Demonstration against extradition in front of the University of Berlin, newspaper photo from Wiener Bilder, issue of 22 Februar 1920

The extent of violence and destruction in the First World War was horrifying for all participants. Military norms were also transgressed in a dimension never seen before. As the Allies shifted the main portion of guilt to the German Empire, this nation – long an object of suspicion with its militarism for the victors of the war – was to be made an example of.