle Ages, was burned to the ground. One of the best known single events of the war, Louvain became known worldwide as a symbol of German war atrocities. The German military leadership explained the destruction of Louvain as a justified punitive measure in reprisal for an attack by Belgian irregulars. It was asserted that the fire in the library had not been started deliberately, but had spread from neighboring houses. The Belgians accused the Germans of having premeditated the destruction of Louvain.…

Occupation (West)…

Deportations Forcible expulsions were practised for various reasons, a…