The Bryce Report

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The Bryce Report became a triumph for Britain in World War I as a propaganda tactic. A Committee on Alleged German Outrages, headed by Viscount James Bryce, was commissioned to investigate the charges of German soldiers committing outrages against civilians during the invasion of neutral Belgium.

Contents 1 Investigation 2 Main Conclusions and Supporting Evidence 3 Immediate Response 4 Eventual Role 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Investigation

The Bryce Report on Alleged German Outrages was released in 1915, five days after the sinking of the RMS Lusitania and includes appendixes with 1,200 depositions. The report is divided into two parts; ‘brutality of German officers to Belgian civilians’ and ‘typology of the outrages committed. The accounts came from Belgium witnesses, soldiers’ diaries, and many civilians from the 38 cities in Belgium that German soldiers attacked. The men in charge of examining witnesses were instructed not to “lead” the witnesses or give any suggestions. The committee also rejected every deposition in which the witness seemed suspicious and the story was doubtful. Many of the depositions were taken in different places on different dates by different lawyers but the stories were often strikingly similar.

[edit] Main Conclusions and Supporting Evidence

The following are the conclusions found by the Bryce Commission which claimed to ‘definitely established by the evidence’

(i)That there were in many parts of Belgium deliberate and systematically organised massacres of the civil population, accompanied by many isolated murders and other outrages.

(ii) That in the conduct of the war generally innocent civilians, both men and women, were murdered in large numbers, women violated, and children murdered.

(iii) That looting, house burning, and the wanton destruction of property were ordered and countenanced by the officers of the German Army, that elaborate provisions had been made for systematic incendiarism at the very outbreak of the war, and that t he burnings and destruction were frequent where no military necessity could be alleged, being indeed part of a system of general terrorization.

(iv) That the rules and usages of war were frequently broken, particularly by the using of civilians, including women and children, as a shield for advancing forces exposed to fire, to a less degree by killing the wounded and prisoners, and in the frequent abuse of the Red Cross and the White Flag.

Twenty-one major incidents were recorded with deliberate and planned outrages such as: cutting off the hands of Belgian children, women were raped and civilian men and women were murdered. Soldiers were ordered to use civilians as human shields against exposed fire, burn homes and destruct property. The report stated that the evidence of killing non-combatants was to an extent that has never been seen in previous wars of civilized nations. On top of this, the report also tells that the Germans have never officially denied that non-combatants were killed in large numbers. The authors specified that the most influential and weighted evidence used in the report was from diaries of German soldiers that had been killed or imprisoned.

[edit] Immediate Response

“You will find wars are supported by a class of argument which, after the war is over, the people find were arguments they should have never have listened to.” John Bright

Viscount Bryce was a respected and appreciated ambassador to the American people. As chairman on the committee for The Bryce Report, he gave credibility to the document. Never being exposed to such shocking atrocities, there was not much room for Americans to question the authenticity of the reports’ findings. Charles Frederick Gurney Masterman, head of British propaganda, wrote to Bryce “Your report has swept America. As you probably know even the most skeptical declare themselves converted, just because you signed it.” The Bryce Report was just another tactic that played-off of emotions with a personal approach. Unlike the Germans, the British understood that propaganda towards Americans needed to be quality and not or quantity. Germans, instead, covered American’s propaganda mediums with ‘continuous, blatant propaganda.’ To protect the victims, names were removed from the public document. However, the committee said that all their references and resources would be made available to the public after the war. When the documentation was requested, it was either unable to be found or “burned” in a fire. This is one factor that discredited the document. Another damaging detail was that the death tolls were over exaggerated in some locations and in others under estimated; causing a geographical imbalance of information.

[edit] Eventual Role

After the conclusion of WWI, when further investigations of German atrocities were carried out, the report’s claims were unable to be proven. This caused an upset not only in Americans but German’s as well. The Treaty of Versailles left Germans with animosity for having to “repay” and hand over their country. Americans became very resistant to propaganda and government’s claims prior to WWI. Due to their cynical attitudes, they were oblivious to the atrocities that took place in World War II. These disbeliefs caused a delayed reaction to what the Nazi Germans were doing with concentration camps and other atrocities.

[edit] References

Horne, John, and Alan Kramer. German Atrocities, 1914 a History of Denial. New Haven: Yale University Presee, 2001.

Lasswell, Harold D. Propaganda Technique in the World War. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., LTD., 1927.

Ponsonby, Arthur. Falsehood in War-Time. New Tork: E. P. Duntton & Co., Inc., 1928.

Robbins, Keith G. "Lord Bryce and the First World War." The Historical Journal 10 (1967): 255-278. JSTOR. 15 Oct. 2006.

Sanders, M L. "Wellington House and British Propaganda During the First World War." The Historical Journal 18 (1975): 119-146. JSTOR. 5 Nov. 2006.

Squires, James D. British Propaganda At Home and in the United States From 1914 to 1917. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1935.

Sweeney, Michael S. "Harvey O'Higgins and ‘The Daily German Lie'" American Journalism 23 (2006): 9-28.

Wilson, Trevor. "Lord Bryce's Investigation into Alleged German Atrocities in Belgium, 1914-15." Journal of Contemporary History 14 (1979): 369-383. JSTOR. 5 Nov. 2006.

[edit] External links

Map of German's invasion on Belgium
http://www.firstworldwar.com/maps/graphics/maps_04_belgium1914_(800).jpg

Primary Document: Bryce Report
http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/brycereport.htm